"This analysis addresses each of the proposed regulatory amendments, and provides information on its purpose, its anticipated benefits and costs, the persons affected, and certain alternatives."

The mission of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ("Commission") is to foster the responsible development of Colorado's oil and gas natural resources. In Colorado, this means that the development of these natural resources must be consistent with protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including the environment and wildlife resources, at all times.

Two recent stories in The Denver Post on Sept. 12 and a longer version on Sept. 13 focused on spills and releases associated with Colorado's oil and gas industry. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission believes it's critical to responsibly address spills, releases, and other impacts to the environment and that such work is key to our mission to balance a thriving industry with protection of our air, land, water and health.

Senate Bill 13-202 mandated the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) use a "riskbased strategy for inspecting oil and gas locations that targets the operational phases that are most likely to experience spills, excess emissions, and other types of violations and that prioritizes more indepth inspections." To accomplish this, the COGCC created a "Risk-Based Inspections" report in February 2014.

Local level political activity in Colorado related to oil and gas development peaked in the late summer of 2014. This report examines the varied local political activity with two primary goals. The first goal is to describe the variety of political activity at the local level. The second goal is to explain the relationship between the level of oil and gas production in a local jurisdiction and the related local political activity. Political activities...