Secretary Wayne Williams: Oil-and-gas mandate measure gets approval to try for November ballot

DENVER, April 8, 2016 -- The backers of a proposed measure that mandates a setback for new oil-and-gas facilities completed the necessary steps to try to get the issue on the 2016 general election ballot, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced today.

Under proposed Initiative 78, oil-and-gas operations, including wells that are fracked, must be at least 2,500 feet away from occupied buildings or "areas of special concern," including lakes, playgrounds and open space.

It is the second oil-and-gas related measure given the go-ahead to collect signatures. The other, No. 40, would give local governments the authority to regulate oil-and-gas operations in their jurisdictions.

The organizers behind Initiative 78, Bruce Mason of Boulder and Karen Dike of Longmont, have an Aug. 8 deadline to turn in 98,492 valid voter signatures, which is 5 percent of the total votes cast for all candidates for Secretary of State in the last general election.

The Secretary of State's office earlier approved petition formats to collect signatures for three "food store licenses" measures: No. 104, No. 105 and No. 106.

The other proposals approved for collecting signatures are:

• No. 57: Voter registration
• No. 47: Iran divestment of public funds
• No. 53: Independent Ethics Commission

Already on the ballot is Proposed Initiative 20 or State Health Care System. Backers were informed last November they had collected enough valid vote signatures to put it before voters.