The Rio Arriba County Gas and Oil Ordinance would split the County into two management areas: an “Energy Resource Development District” occupying the San Juan Basin region (approximately the western third) of the County, and a “Frontier Basin District” encompassing the Rio Chama watershed to the east.
The ordinance, which is currently in draft form, would give the County the power to regulate oil and gas drilling for the first time.
According to the County’s draft ordinance, drilling permit applications within the Energy District would involve a relatively streamlined administrative permitting process compared to that required for drilling in the Frontier District (see related story). Nevertheless, those Energy District requirements would be extensive. In addition to state permits, the draft ordinance would require that the Director approve a detailed development permit application for new drilling within the Energy District. Even after the requirements are met, however, the Director would be free to impose additional requirements, according to the draft ordinance.
According to the draft ordinance, application requirements will include:
• Copies of all related state Oil Conservation Division documents and unspecified “proof of Compliance with the state Surface Owners’ Protection Act;”
• Proof of comprehensive general liability insurance;
• Proof of state Public Regulation Commission approval for the applicant to do business in the state;
• Descriptions of development activities planned, including the number, arrangement and size of wells proposed;
• Detailed maps of project areas and surface ownership rights for land adjacent to the proposed project area — including drilling plats from state permits and maps of nearby surface waters, ditches, steep slopes, roads, pipeline routes, cultural and archeological sites, wildlife habitat areas and habitat corrridors;
• Traffic plans detailing vehicle and pipeline routes and utility easements;
• The location of all fire, police and emergency response services;
• Assessments of a project’s visual impacts;
• A drainage management plan for runoff from access roads, well pads and pits;
• Re-vegetation plans for returning the facility to its “natural condition” once the well is closed;
• Descriptions of the applicant’s corporate structure, subsidiaries, parent companies — and a complete list of all oil and gas facilities operating in the state;
• A list of all operations anywhere in the world where the applicant has had permits suspended or revoked, or where their facilities are not in compliance with regulatory requirements;
• Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for chemicals that will be present;
• A written, County-approved and annually-reviewed emergency response plan for explosions, fires, gas or water pipeline leaks, hydrogen sulfide or other toxic gas emissions, or hazardous chemical spills;
• Any additional information required by the County’s Planning director.
In addition to all of the draft ordinance’s permit application requirements for new drilling in the Energy District, gas and oil development in the “Frontier District” (Rio Chama watershed) portion of the county would require additional, more stringent rules.
According to the draft ordinance, drilling in the Frontier District will be subject to special use permit applications and public hearings, in addition to administrative development permits.
Special use permit applications will include environmental, geological and hydrological reports. Applicants will be required to have pre-application meetings with County officials and surface property owners affected by proposed drilling. And at the County’s discretion and applicant’s expense — the applicant may be required to hire expert consultants to evaluate specific concerns raised at those meetings. The draft ordinance states, “The applicant shall make a cash, certified or bank check, or letter of credit, deposit in an amount to be determined by the Director for each application submitted, to cover all of the County’s expenses incurred to engage such consultants as the Director considers necessary and appropriate.”