American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016 - 14

IndustryDigest
Federal Energy Bills
Headed To Conference
WASHINGTON-Congress moved a
step closer to adopting the first
comprehensive energy package in a
decade on May 25 when the House of
Representatives voted 241-178 to pass
its amendment to S 2012, the Energy
Policy Modernization Act, and to go to
conference with the Senate, according
to announcements from the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources and
House Energy and Commerce
committees.
The House amendment includes HR
8, the North American Energy Security
and Infrastructure Act, which passed the
House last December.
American Petroleum Institute
Executive Vice President Louis Finkel
hails the House vote as a "critical step .
. . that reflects America's new energy
reality."
Among the bill's provisions, API
points out, are streamlined permitting
for natural gas pipelines and liquefied
natural gas exports.
When it passed the Senate on April
20, S 2012 required the secretary of
energy to make a final decision on LNG
export applications within 45 days after
the environmental review process was
completed (AOGR, May 2016, pg. 28).
It also provides for expedited judicial
review of legal challenges to LNG
export projects.
According to API, the House
amendment also sets "realistic
deadlines" for approving natural gas
pipeline permits. In addition, API says,
it provides the secretary of interior the
authority to approve rights of way and
issue permits for pipelines on National
Park Service lands, similar to his
authority on other federal lands. And it
provides the secretary authority to
designate 10 National Energy Security
Corridors through federal lands, similar
to the authority afforded the secretary
by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to
designate such corridors in the 11
contiguous Western states.
Other provisions of the energy
package, according to published
sources, include promoting energy
industry job training and workforce
diversity, reauthorizing the Land and
Water Conservation Fund, promoting
energy efficiency in buildings,
catalyzing improvements to U.S.
14 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

electrical infrastructure, and increasing
funding for basic energy research. ❒

Colorado Supreme Court
Denies Local Frac Bans
DENVER-The Colorado Supreme
Court in May ruled that a ban and
moratorium on hydraulic fracturing
implemented by two Colorado towns
were pre-empted by state rules, and
were invalid and unenforceable.
In ruling on challenges to Longmont's
ban on fracturing and storing drilling
waste, and Fort Collins' five-year
moratorium on fracturing, the Supreme
Court cited "operational conflicts"
between local and state laws. In such
clearly defined conflicts, the court
declared, state law has the upper hand.
In City of Longmont v. Colorado Oil
& Gas Association, the court ruled the
city's ban "is pre-empted by state law
and, therefore, is invalid and
unenforceable." It also declared "the
inalienable rights provision of the
Colorado Constitution does not save the
(fracturing) ban from pre-emption by
state law."
A similar ruling was handed down in
Fort Collins v. COGA.
"We view these rulings as effectively
ending the local frac ban movement in
Colorado," states COGA President Dan
Haley. "The court was unanimous and
very clear. The ruling draws a bright
line to what local government can and
cannot do."
However, the controversy over local
bans likely has not ended, according to
those on both sides of the issue.
While commending the ruling for
recognizing the state's "strong interest
in uniform regulation of oil and gas,"
Colorado Attorney General Cynthia
Hoffman says she fears "the ruling will
not end this divisive debate. Instead,
some activists will continue to push
anti-development initiatives
undermining the state's record of local
cooperation on policy issues."
In April, backers of four initiatives
intended to slow or stop oil and gas
development in Colorado were cleared
to gather the signatures needed by
August to place them on the November
ballot, published reports note. If
approved by voters, the initiatives
would change the state's constitution to
prevent state pre-emption of local rules.

The battle of the bans dates back to
2012 when COGA filed suit against
Longmont for its voter-approved frac
ban. COGA also sued Fort Collins over
a voter-approved, five-year moratorium
enacted in November 2013.
The Supreme Court ruling means
local bans in other Colorado cities
likely will not be enforced, Haley says.
In its review of the cases, the
Supreme Court recognized that "the
virtues and vices of (fracturing) are
hotly contested," and that widely
different opinions were presented by
industry and business interests on one
side, and environmental and local
government interests on the other.
"We fully respect these competing
views, and do not question the sincerity
and good faith" of either side, the court
maintained. However, the case "does
not require us to weigh in on these
differences of opinion, much less try to
resolve them," the justices stated.
Instead, the decision focuses on "a
far narrower question: whether
Longmont's ban on (fracturing) is preempted by state law."
Local laws "may coexist with state
statute so long as there is no conflict,"
the court observed. However, it added,
when such conflicts arise, state law
prevails. ❒

Activist Lawsuit Calls
For EPA To Strengthen
Waste Disposal Rules
WASHINGTON-A lawsuit filed by
a coalition of environmental activist
groups against the Environmental
Protection Agency is less about
effective regulation than it is stopping
oil and gas development, according to
the Independent Petroleum Association
of America.
The lawsuit, which was filed May 4
in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia, alleges EPA "failed to
meet continuing nondiscretionary duties
under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act . . . to review and revise
regulations and guidelines to keep up
with this growing source of wastes and
the threats these wastes pose to human
health and the environment."
But IPAA President and Chief
Executive Officer Barry Russell calls
the lawsuit "the latest tactic of the 'keep
it in the ground' movement," saying the
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016

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