Colorado’s SB 181 (2019) requires that the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission revisit its existing rules and consider stricter requirements with respect to leak detection and repair, pipeline inspection, emissions from “pneumatic tools” like gas-driven pumps and compressors, and continuous methane monitoring “at facilities with large emissions potential, at multi-well facilities, and at facilities in close proximity to occupied dwellings.” It also gives regulatory power to local governments in well placement and restructures the mission of COGCC from “fostering” the growth of the oil and gas sector to “regulating” it and prioritizing the protection of public safety, health and the environment.
In 2020, in response to SB 181, Colorado approved a broad swath of new rules seen as some of the strictest in the country. The new rules include what’s considered the strongest statewide well setback requirement: 2,000 feet between new wells and schools and homes. Colorado also joined Alaska as the only other state to ban routine venting and flaring of natural gas from oil and gas wells and other equipment.