A Greeley ban on oil and gas extraction enacted as a local ordinance in 1985, both by ballot initiative in a home rule city, and by city council action, was overturned by two 1992 Colorado Supreme Court cases, Voss v. Lundvall Bros. Inc and Bowen/Edwards Assoc. Inc. v. Board of County Commissioners of La Plata County, holding that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Act (O&GCA) preempts any outright ban as well as any local regulation that creates an “operational conflict” with O&GCA.… Read the rest
Archive | Preemption
RSS feed for this sectionColorado Preemptions of Local Government: The Need for the Colorado Community Rights Amendment to fight fracking
By Michele Swenson
Following is a list of some legislative and judicial preemptions of local government in Colorado:
State Preemption of Community Broadband
Telecommunications companies, i.e., Qwest and Comcast, lobbied the 2005 Colorado legislature to pass state preemption of municipal broadband, pending success of a restricted voter referendum process.
State Preemption of Local Gun Safety Laws
In 2003, an ALEC-NRA model bill for state retroactive preemption of local gun safety laws (SB-03-25) was signed by Colorado Governor Bill Owens, rendering local gun ordinances unenforceable.… Read the rest