ELR Citation: 46 ELR 20090
No(s). 15SC668 (Colo. May 2, 2016)

The Supreme Court of Colorado held that state law preempts a city's five-year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing and waste disposal within city limits. Although the Colorado Constitution recognizes the sovereignty of "home rule cities," allowing home rule cities to regulate matters of local concern, hydraulic fracturing is a matter of mixed state and local concern. As such, the moratorium is subject to preemption by state law. And while the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Act does not expressly or even impliedly preempt the moratorium, it does preempt it due to operational conflict. The moratorium materially impedes the effectuation of the state's interest in the efficient and responsible development of oil and gas resources. As such, it is invalid and unenforceable.