The Alliance secured an important win with the Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) last December. New rules were adopted during the last AQCC rulemaking process which will help to protect air quality here in Western Colorado. Coloradans will now be able to look forward to a future where the oil and gas industry will be required to enhance their Leak Detection And Repair (LDAR) practices and apply these practices statewide.
Due to these new rules, oil and gas operators will at a minimum be required to perform inspections on their infrastructure twice a year. These rules will close what is known as the 90-day permitting loophole. This loophole allowed oil and gas operators to begin their drilling and hydraulic fracturing operations before the operators obtained the required permits.
They avoided these permits because they placed limits on the amount of air pollution operators were allowed to emit. Additionally, these new rules will further reduce harmful emissions from both storage tanks and low producing wells. To ensure that methane producers adhere to these new standards they will be required to submit an annual report of the emissions being released from their facilities.

Western Colorado Alliance is especially proud of our work to strengthen air quality monitoring and repair requirements of oil and gas facilities near businesses, homes, and schools. The Alliance along with our partners at Grand Valley Citizens Alliance (GVCA) and the League of Oil and Gas Impacted Coloradans (LOGIC) proposed that the AQCC implement stricter air quality monitoring requirements and repair standards for oil and gas operations located within 1000 feet of these areas.

In December, the AQCC chose to accept our proposal. According to the AQCC, one of the reasons why they chose to adopt these increased protections was because Western Coloradans testified overwhelmingly in support of these new standards.

Hundreds of residents on the Western Slope raised their voices to protect our air quality. These people wrote letters and came to meetings where they provided both verbal and written testimony urging the AQCC to strengthen the current regulations and to apply them statewide. Without these voices, we wouldn’t have been successful in our efforts to increase monitoring near homes and schools. It is because we wielded our collective power that Coloradans will now be able to breathe a little bit easier.

The Alliance wants to thank all of our allies, supporters, and members for making these changes possible. Without your contributions we wouldn’t be
able to carry out our work and while we have certainly made progress our work isn’t finished. We look forward to working with all of you again during the coming months as we participate in the upcoming Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) rulemakings and the next AQCC rulemaking. Thank you again for your support and we will look forward to seeing you during the next rulemaking!