Water Conservation In Oil And Gas Operations
The bill requires an oil and gas operator in the state (operator), on or before January 31 January 1 , 2024, and at least annually quarterly thereafter, to report information to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission (commission) regarding the operator's use of water entering, utilized at, or exiting each of the operator's oil and gas locations, including information on the recycling and reuse of produced water .
The bill also requires the commission to adopt rules, on or before July 1, 2024, requiring that:
When issuing an operator a new or renewed oil and gas permit on or after June 1, 2024, the commission include as a condition of the permit a requirement that the operator use a decreasing percentage ofa statewide reduction in usage of fresh water and a correspondingincreasing percentageincrease in usage of recycled or reused water inthe operator'soil and gas operations.andEach oil and gas operator, on and after January 1, 2024, report on a monthly basis to the commission about the daily vehicle miles traveled for any trucks hauling water to, within, or from the operator's oil and gas operations in the state.
From the information reported to the commission under the bill, the commission is required to:
- Include the information as part of the commission's annual reporting on cumulative impacts of oil and gas operations; and
- Report to the
division of administration (division) in the department of public health and environment, on a per-incident basis, any indication of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material or PFAS chemicals present in produced water; andlegislative energy committees a summary of the reported information on or before April 1, 2025. On a quarterly basis, submit a cumulative report to the division and the department of transportation on reported vehicle miles traveled and public roads traveled.
(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)
(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)