Oil, gas industry bills headed for hearings in state Senate

Oil, gas industry bills headed for hearings in state Senate

Feb. 13, 2001

Capitol Report
By Senator Jim Dyer

Friday, Feb. 9th, your 63rd Colorado General Assembly passed the quarter mark of the 120-day session.

A Feb. 15 deadline for hearing bills in committees of reference such as the Education Committee will make the coming week intense. These deadlines accelerate the flow of legislation between the House and Senate. My Senate Bill 103, after amendments, changes the membership of the

Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission from a 5-2 voting advantage for the industry, to a more balanced 4-3 advantage ... still unsatisfactory, but progress toward true equity. After somewhat rancorous floor debate, the Senate sent the bill on its way to the House with a 26-8 vote. One person abstained for possible conflict of interest, which I find ironic since the COGCC is itself a study in conflicted interest.

Like the storied ships passing in the night, as SB-103 sailed northward to the House, the House's legislative equivalents of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria tacked to the south, and I hope safe haven in tranquil Senate waters. Fat chance.

The three bills of which I am Senate sponsor have attracted the steely-eyed attention of the oil industry lobbying corps. The sharks are roiling my lagoon. In House Bill 01-1062 by our own star, Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, is titled: Concerning the payment of compensation by an oil and gas operator to a surface owner for surface damages arising from drilling operations. This would require operators and surface owners to negotiate compensation for damage and for the operator to furnish security with the COGCC. In a meeting Saturday morning, one of four meetings I attended, the La Plata County Commissioners Fred Klatt, Josh Joswick and Bob Lieb with county attorney Jeff Robbins a creative plan was advanced when negotiated compensation fails. The operator would pay for an appraisal which could be accepted by the surface owner or rejected and a second appraisal paid for by the surface owner with the results of both going to a judge.

House Bill 01-1088 by Rep Gregg Rippy, R-Glenwood Springs, is titled: Concerning Notifications regarded severed mineral rights. This would require a title insurance agent or title insurance company to provide a surface buyer with a written statement when it is determined that a mineral estate has been severed.

In House Bill 01-1068 by Rep. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, is titled Concerning enactment of the "Colorado Dormant Oil and Gas interests act." This bill would allow a surface owner to reunite the surface and mineral estates in property where the minerals were severed, and where there is a presumption of abandonment if there had been no activity ? such as paying taxes or actual drilling ? in 20 years.

There are a number of safeguards protecting the mineral estate owner, but there was considerable controversy over this in the House floor debate. I plan to schedule hearings for these three bills in Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources on the afternoon of Feb. 27th. These bills have the blessing of Gov. Bill Owens and are being piloted by Greg Walcher, director of the Department of Natural Resources.

Together with my bill to bring better balance to the COGCC and the appointment of good people such as Durango's Tom Ann Casey to that panel and with the passage of the three House bills, I believe we are making solid progress toward a more responsible development of this much-needed energy resource.

There has been quite a bit of interest in my Senate Bill 68 that would have established a separate governing board for Fort Lewis College, my alma mater. According to my plan, the bill and its title live on in Senate Appropriations Committee where it is immune from death by deadline. I can use the bill to protect the Fort from any legislation that may have an adverse effect. Or I may use it if all the discussion on independence has created impetus for redefining the mission statement. Or maybe to redefine the deliverance of Higher Education in Southwest Colorado and the role of San Juan VOTECH and Pueblo Community College. But mainly, rather than have the issue drag on without resolution, I am glad that SB-68 crystallized opinion on the governance question. Not the way I had hoped; I believe that an independent Fort would have competed well on the national stage of premier liberal arts institutions. Interestingly, most businesspeople I talked with about this were for going it alone in the marketplace of ideas. But the voice of the college community was strongly for staying with the CSU system, which I respect.

Jim Dyer is a state senator from Durango. He can be reached in Durango at (970) 259-1942, or at the Capitol in Denver at (303) 866-4884.