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Colorado split-estate legislation bites dust Legislation would have forced landowners, minerals owners to bargain; appraisal, then binding arbitration if bargaining failed Steven K. Paulson Associated Press Writer
A bill that would have given landowners more control over oil and gas drilling on their property died in the Colorado Legislature March 30 because opponents on both sides of the issue said it didn’t strike the right balance.
The oil and gas industry said the bill was unnecessary because the state already has laws that address disputes that arise when drilling rigs roll onto someone else’s land. Environmentalists and property owners said the bill didn’t go far enough.
Landowners with surface rights only have complained that their fields have been trampled and crops damaged as oil and gas companies holding mineral rights rushed to dig new wells.
The bill would have required landowners and mineral owners to come to the bargaining table to discuss limits to the damage being done to surface property and compensation. If either party refused to sign, an appraiser would be hired to estimate the damage. If that figure was rejected, both sides would be forced into binding arbitration.
Rep. Wes McKinley, a Democrat from Walsh, said it could have forced surface owners to pay a lot of money for arbitration. Rep. Josh Penry, a Republican from Grand Junction, said the bill required drillers to minimize damage to property, but did not specify how that would be determined. Caught between forces The sponsor, Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, said she will try drafting another measure before the session ends in May. She said there also could be an initiative to put the issue on the November ballot.
Curry said she was caught between the powerful oil and gas industry on one side and the Colorado Farm Bureau, Colorado Association of Homebuilders, the Colorado Association of Realtors and environmentalists on the other.
The measure was intended to give landowners more say when conflicts arise under the so-called “split estate,” when one person owns the land but someone else owns the minerals beneath it.
Companies that own or lease the minerals have the legal right to “reasonable use” of the surface to extract oil, gas or coal, but property owners complain that drillers and miners run roughshod on their land.
Complaints have become more frequent since a drilling boom in Western Colorado and elsewhere across the West, fueled by soaring oil and gas prices.
The House Agriculture, Livestock & Natural Resources Committee killed Curry’s bill on a 6-5 vote.
The coalition supporting the amendment vowed to continue its fight.
“Colorado is proud to provide energy to the nation, but right now, it is at the expense of landowners throughout the state who lose grazing land, suffer from poor land and water quality and sinking property values from gas development,” said Mary Ellen Denomy, a member of the Western Colorado Congress.
“This is far from over,” said Doug Melcher, spokesman for the Colorado Corn Growers Association.
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