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Oil and Gas Drilling Issues to Take Center Stage

Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 18:00 CST

By Rebecca Waddingham, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

Dec. 30--Colorado county governments will have some legislation to keep their eyes on when the Colorado General Assembly returns in two weeks.

Counties are watching anything regarding oil and gas drilling, other land use issues, the Colorado Benefits Management System and several other hot topics, said Larry Kallenberger, executive director of Colorado Counties Inc.

One bill sure to get attention in Weld attempts to balance landowners' rights with the rights of oil and gas drilling companies, Kallenberger said.

Democrat Kathleen Curry of Glenwood Springs is sponsoring legislation that Kallenberger hopes will reaffirm the decision-making power of local governments. Kallenberger believes the bill will contain some restrictions on oil and gas drilling, which has become a cause celebre for homebuilders and real estate developers, he said. Developers might fear homebuyers will be defiant if their landscape is dotted with oil and gas well sites, he added.

"There is a potential for a real donnybrook," he said.

Colorado Counties, a lobbying group that represents county governments, does not yet have a position on several major bills because they're still so new, Kallenberger said.

The group is also monitoring changes to the Colorado Benefits Management System, which has experienced major delays in welfare payments in the year and a half of its existence.

A judge required county welfare agencies to err on the side of overpaying welfare recipients, rather than not paying them, as the state worked out the system's kinks. But now the federal government is knocking on the door, wanting its money back from the overpayments.

Kallenberger said counties are concerned they will have to foot the bill and want the state to be responsible for the money.

Some county legislative concerns will go before voters next fall.

Kallenberger said counties, and other local governments, will closely watch Amendment 38, which has already qualified to go on the November 2006 ballot.

The measure would form a petition process that would allow voters to file responses to any decisions made by local or state government. Residents would have 90 days to file a petition to stop the decision and, if there are enough signatures, the law couldn't go into effect until the following election day, which could only be in November.

Kallenberger said Colorado Counties is concerned about the amendment because it could stymie the government process.

With 100 legislators, each one able to introduce five bills, CCI will have a lot of work to do this spring, Kallenberger said.

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Copyright (c) 2005, Greeley Tribune, Colo.

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Source: Greeley Tribune, Colorado

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