The State of Colorado is a leader in regulating oil and gas development. But a ballot initiative proposes a more dramatic regulatory step: restricting oil and gas development all together. In the upcoming election, Colorado voters will decide whether to enact Proposition 112, a law requiring a 2,500-foot setback between any new oil and gas developments and any “occupied structure” or “vulnerable area.”

Proposition 112 will ban oil and gas development in Colorado.

The measure changes the setback under state law from 72 acres to 450 acres. And the law defines “new” oil and gas development to include reentry of an oil or gas well previously plugged or abandoned. Even Sierra-club endorsed Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis opposes the measure, recognizing it as a near-total “ban” on oil and gas development in Colorado.

New water supplies in the western United States are likely to come from a panoply of non-traditional sources, including storm water capture, waste water recycling, desalination, infrastructure efficiency improvements, and other conservation measures. One potential new water source for municipalities is contaminated groundwater requiring environmental remediation, that, but for its low quality, could be used as water supply. Exploring this option is especially appealing in water stressed regions, such as much of the western United States. For example, in southern California, the Metropolitan Water District supports “[r]ecovering degraded groundwater supplies for municipal use” as part of its Local Resources Program. The idea is to conduct environmental remediation of groundwater in a way that unlocks new unused water resources. In cases where contaminated groundwater is hydrologically separated from aquifers that are being beneficially used, a remedy that involves the extraction of water and treatment for later recharge into the principal water supply aquifer can actually increase the volume of water naturally available for human use.

On August 31, 2018, the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) published its proposed rule providing a replacement to the Clean Power Plan (CPP).  The proposed rule, named the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, outlines revised emissions guidelines and the process for states to submit plans for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from affected electric utility generating units (EGUs).  Key components include a shift to “inside-the-fenceline” emission reduction measures at individual sources for the best system of emission reduction (BSER) and proposed changes to applicability requirements for EGUs under the New Source Review (NSR) program.  Comments on the proposed rule are currently due on October 31, 2018, and the only public hearing thus far was held in Chicago on October 1, 2018.  The Agency is taking steps to organize the comments by indexing each comment solicitation and directing commenters to “include the corresponding identifier” when providing relevant comments.

The CPP remains subject to a stay in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals since February 9, 2016.  On September 4, 2018, a group of petitioners including seventeen states filed a response and motion requesting the court lift the abeyance and issue a ruling.  The basis for the motion included that US EPA does not have sufficient grounds to continue the stay and is unduly prolonging the abeyance.  The petition noted that such a decision would not prevent US EPA from pursuing this proposed rulemaking. Additionally, the Agency published an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking on December 28, 2017 seeking comments as to a proposed replacement rule. For a detailed overview of these background events, see this article.