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Randy Baumgardner

Craig — State Rep. Randy Baumgardner, R-Hot Sulphur Springs, said there likely will be several "substantive" changes to Colorado's new oil and gas regulations before the House approves them later this week.

For the past year, state officials have debated a new regulatory structure designed to better protect public health and the environment from potential harm caused by energy development.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission created the rules in 2008, after the Legislature voted unanimously in 2007 for state government to balance development with public concerns.

However, since the recent downturn in Colorado's energy industry, several legislators have openly criticized the Oil and Gas Commission for creating rules they think are strict enough to harm any chance for energy companies to reinvest within the state.

Moffat County's two voices at the Capitol - Baumgardner and state Sen. Al White, R-Hayden - have been among those clamoring for lighter regulations.

Baumgardner did not reverse his course during the Moffat County Commission meeting Tuesday, when he phoned in to relate news from Denver.

The state House plans to debate the rules this week and can either approve the rules, reject them or approve them with changes.

Although the Moffat County Commission asked the representative three times to give a hint what kinds of changes he would support, Baumgardner said he couldn't elaborate because no amendments have yet been drafted.

"I believe we do need rules and regulations that we need to proceed with," he said. "We just need to be careful in how we implement (them) and how many rules we have, so we don't kill the goose that laid the golden egg."

Consequences of the energy slowdown have been felt nearly everywhere, Baumgardner said.

"It doesn't just affect the people working out on the rigs," he said. "It affects the schools, the economy, the restaurant people."

Baumgardner said Northwest Colorado's unemployment rate increased "drastically" in the past six months.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment does not have statistics past December 2008, but its numbers from October to December last year do show an increase in Moffat County unemployment from 3.6 percent to 4.4 percent.

However, those numbers are not very different from the rest of 2008.

Unemployment equaled 4.4 percent in January 2008, hit a year-long high of 4.6 percent in February and did not decline to less than 4 percent until May 2008.

The labor market stayed strong throughout summer and fall, until unemployment again increased to more than 4 percent in November 2008.

Although Baumgardner would not elaborate on what amendments he would support, Moffat County Commissioner Tom Gray asked the legislator to keep an eye out for private property protections.

The Legislature's original 2007 bill calling for new regulations stipulated that private landowners could "consent" to wildlife protections proposed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife on new oil and gas drilling rigs.

However, the state's new rules give the Oil and Gas Commission authority to accept or deny DOW recommendations, Gray said.

"If there's any amendment, I think that needs to be it," he said. "Consent - when I went to school - didn't mean mandatory."