The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC), formerly known as the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commision, is working on a rulemaking process designed to set requirements for oil and gas developers to forecast and measure the intensity of environmental pollutants and community impacts from their operations, a concept known as “cumulative impacts analysis.” 

This cumulative impacts rulemaking is an important opportunity to hold oil and gas operators accountable for public health and environmental impacts. Unfortunately, the current proposed rule fails to hold oil and gas operators accountable and continues to prioritize future development over human health and the environment, especially in Western Colorado.

The cumulative impacts of oil and gas production are at crisis levels. We need your help to ensure these new regulations will hold developers accountable for the impact of their actions to everyday people. We believe Colorado regulators should prioritize the following to take steps towards ensuring cumulative impacts are adequately defined and measured:

• Disproportionately impacted communities across the western slope need to be protected.
  
• ECMC should require the data used to inform decisions is valid and independently verified, not self-reported by oil and gas operators.
  
• Additionally, the proposed rules should include meaningful pollution thresholds. These pollution thresholds should be used to help inform whether to allow for additional development to occur.
  
• There should be stronger reclamation standards incorporated throughout the rule.

Please take a moment and submit a comment to the ECMC asking them to prioritize strong and meaningful cumulative impacts rules. You can use the points above or download our Comment Writing Guide here.

The ECMC is currently accepting public comment through August 27 at 7 pm. Comments can be submitted via the ECMC webportal here.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at emily@westerncoloradoalliance.org.