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ORDINANCE NO 1783 <br />SERIES 2019 <br />AN EMERGENCY ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 17.68 OF THE LOUISVILLE <br />MUNICIPAL CODE TO REQUIRE OIL AND GAS OPERATOR REGISTRATION AND <br />TO PROVIDE FOR A TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON THE SUBMISSION, <br />ACCEPTANCE, PROCESSING, OR APPROVAL OF ANY LAND USE <br />APPLICATIONS, OR ISSUANCE OF ANY SPECIAL USE PERMIT, RELATED TO <br />THE USE OF PROPERTY WITHIN THE CITY FOR OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, <br />EXTRACTION, AND RELATED ACTIVITIES UPON RECEIPT OF AN OPERATOR <br />REGISTRATION <br />WHEREAS, the City of Louisville is committed to protecting the health, safety, and <br />welfare of its citizens, and safeguarding the environment and wildlife resources, and <br />WHEREAS, the City Council believes it has not only the authority but the responsibility <br />to plan for and regulate the use of land within the City in order to best protect and promote the <br />health, safety, and welfare of present and future inhabitants and residents of the City, and to <br />guide future growth, development, and distribution of land uses within the City; and <br />WHEREAS, the City regulates the use of land by those ordinances codified in Title 17 of <br />the Louisville Municipal Code, and has enacted regulations governing oil and gas operations <br />within the City in Chapter 17 68 of the Louisville Municipal Code, and <br />WHEREAS, the City's oil and gas regulations were last updated in 1996 and there are <br />currently no oil or gas operations being conducted within the City; and <br />WHEREAS, on April 16, 2019, the Governor signed Senate Bill 19-181 ("SB 181"), which <br />amended the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act and granted local governments more authority <br />to regulate surface operations and nuisance impacts of oil and gas operations in order to better <br />protect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and to safeguard the environment and natural <br />resources, and <br />WHEREAS, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act also grants the Colorado Oil <br />and Gas Conservation Commission ("COGCC") authority to adopt statewide rules and <br />regulations concerning the development and production of oil and gas resources, and the <br />COGCC has begun the process of amending its rules and regulations in response to the <br />amendments contained in SB 181, and <br />WHEREAS, the City Council is aware that technological advances within the oil and gas <br />industry, coupled with market conditions and other factors, have resulted in significant increases <br />in oil and gas activities surrounding the City, which have included requests by mineral interest <br />holders and operators for permits for large scale multi -well sites that contain many more wells <br />per site than in previous applications, and <br />Ordinance No 1783, Series 2019 <br />Page 1 of 7 <br />