DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court is set to rule on a high-stakes lawsuit over how much weight regulators should give public health and the environment when setting rules for the oil and gas industry.
The court is expected to issue a decision Monday.
Regulators have long said that state law requires them to balance health and environmental concerns against the rights of energy companies to drill. But the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled in 2017 that health and environment should have a higher priority.
That could significantly change Colorado’s long-running battle over the proliferation of wells near fast-growing urban areas, giving opponents more power to argue for safety measures, including restrictions on where wells can be drilled.
The state attorney general asked the Supreme Court to overturn the Court of Appeals ruling.