Denver — A legislative committee Thursday delayed one bill and narrowly approved another designed to alter the way the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission does its work.

The first measure, sponsored by state Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, would have required the seven-member panel that oversees oil and gas production to more fully inform landowners about proposed new wells.

Larson asked the House Agriculture, livestock and Natural Resources Committee to postpone the bill indefinitely because the COGCC had begun considering a new rule to do exactly what his measure would have required: give surface owners more details on new wells and spacing permits applied for by oil and gas companies.

"Initially (the commissioners) did not feel they had the authority to do this," Larson said. "Now they say they have the authority and are doing it."

The second bill, sponsored by state Rep. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, would clarify that wildlife is a biological resource that the commission must consider when approving well and spacing permits. It passed on a narrow 7-6 vote, primarily because some committee members were not convinced the COGCC didn’t already have that authority.

Both bills stemmed from an interim committee chaired by Larson that was designed to examine the COGCC amid complaints that it wasn’t properly balancing its mandate of overseeing oil and gas production with the health, safety and welfare concerns of those living on the surface.

Larson’s bill will remain "on the table" and won’t be voted on unless the commission fails to modify its notification rules to include more detailed information to landowners about oil company permit requests.

Takis’s bill heads to the House, where it must be approved before going on to the Senate.

The bill, however, likely will face a stiff challenge in the Senate unless its sponsor there — state Sen. Ed Perlmutter, D-Golden — can show that the COGCC doesn’t have explicit authority to consider wildlife concerns, such as migratory birds or mating elk, when approving well or spacing permits.