On September 21, 2015,
The Colorado Supreme Court accepted the appeals from the cities of Longmont and
Fort Collins opposing two District Court decisions which overruled their
moratoria against hydraulic fracturing.
In November 2012, voters
in Longmont City approved an ordinance prohibiting the use of hydraulic fracturing
within the city’s limits. A similar ordinance also was adopted as part of the
November 2013 election in the city Council of Fort Collins. The Colorado Oil
and Gas Association challenged both ordinances claiming that the Colorado Oil
and Gas Conservation Act preempted local regulations.
On July 24, 2014, the
District Court in Boulder County concluded
that the Longmont Municipal Charter’s provisions prohibiting hydraulic
fracturing are invalid as being preempted by the Colorado Oil and Gas
Conservation Act. On August 7, 2014, the Larimer County District Court reached
the same conclusion. The cities appealed the District Court decisions to the
Colorado Court of Appeals, which then referred both cases to the state Supreme
Court for a ruling.
The Colorado Supreme
Court now will decide on whether “home-rule cities are preempted from
promulgating local land-use regulations that prohibit the use of hydraulic
fracturing in oil and gas operations and the storage of such waste products
within city limits when the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
regulates hydraulic fracturing within the state.”
Information on these
cases will available at docket no. 15SC667 for the City of Longmont v. Colorado Oil and Gas Association case and at
docket no. 15SC668 for the City of Fort
Collins v. Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
Written by Chloe Marie - Research Fellow
09/22/2015
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