Colorado Drilling Fine Hike Nears Final Approval
DENVER (AP) — A bill to increase fines on the oil and gas industry is nearing final approval in the Colorado Legislature.
The state Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday evening to the bill to hike maximum fines from $1,000 a day to $15,000 a day for companies that violate Colorado regulations.
The measure has already passed the House in identical form, so the bill faces just one more vote before it heads to the governor's desk.
A similar fines bill failed last year. But this year's bill has the support of Colorado energy industry because it no longer included minimum daily fines.
Colorado's maximum daily drilling fines haven't been hiked since 1955.
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