Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, American Petroleum Institute, and Colorado Petroleum Association…

Summary

The court held that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission properly declined to initiate rulemaking on a proposed rule that would have barred new oil and gas permits absent proof of no cumulative adverse impacts. The court construed the governing statute to require the Commission to promote oil and gas development while preventing and mitigating significant adverse environmental impacts, subject to cost-effectiveness and technical feasibility, rather than conditioning development on the absence of all cumulative impacts. The court also deferred to the Commission's resource-allocation judgment because it was coordinating with another agency and pursuing other priorities.