To: Energy and Carbon Management Commission & Governor Polis
Date: May 2025
Re: Cumulative Impacts Rules
Dear Commissioners and Governor Polis,
We the undersigned groups are committed to raising awareness of the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development. Public knowledge continues to increase, and hundreds of concerned individuals participated in the 2-year process that ultimately led to the adoption of the cumulative impacts rules in October, 2024. As the rules come into effect, we write to affirm our intention to stay involved with the rule implementation.
A number of provisions in the new rules may improve accessibility for the public to participate in the permitting process. Rules also increase the amount of data that operators must submit for evaluation by the Commission. But because there is a considerable amount of Director and Commission discretion, there is a distinct possibility that the new rules may not lead to any permit denial regardless of the cumulative impacts. In order to best implement these rules, we expect that guidance documents will need to be developed and respectfully request that community groups including but not limited to the undersigned will be invited to the table as stakeholders.
Our groups and many members of the public entered this process with the hope that the new rules would create clear denial criteria. Such criteria would have provided operators and the public with greater certainty, and given the Commission a clear legal framework to follow. Instead, each approval is subject to the discretion of the Director and the Commission. In theory, the new rules may have no impact on permit approvals. And we are concerned that in practice, the great amount of discretion will in effect put more constraints on you, due to the need to evaluate and defend your decision anew for each new permit.
We urge you to use your full power under these rules to reduce cumulative impacts. Through bold implementation you can draw the clear lines missing from the rules. We expect that after hearing community concerns, and after analyzing the effects a proposed new well or facility will have when added to all past, present, and reasonably foreseeable development, you will deny permits where impacts will be too great.
We will continue engaging in individual OGDP and CAP application processes and helping to engage communities where we can. We look forward to following your work to protect communities; even where community members are not engaged, they still need protection from excess cumulative impacts.
Sincerely,
350 Colorado
Clean Air Pueblo
Clean Energy Action
Climate Reality Project Northern Colorado Chapter
Colorado Coalition for a Livable Climate
Erie Protectors
Green House Connection Center
Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety and the Environment
Resilient Denver
Physicians for Social Responsibility Colorado
Roots to Resilience
Save the Aurora Reservoir
Sierra Club Colorado