Colorado’s history of ballot fights over the future of the oil and gas industry is heating up again, with the Colorado Farm Bureau filing a set of ballot proposals aiming to protect private property owners from lost income if drilling is banned.
The six proposals, filed last week and numbered 108 through 113, seek to change the Colorado Constitution. In various formats, the proposals call for the property owner to be compensated if rules or regulations reduce the value of mineral rights.
They’re a response to a proposal filed in late December that seeks to expand Colorado’s existing 500-foot buffer zones between oil and gas wells and homes.
None of the proposals have been approved for the 2018 ballot.
The proposal, backed by a group called Colorado Rising, calls for “2,500 foot buffer zones between oil and gas development and occupied buildings, such as homes and schools and vulnerable areas, such as playgrounds and drinking water sources.” It’s a statutory proposal, which if approved can be changed or repealed by the state legislature by majority vote.