Regulations
In addition to stringent standards governing natural gas operations, there are federal, state and local government regulations that address oil and gas drilling and environmental protection for Colorado.
These rules cover all aspects of the process, including well permitting, well materials and construction, air emissions, wildlife protection, safe disposition of used hydraulic fracturing fluids, water testing, chemical recordkeeping and reporting.
Federal
Clean Water Act (CWA)
Clean Air Act (CAA)
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
State of Colorado
Colorado has regulated all drilling activity in the state since 1951, with the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) overseeing every aspect. The state has some of the most stringent regulations in the nation to regulate hydraulic fracturing, which is critical since over 90% of wells in Colorado are hydraulically fractured. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Association).
All operators in Colorado must apply to the COGCC for a permit to drill, providing descriptions of their proposed surface and downhole activities. This includes well design, location, spacing, operation, water management and disposal, waste management and disposal, air emissions, wildlife impacts, surface disturbance and worker health and safety. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Association)
All drilling operations are overseen by the COGCC for the purpose of preventing surface spills and ensuring equipment integrity and general safety. By law, Colorado regulations on drilling and hydraulic fracturing must be at least as protective as federal standards. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Association)
The COGCC’s Rule 205 governing Chemical Inventory and Disclosure requires the following of all operators: Maintain material safety data sheets for any chemical products brought to a well site for use downhole, including for hydraulic fracturing.
- Maintain a chemical inventory for any chemical product used downhole, including for hydraulic fracturing, in cumulative amounts exceeding 500 pounds in any quarterly reporting period.
- Identify trade secret chemical products.
- Identify constituents of trade secret product of requested by the COGCC for a spill response or landowner contamination complaint (information held confidential).
- Supply trade secret information to a health professional who makes a written request and executes and confidentiality agreement. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Association).
In a joint effort between the Groundwater Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, the website FracFocus.org has been established to list, by well, each chemical used in hydraulic fracturing in wells drilled on or after January 1st, 2011.
