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The Center for Western Priorities released a new report that examines oil and gas safety enforcement programs across six Western states. The report found vast differences in the way states approach oil and gas safety, from an active and successful enforcement program in Colorado to a scandal-plagued and toothless program in Utah.
States play a critical role in protecting public health and the environment by inspecting oil and gas facilities, identifying violations, and, when appropriate, issuing financial penalties.
However, the new analysis finds that few Western states issue financial penalties that are adequate to ensure oil and gas companies are complying with regulations, with some states issuing no financial penalties at all. Western state oil and gas enforcement programs only collected 62 fines in 2018, with more than 95 percent of the total $5.5 million value assessed in Colorado. New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada collected zero fines in 2018. Critically, some state enforcement programs also lack transparency, leaving the public in the dark.
Enforcing environmental and safety regulations is especially critical as the coronavirus pandemic intersects with market forces to send oil prices tumbling. With widespread operations and crashing oil prices, companies are looking to cut costs, and many face the prospect of bankruptcy. With low financial consequences for violations, concerns are increasing that companies may see noncompliance as a cheaper option than correctly monitoring their operations or shutting down wells.
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What we want is for the courts to encourage or institute a climate recovery plan that lowers our fossil fuel rates to the point where we're not harming the environment anymore, and to uphold our constitutional rights for a clean environment."
