Fort Collins continues oil and gas regulation: Here's what reverse setbacks look like
Five months after effectively eliminating the potential for new oil and gas drilling in Fort Collins, City Council has given its initial OK to revisions to reverse setbacks, which specify how close new development can be to existing operations.
These setbacks apply to any new building with "occupiable space," meaning it gets a certificate of occupancy. This includes ADUs. It also includes gathering places like permanent playgrounds, play structures and recreational fields.
The rules would require point of sale disclosures, where sellers and landlords would be required to notify buyers and renters that the lot is within the buffer of a well and that the property complies with Environmental Protection Agency limits.
The reverse setbacks, if given final approval by council on Sept. 21, look like this:
For producing oil wells (not abandoned), including injection wells: 2,000 feet. If a development applicant provides an environmental site assessment showing contaminants are within federal or state standards, the setback can be reduced to 500 feet, but environmental assessments must be provided for five years after that. (The current setback in the code is 500 feet or whatever the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission setbacks are, whichever is greater. COGCC recently changed reverse setbacks to be 2,000 feet.)
For abandoned wells that are not reclaimed (not plugged): 500 feet, same as the current setback. The developer also must provide an environmental site assessment showing contaminants are within federal or state standards. Environmental assessments must be provided for five years after that.
For wells that are abandoned and fully reclaimed (plugged): 150 feet, which is the current setback. The developer also must provide an environmental site assessment showing contaminants are within federal or state standards at the time of application and again five years later.
What about existing properties already in the buffer zone?
Based on City Council members' comments Tuesday, some might consider exempting current buildings in the buffer zone from limits on additions.
During discussion, several council members supported an option to exempt current properties already in the buffer from restrictions on building additions and parks, for example.
But council ultimately voted 6-1 to adopt the changes without the exemptions. Mayor Jeni Arndt noted she planned to reach out to residents who had communicated concerns about the changes prior to council's meeting on Sept. 21.
Council member Shirley Peel voted no, saying she agreed with the monitoring and disclosure requirements but the 2,000-foot setback is too large.
How does this fit in with all the other city setbacks?
These reverse setbacks generally align with regular setbacks. In April, council approved regular setbacks of 2,000 feet for new wells, and there's an additional 1,000-foot buffer if there's a natural habitat feature.
This setback applies to occupiable buildings, parks, natural areas and trails. It also limits operations to industrial zone districts.
However, in the regular setbacks, there are no modification standards that allow for reduced buffers. This is more strict even than state standards, which do allow exemptions.
These standards mean that less than 1% of land in city limits is available for new oil and gas wells or facilities.
What do reverse setbacks look like in other cities?
Seven other Front Range cities and counties in Colorado have reverse setback rules, according to a report presented to council: Larimer and Arapahoe counties and the cities of Broomfield, Commerce City, Erie, Longmont and Westminster.
Many of the setbacks depend on the stage of oil and gas production. For example, pre-production activities have the greatest environmental impact and therefore the largest buffers in many cities. Here are the ranges, depending on well type:
Pre-production and production wells: 150 to 2,000 feetPlugged and abandoned wells: 25 to 250 feet
Why is City Council taking up this issue now?
City Council has been working on oil and gas regulation since 2019.
In April 2018, Colorado adopted a law that changed the way oil and gas development is regulated, required updates to state regulations and allowed local government authorities to adopt tighter regulations than those established by the state.
Following that, Larimer County adopted regulations viewed to be almost the most restrictive in the state.
So, in response to the changing regulations locally and community feedback, staff set out to work on city regulations. Setbacks for new facilities were approved in April, and these reverse setbacks are an extension of the work.
City staff and City Council are set to consider operational standards at a later date. These would provide local enforcement and compliance criteria in addition to what the state has in place.
How much drilling is there in Fort Collins and Larimer County?
There are 10 active oil and gas wells in Fort Collins, and 20 that are abandoned. Of the wells in city limits:
4 are active wells and produce oil
6 are injection wells
6 are dry and abandoned (never produced)
14 are plugged and abandoned
The Fort Collins Field does not produce natural gas, only oil.
"Wells in the Fort Collins Field consist primarily of abandoned and not full reclaimed wells that never produced oil, and so there is less risk to hydrocarbon exposure from these types of wells," a report from engineer Stuart M. Ellsworth states.
The Fort Collins Field has produced over 5 million barrels of oil but is now largely depleted, he said. Production averages less than two barrels of oil production per day.
This means the existing wells are being produced through what is called enhanced recovery. That's when fluid such as water is put into what is known as an injection well to increase pressure and push hydrocarbons to the production wells. Injection wells don't produce, store, transmit or inject oil or gas, and they can't emit hydrocarbons.
Injection wells are relatively unique, Longstein said, and the research on buffers around these wells is incomplete, so staff opted to recommend the 2,000-foot reverse buffer with the option to cut it to 500 feet if environmental assessments show levels within federal and state standards.
There are more than 250 active wells in Larimer County.
For comparison, Weld County has about 18,000, more than a third of all of Colorado’s wells.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fort Collins oil and gas regulations revise reverse setbacks
