HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 8/15/2023 - Memorandum From Kirk Longstein Re: Land Use Code Buffer Standards Near Existing Oil And Gas FacilitiesPlanning, Development & Transportation Services
Community Development & Neighborhood Services
281 North College Avenue
P.O. Box 580
Fort Collins, CO 80522.0580
970.416.2740
970.224.6134- fax
fcgov.com
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: August 10, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
THRU: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager
Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager
Caryn Champine, Director of Planning, Development and Transportation
Paul Sizemore, Community Development and Neighborhood Services Director
Clay Frickey, Interim Planning Manager
FROM: Kirk Longstein, Senior Environmental Planner
RE: Land Use Code buffer standards near existing oil and gas facilities
Bottom Line:
The purpose of this memo is to provide Council with a summary of stakeholder feedback related to updates to
the land use code that increase setback requirements for new and existing homes near oil and gas facilities.
Based on public engagement, staff has incorporated feedback into the draft ordinance for Council’s
consideration on September 5. Below is a summary of feedback themes and how staff has incorporated
feedback into the draft ordinance.
Background:
Based on Council direction during the October 25, 2022, work session discussion and the April 2023 adoption
of Ordinance no. 151, 2022 for new oil and gas well sittings, Staff seek to update the reverse setback
development standards (LUC 3.8.26) to reflect recent changes in the Colorado Energy and Carbon
Management Commission (ECMC) regulations and lessons learned over the past 4 years, including:
Apply reverse setbacks to all occupiable buildings, not just residential uses; and,
Explicitly state required setbacks, rather than refer generally to ECMC rules; and,
Create a more predictable pathway for abandoned/inactive well types; and,
Eliminate the buffer exemption for crossings of arterial roadways.
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Land Use Code buffer standards near existing oil and gas facilities
Summary of proposed oil and gas reverse setback Code updates:
A draft of the Code was posted to the public ahead of the planning and zoning commission hearing on July 17,
2023. The staff recommendations included the following:
1. Apply oil and gas reverse setbacks to all occupiable buildings, not just residential uses.
2. Eliminate the buffer exemption for crossings of arterial roadways.
3. Increase buffer for developments near existing oil and gas operations from 500’ to 2,000’ to match ECMC
and Fort Collins new code setbacks.
4. Allow modification of standards for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Injection well buffers, no less than 500’.
5. Decrease soil-gas and ground water monitoring requirements for plugged and abandoned wells from once
every 5 years to once prior to permits and once again at the end of a five-year construction guarantee.
6. No change to buffer for developments near existing abandoned wells (not fully reclaimed) at 500’
7. No change to buffer near plugged and abandoned wells (fully reclaimed) at 150’
8. No change to disclosure requirements for future property owners via a property covenant
9. Add requirements for point-of-sale disclosure notice for new developments and existing homes within a
2,000’ buffer.
10. Add prohibition on detached occupiable buildings from existing buildings located within the oil and gas
buffer.
Community Feedback Summary:
Staff coordinated a series of group meeting s and continues to seek feedback from community partners and
private landowners impacted by proposed buffering standards. Focused meetings were held to gather general
community input on regulating reverse setbacks from existing oil and gas wells. The following group
engagement is planned to inform code updates:
Date Group
5/31/2023 Larimer Alliance
6/1/2023 Sonders
6/6/2023 Sonders
6/7/2023 Montava
6/9/2023 Larimer Alliance/Earthworks/Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
6/13/2023 Sonders/Tami McMullin, PhD Toxicologist
6/21/2023 City of Fort Collins Parks Planning
6/22/2023 Larimer Alliance/Fort Collins Sustainability Group/Sierra Club
7/7/2023 Home Builders Association
7/17/2023 Air Quality Advisory Board
7/19/2023 Natural Resources Advisory Board
7/20/2023 Planning and Zoning Commission
7/26/2023 Sierra Club
8/8/2023 Board of Realtors
8/9/2023 Land Conservation Stewardship Board
9/12/2023 Urban Land Institute
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Land Use Code buffer standards near existing oil and gas facilities
Feedback theme Feedback Summary How has staff addressed the feedback?
Increase Monitoring
requirements adjacent
inactive oil and gas
wells
In 2018 as well as feedback heard
in 2023, environmental community
members wish to increase the
groundwater/soil gas monitoring
requirements adjacent fully
reclaimed wells (plugged and
abandoned).
Staff recommend updates to the Code that include
monitoring once before a permit is issued and again at
the end of a 5-year construction guarantee rather than
every year of a new development project’s guarantee
period.
Since the city started collecting environmental site
assessments in 2018, there is no evidence of
contamination adjacent fully reclaimed wells within the
proposed buffer. Staff recognize that cement is not a
forever product and at some point, in the future,
reclaimed wells may need repair.
Disclosure
requirements for future
homeowners
Stakeholders expressed concern
that monitoring is the responsibility
of future residents after a
developer’s 5-year construction
guarantee. Due to this time-bound
responsibility, stakeholders have
asked that disclosures state clearly
any potential for hydrocarbon
contamination.
The Board of Realtors have
commented that disclosure
requirements should clearly state
the responsible party and limit
requirements to the specific buffer
standards, not a flat 2,000’ from all
wells.
Staff has updated the draft and provided prescriptive
disclosure requirements for new developments and
existing homes that is specific to buffer requirements
and specifies the seller as the responsible party.
Reduce the 2,000-feet
buffer for Injection
(EOR) Wells
The development community is
suggesting that injection (EOR)
wells receive a reduced buffer due
to the fact that there is decreased
air quality risk from these wells as
compared to injection wells with
onsite storage tanks or used for
waste disposal.
As prescribed by the Colorado Water Quality Control
Commission’s Regulation 41 and the Federal Safe
Drinking Water Act, a specified area which ground
water is classified and an area of interest to monitor
public health risks adjacent Class II UIC wells (e.g.,
EOR – Injection well) is identified. The distances
where contamination related to a UIC wells ranges
from .25 mile up to 2 miles from a potential source of
pollution. It is within these distances where the
potential for contamination may occur and therefore
the Staff 2,000’ reverse setback recommendation
mitigates the potential risks permeating from the “the
Zone of Endangering influence” as defined by the
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
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Land Use Code buffer standards near existing oil and gas facilities
Increase 2,000-feet
buffer for all active oil
and gas wells.
(e.g., Producing and
EOR injection wells)
Although the State ECMC has a
presumptive 2,000-feet setback,
Fort Collins should ensure public
health and safety by increasing
setbacks established by EXMC
rules.
At this time, staff does not have evidence to support a
buffer beyond 2,000-feet.
The ECMC has implemented a 2,000-foot setback
rule (ECMC Rule 604), which pertains to permitting for
new well development, not existing wells. This setback
was based on air emission and modeling studies
pertaining to unconventional oil and gas operations.
Additionally, the State ECMC requires mechanical
integrity testing every 5 years which would serve as
an indicator of a potential contamination event
adjacent EOR injection wells.
Variance from the
2,000-feet buffer
Adopted in 2018, 500’ is the current
reverse setback standard. Staff has
heard strong support from the
development community to allow for
a modification of standards per
criteria listed under Sec. 2.8 of the
land use code to provide a variance
from the proposed 2,000’ setback
and no less than 500’.
Environmental stakeholders share
concerns that aging infrastructure
and historic contamination events
within the area of concern should
preclude a reduced buffer through a
modification of standards.
Because the peer-reviewed scientific literature is
incomplete for buffering from EOR injection wells,
Staff recommend a modification of standards from
EOR injection wells where appropriate and when the
four standards of LUC 2.8.2 (H) can be met.
Impacts to property
values
Real estate professionals have
shared concerns that these
regulations signal a perception to
potential home buyers that may
negatively impact home values.
Staff do not assess the impacts to property value as
part of development review applications.
The city commissioned an appraiser to try to answer
this question in 2014 but could not come up with a
conclusive determination. To date, few scholarly
property impact studies have been published, but the
literature does suggest that a negative environmental
event associated with fracking will likely have an
adverse impact on property values in proximity to the
event. www.fcgov.com/oilandgas/pdf/hunsperger-
report.pdf?1453314619
Staff Work Plan - Next Steps to Address Fort Collins Oil and Gas wells.
COMPLETED. Financial assurances have been approved by State and are in place, ensuring operator
has sufficient funds to plug, abandon and reclaim.
SCHEDULED. City Council hearing to adopt updates to the oil and gas reverse setbacks, September 5.
Q4 2023 PRIOIRTY. The City will submit an application to the State to order additional low and non-
producing wells to be plugged and abandoned.
ONGOING. Policy discussion to optimize enforcement and operational standards.
DocuSign Envelope ID: 410ABB29-D0C0-4CAB-957E-904F470A5EC8