Company: PED
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001654954-25-003703
Chunk: 29

Company: PEDEVCO CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-31
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 29
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 Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (“CDPHE”) Air Quality Control Commission, including stringent requirements relating to monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting matters. In 2020, the ECMC relied in part on a previously-performed human health risk assessment in adopting new siting requirements. The new requirements prohibit the siting of locations within 2,000 feet of a school facility or child-care center. A similar 2,000-foot setback requirement applies to residential and high occupancy building units, but there are “off ramps” allowing oil and gas operators to site their drill pads as close as 500 feet from building units in certain circumstances. The ECMC also generally prohibited the venting or flaring of natural gas during drilling, completion, and production operations.

In addition, on August 30, 2022, environmental groups filed a petition for rulemaking with the ECMC, petitioning the ECMC to adopt new rules to evaluate and address the cumulative air impacts of oil and gas development in Colorado. The petition proposes to address the cumulative air impacts of oil and gas development by effectively prohibiting any oil and gas project located in an area where the air quality exceeds, or may exceed, applicable air quality standards. In effect, the petition for rulemaking calls for a blanket prohibition on oil and gas development in much of Colorado. The COGCC denied the petition; however, the COGCC initiated a cumulative impacts stakeholder process to determine how best to address cumulative impacts going forward, which may include additional regulations.

Since 2022, the ECMC has introduced regulatory measures impacting the oil and gas industry, including: (i) in August 2024, the ECMC proposed regulations aimed at assessing and mitigating the cumulative effects of oil and gas operations, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by environmental burdens, which rules are now in place as of December 15, 2024; and (ii) in April 2022, the ECMC implemented new financial assurance rules mandating that oil and gas operators provide adequate funds to cover well plugging and site reclamation. 

AQCC rulemakings are intended to further Colorado’s legislative directive to reduce carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) emissions to attain climate action goals. AQCC is expected to undertake several rulemaking efforts to further reduce emissions in the next several years. For example, in October 2023, the AQCC adopted the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Management for Manufacturing Phase 2 rule, which requires 18 of Colorado’s highest