Longmont City Fracking Ban, Question 300 (November 2012)

A Longmont City Fracking Ban Question was on the November 6, 2012 ballot in the city of Longmont, which is in Boulder and Weld Counties, Colorado. It was approved.

This measure was designed to ban the use of fracking in the city. Opponents of drilling in the city collected the 5,700 valid signatures required to place this issue on the ballot.

Aftermath

On July 24, 2014, Boulder District Court Judge Dolores Mallard approved an injunction against the enforcement of the measure. Proponents of Question 300 appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court. In 2016, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the measure was invalid, saying it was preempted by state law and that the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission has authority over the issue, rather than the city government.

In 2019, however, the legislature passed and Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed Senate Bill 181. Senate Bill 181 repealed state law granting authority over certain oil and gas land use issues to the Colorado oil and gas conservation commission and provided additional authority to local governments, thereby allowing Question 300 to be enforced.

Election results

Longmont City Question 300
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		25,347	59.90%
No		16,971	40.10%

Election results from Boulder County Current Election Results Summary and Weld County Summary of Election Results.

Text of measure

Language on the ballot:

“

Shall the City of Longmont Home Rule Charter be amended by adding a new article XVI to prohibit within the City of Longmont the use of Hydraulic Fracturing to extract oil, gas, or other hydrocarbons, and prohibit within the City of Longmont the storage in open pits or disposal of solid or liquid wastes created in connection with the hydraulic fracturing process, including but not limited to flowback or produced wastewater and brine? yes no

”

Full text of the proposed amendment

Article XVI. Longmont Public Health, Safety, and Wellness Act:

16.1. - Purpose.

To protect property, property values, public health, safety and welfare, and the environment by prohibiting the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract oil, gas, or other hydrocarbons within the City of Longmont.

16.2. - Findings.

The people of Longmont hereby make the following findings with respect to the process of hydraulic fracturing within the City of Longmont:

• The Colorado Constitution confers on all individuals in the state, including the citizens of Longmont, certain inalienable rights, including “the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; of acquiring, possessing and protecting property; and of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness,” Colo. Const. Art. II, Sec. 3;
• The Colorado Oil and Gas Act requires oil and gas resources to be extracted in a “manner consistent with protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources,” Colo. Rev. Stat. § 34-60-102;
• The well stimulation process known as hydraulic fracturing is used to extract deposits of oil, gas, and other hydrocarbons through the underground injection of large quantities of water, gels, acids or gases; sands or other proppants; and chemical additives, many of which are known to be toxic;
• The people of Longmont seek to protect themselves from the harms associated with hydraulic fracturing, including threats to public health and safety, property damage and diminished property values, poor air quality, destruction of landscape, and pollution of drinking and surface water;
• The people of Longmont have determined that the best way to safeguard our inalienable rights provided under the Colorado Constitution, and to and ensure the “protection of public health, safety, and welfare, including protection of the environment and wildlife resources” as provided under the Colorado Oil and Gas Act, is to prohibit hydraulic fracturing and the storage and disposal of its waste products within the City of Longmont.

16.3. – Policy.

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.

16.4. - Retroactive Application

In the event this measure is adopted by the voters, its provisions shall apply retroactively as of the date the measure was found to have qualified for placement on the ballot.

Similar measures

Local

aot Longmont City Fracking Ban, Question 300 (November 2012)
a Broomfield Five Year Fracking Suspension, Question 300 (November 2013)
aot City of Lafayette "Community Rights Act" Fracking Ban Amendment, Question 300 (November 2013)
a City of Boulder Five Year Fracking Suspension, Question 2H (November 2013)
a City of Fort Collins Five Year Fracking Suspension Initiative, Question 2A (November 2013)
d City of Loveland Two Year Fracking Suspension Initiative (June 2014)

Statewide

Colorado Distribution of Oil and Gas Revenue Initiative (2014)
Colorado Environmental Rights Amendment (2014)
Colorado Local Regulation of Oil and Gas Development Initiative (2014)
Colorado Mandatory Setback of Oil and Gas Wells Amendment (2014)
Colorado Right to Local Self-Government Amendment (2014)
Michigan Fracking Ban Initiative (2014)

• Michigan Fracking Ban Initiative (2016)

See also

• November 6, 2012 ballot measures in Colorado
• Boulder County, Colorado ballot measures
• Weld County, Colorado ballot measures

Additional reading

• Times Call, "Longmont seeks reversal of ruling that overturned city's fracking ban," January 17, 2015