DENVER – Using Colorado’s vast natural resources without abusing them continues to be a balancing act for area lawmakers heading into the second half of the 120-day General Assembly in Denver.

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy, District 6 Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, is in the midst of negotiations to make the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission more responsive to the impact of energy development, particularly on the Western Slope.

“We’ve still got quite a few bills moving through the process,” Isgar said. “We’ve got a meeting this (Monday) afternoon with the Department (of Natural Resources) and the bills’ sponsors to see what’s in conflict and how we mesh all this together.”

Isgar’s committee has been or will be dealing with at least four House bills that set the direction in COGCC dealings with landowners, wildlife, public health and environmental issues.

District 58 Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose, said he’s supported all but one of the oil and gas bills because he agrees the commission has not been responsive to the complaints prompted by record-setting growth in oil and gas exploration.

“The Oil and Gas Commission has had an opportunity to step up to the plate and change some things under the director of the commission and they have not done so,” Rose said.  “I agree to some extent that they have brought this on themselves.”

Rose said, however, that he disagrees with a bill sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, that significantly changes the makeup of the commission by reducing industry representation from five to three members and adding the directors of both DNR and the Department of Public Health and Environment as ex-officio voting members.

“My preference is to lower industry representation to four and say no one who gets a pay check directly from the industry can be a member,” Rose said. “There should be representation of the surface owner and agriculture and someone with environmental expertise.”

Rose also has watched with frustration the progress of numerous bills promoting the development of renewable energy. Even though he supports the bills, he’s upset by what he sees as partisanship by the Democratic majority.

One of the top priorities of Gov. Bill Ritter’s administration – a bill that more than doubles the renewable energy use requirements of Amendment 37 – won final legislative passage last week with strong bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate.

“I generally don’t believe in mandates, but I know we need to move ahead with developing renewables,” Rose said. “I’m disappointed that it’s become such a partisan issue. They have removed Republicans from any leadership on this issue. They want to ensure that no one but Democrats get any credit for this whatsoever.”

Rose went public with his frustration when he was removed as a member of the National Energy Council and replaced by Curry.

“You normally stay on the council until you’re out of office,” Rose said. “Removing us just because we’re Republican is not being responsible to the people we represent.”

Other bills aimed at achieving the Ritter Administration’s “new energy economy” encourage energy conservation in state owned buildings and vehicles, promote the construction of transmission lines, and identify and map locations for wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy resources.

Ritter already has signed one of the biggest water-related bills to be considered by lawmakers this year. House Bill 1132 allows water judges to consider the impact on water quality when making decisions about large water transfers from agriculture to municipal or industrial use.

Rose, who has resisted water quality bills the past three years, supported HB 1132.

“It no longer puts water judges in a superior position over the Water Quality Control Commission, so people wanting to move water won’t go shopping around for a favorable court,” Rose said.

Another controversial water bill, which is supported by the Colorado River Water Conservation District but opposed by the Colorado Municipal League, has passed the House and is awaiting a vote in Isgar’s committee. It would prohibit any government entity from using condemnation proceedings to obtain water rights.

Isgar said there are serious questions about the constitutionality of House Bill 1036, which Rose supported when it passed the House.

“There’s a lot of confusion over whether we can take away the ability of home rule cities to condemn for water rights,” Isgar said. “We’re trying to figure out what is the best policy." Passing something that may be unconstitutional is probably not good policy.” 

Isgar and Rose said the budget and school finance will dominate debate during the second half of the legislative session.

“The budget will be very contentious,” Rose said. “They (majority Democrats) already are moving vast amounts of money to support social programs that won’t benefit all the people.”

Isgar said his main focus in budget discussions will be protecting severance tax revenue from being siphoned away from energy impact funds.

“People have been looking at this money to fund other programs,” Isgar said. “We need to make sure they understand what the impacts are and figure out how we are going to address them.”