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 of a statewide reduction in usage of fresh water and a corresponding increasing percentage increase in usage of recycled or reused water in the operator's oil and gas operations. and
• Each 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; and legislative 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.

The bill creates the Colorado produced water consortium in the department of natural resources (department) to make recommendations to state agencies and the general assembly regarding the recycling and reuse of produced water, develop guidance documents to promote best practices for in-field recycling and reuse of produced water, and analyze and report on existing produced water infrastructure, storage, and treatment facilities; the volume of produced water in different oil and gas basins available for recycling and reuse; and additional infrastructure, storage, and technology needed to achieve different levels of recycling and reuse of produced water throughout the state. Annually starting in 2024, the consortium is required to update the legislative energy committees on the consortium's work and the executive director of the department is required to report on the consortium's recommendations as part of the department's annual "SMART Act" presentation to a joint committee of the general assembly. The bill appropriates $464,512 from the oil and gas conservation and environmental response fund to the department of natural resources for use by the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission and $30,169 from the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances cash fund to the department of public health and environment for use by the water quality control division.

(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.)