Colorado Code
Article 60 - Oil and Gas Conservation
§ 34-60-103. Definitions

As used in this article 60, unless the context otherwise requires:

(4.3) "Division of parks and wildlife" means the division of parks and wildlife identified in article 9 of title 33, C.R.S.
(4.5) "Exploration and production waste" means those wastes that are generated during the drilling of and production from oil and gas wells or during primary field operations and that are exempt from regulation as hazardous wastes under subtitle c of the federal "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976", 42 U.S.C. sec. 6901 to 6934, as amended.

(5.3) "Local government" means, except with regard to section 34-60-104 (2)(a)(I), a:

(5.5) "Minimize adverse impacts" means, to the extent necessary and reasonable to protect public health, safety, and welfare, the environment, and wildlife resources, to:

(6.2) "Oil and gas facility" means equipment or improvements used or installed at an oil and gas location for the exploration, production, withdrawal, treatment, or processing of crude oil, condensate, exploration and production waste, or gas.
(6.4) "Oil and gas location" means a definable area where an oil and gas operator has disturbed or intends to disturb the land surface in order to locate an oil and gas facility.
(6.5) "Oil and gas operations" means exploration for oil and gas, including the conduct of seismic operations and the drilling of test bores; the siting, drilling, deepening, recompletion, reworking, or abandonment of an oil and gas well, underground injection well, or gas storage well; production operations related to any such well including the installation of flow lines and gathering systems; the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, or disposal of exploration and production wastes; and any construction, site preparation, or reclamation activities associated with such operations.
(6.8) "Operator" means any person who exercises the right to control the conduct of oil and gas operations.

(7.1) "Parks and wildlife commission" means the parks and wildlife commission created in section 33-9-101, C.R.S.
(7.5) "Permit" means any permit, sundry notice, notice of intention, or other approval, including any conditions of approval, which is granted, issued, or approved by the commission.

(10.5) "Surface owner" means any person owning all or part of the surface of land upon which oil and gas operations are conducted, as shown by the tax records of the county in which the tract of land is situated, or any person with such rights under a recorded contract to purchase.
(10.7) "Underground natural gas storage cavern" means a facility that stored natural gas in an underground cavern or abandoned mine on or before January 1, 2000. An underground natural gas storage cavern includes all surface or subsurface rights and appurtenances associated with the underground injection, storage, and withdrawal of natural gas, but does not include any compressor stations or pipeline facilities subject to regulation by the public utilities commission or the United States department of transportation.

Source: L. 51: pp. 652, 653, §§ 3, 4, 5. CSA: C. 118, §§ 68(3), 68(4), 68(5). L. 52: p. 132, § 1. CRS 53: § 100-6-3. L. 55: p. 649, § 2. C.R.S. 1963: § 100-6-3. L. 94: (4.5), (6.5), (6.8), (7.5), and (10.5) added, p. 1979, § 3, effective June 2. L. 2001: (10.7) added, p. 1303, § 1, effective June 5. L. 2007: (4.3), (5.5), (14), and (15) added, p. 1329, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2011: (4.3) and (14) amended and (7.1) added, (SB 11-208), ch. 293, p. 1394, § 27, effective July 1. L. 2012: (7.1) amended and (14) repealed, (HB 12-1317), ch. 248, p. 1235, § 89, effective June 4. L. 2019: IP, (5.5), (11), (12), and (13) amended and (5.3), (6.2), and (6.4) added, (SB 19-181), ch. 120, p. 506, § 7, effective April 16.
Editor's note: Subsection (7.1) was numbered as (1.5) in Senate Bill 11-208 but has been renumbered on revision for ease of location.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1994 act enacting subsections (4.5), (6.5), (6.8), (7.5), and (10.5), see section 1 of chapter 317, Session Laws of Colorado 1994.