Setback Measure For Oil & Gas Makes November Ballot
DENVER (CBS4)- The setback measure for oil and gas development in Colorado made the ballot, along with five other citizen-led initiatives.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon.
Initiative 97 would mandate that new oil and gas development, including fracking, be a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from occupied buildings and other areas designated as "vulnerable."
Williams said supporters of the measure submitted signatures on Aug. 6 and that the number of valid signatures was greater than 110 percent of the total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot.
Williams' office submitted this breakdown:
| Total number of qualified signatures submitted | 172,834 |
| 5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample) | 8,642 |
| Total number of entries accepted (valid) from the random sample | 6,160 |
| Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from the random sample | 2,482 |
| Number of projected valid signatures from the random sample | 123,195 |
| Total number of signatures required for placement on the ballot | 98,492 |
| Projected percentage of required valid signatures | 125.08% |
The other citizen-led initiatives on the November ballot are: a proposed constitutional amendment would require that property owners be compensated for any reduction in property value caused by state laws or regulations. Another measure would restrict the charges on payday loans. Two involve transportation project funding: one would authorize bonds and one would increase sales tax. The other is a proposed constitutional amendment that boosts taxes to raise money for education.
Also on the ballot are six measures referred by the Colorado General Assembly:
- Amendment V, age requirement for legislators,
- Amendment W, election ballot format for judicial retention elections,
- Amendment X, industrial hemp definition,
- Amendment Y, congressional redistricting,
- Amendment Z, legislative redistricting, and
- Amendment A, prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude.
