City of Longmont Colorado v. Colorado Oil & Gas Ass'n

2016 CO 29, 369 P.3d 573, 82 ERC (BNA) 1509, 2016 Colo. LEXIS 442, 2016 WL 1757509, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20089, 182 Oil & Gas Rep. 210
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMay 2, 2016
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 15SC667
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2016 CO 29 (City of Longmont Colorado v. Colorado Oil & Gas Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Longmont Colorado v. Colorado Oil & Gas Ass'n, 2016 CO 29, 369 P.3d 573, 82 ERC (BNA) 1509, 2016 Colo. LEXIS 442, 2016 WL 1757509, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20089, 182 Oil & Gas Rep. 210 (Colo. 2016).

Opinion

JUSTICE GABRIEL

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

4[ 1 Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a process used to stimulate oil and gas production from an existing well. See Patrick H. Martin & Bruce M. Kramer, The Law of Oil and Gas 14-15 (9th ed.2011). Viscous fluid containing a proppant such as sand is injected into the well at high pressure, causing fractures that emanate from the well bore, Id. at 15. The pressure is then released, allowing the fluid to return to the well, Id. The proppant, however, remains in the fractures, preventing them from closing. Id. When the fluid is drained, the cracks allow oil and gas to flow to the well-bore. Coastal Oil & Gas Corp,. v. Garza Energy Tr., 268 S.W.3d 1, 7 (Tex.2008). First used commercially in 1949, the process is now common worldwide. Id.

T2 As the briefing in this case shows, the virtues and vices of fracking are hotly contested. Proponents tout the economic advantages of extracting previously inaccessible oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons, while opponents warn of health risks and damage to the environment. 'We fully respect these competing views and do not question the sincerity and good faith beliefs of any of the parties now before us. This case, however, does not require us to weigh in on these differences of opinion, much less to try to resolve them. [577]*577Rather, we must confront a far narrower, albeit no less significant, legal question, namely, whether the City of Longmont's bans on fracking and the storage and disposal of fracking waste within its city limits are preempted by state law.

T3 Applying well-established preemption principles, we conclude that an operational conflict exists between Longmont's fracking bans and applicable state law, Accordingly, we hold that Article XVI is preempted by state law and, therefore, is invalid and unenforceable, We thus affirm the district court's order enjoining Longmont from enforcing Article XVI and remand this case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Facts and Procedural History

T4 In the fall of 2012, the residents of Longmont, a home-rule municipality, voted to add Article XVI to Longmont's home-rule charter, Article XVI provides:

It shall hereby be the policy of the City of Longmont that it is prohibited to use hydraulic fracturing to extract oil, gas, or other hydrocarbons within the City of Longmont. In addition, within the City of Longmont, it is prohibited to store in open pits or dispose of solid or liquid wastes created in connection with the hydraulic fracturing process, including but not limited to flowback or produced wastewater and brine. _

15 Later that year, the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (the Association), an industry organization, sued Longmont, seeking a declaratory judgment invalidating, and a permanent injunction enjoining Longmont from enforcing, Article XVI. The district court allowed Our Health, Our Future, Our Long-mont; the Sierra Club; Food & Water Watch; and Earthworks (collectively, the cit, izen intervenors) to intervene as defendants in support of Article XVI. In addition, TOP Operating Company, a local oil and gas company, and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (the Commission), the state agency tasked with administering the provisions of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, §§ 84-60-101 to -180, C.R.S. (2015), see § 34-60-104.5(2)(a), C.R.S. (2015), joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs,

I 6 Subsequently, the three plaintifis-the Association, TOP, and the Commission-moved for summary judgment. In a lengthy and thorough written order, the district court granted these motions, ruling that the Oil and Gas Conservation Act preempted Longmont's bans on fracking and the storage and disposal of fracking waste. . The court observed that a state statute may preempt a local regulation in one of three ways: expressly, impliedly, or because of an operational conflict. Although the court "recognize{[d] the possibility that implied preemption may apply," it ultimately based its conclusion on what it determined as a matter of law to be an "obvious and patent on its face" operational conflict between state law and Article XVI. The court thus granted the plaintiffs' requests for a declaratory judgment and an order enjoining Longmont from enforcing Article XVI,. The court, however, stayed its order, pending appeal. Consequently, although declared invalid, Article XVI has remained in force throughout these proceedings.

17 Longmont and the citizen intervenors appealed the district court's order to the Colorado Court of Appeals, and a number of interested parties filed amicus curiae briefs. Before hearing oral argument, however, a division of the court of appeals requested a transfer of this case to this court pursuant to section 18-4-109, C.R.S. (2015), and C.AR. 50. We accepted the transfer, and Long-mont and the citizen intervenors now argue that (1) the district court erred in its preemption analysis and (2) the inalienable rights provision of the Colorado Constitution trumps any preemption analysis and requires us to conclude that Article XVI supersedes state law, After discussing the applicable standard of review, we address each of these contentions in turn.

II. Standard of Review

18 The Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure allow a district court to enter summary judgment before trial when "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." C.R.C.P. 56(c). In deter-whether summary judgment is prop[578]*578er, a district court grants the nonmoving party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the undisputed facts and resolves all doubts against the moving party. Bebo Constr. Co. v. Mattox & O'Brien, P.C., 990 P.2d 78, 83 (Colo.1999). 'In responding to a properly supported summary judgment motion, however, the nonmoving party may not rest on its meré. allegations or denials of the opposing party's pleadings but must provide specific facts demonstrating a genuine issue for trial. C.R.C.P. §6(e).

19 In reviewing a summary judgment order, an' appellate court applies the same standard as the district court, Churchey v. Adolph Coors Co., 759 P.2d 1336, 1340 (Colo.1988). Thus, our task on review is to determine whether a genuine issue of material fact existed and whether the district court correctly applied the law when it invalidated Article XVI In doing so, we review the district court's legal conclusions de novo. See Webb v. City of Black Hawk, 2013 CO 9, ¶ 16, 295 P.3d 480, 486; see also Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs v. Colo. Oil & Gas Conservation Comm'n, 81 P.3d 1119, 1124 (Colo.App.2008) {noting that the validity of a rule adopted by the Commission presents a question of law subject to de novo review).

10 We reject the citizen intervenorg' argument that the plaintiffs must establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Article XVI is preempted. The question of preemption is a matter of law requiring us "to establish a priority between potentially conflicting laws enacted by various levels of government." Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs v. Bowen/Edwards Assocs., Inc., 830 P.2d 1045, 1055 (Colo.1992).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 CO 29, 369 P.3d 573, 82 ERC (BNA) 1509, 2016 Colo. LEXIS 442, 2016 WL 1757509, 46 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20089, 182 Oil & Gas Rep. 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-longmont-colorado-v-colorado-oil-gas-assn-colo-2016.