The City of Longmont’s oil and gas regulations were originally adopted in 2000.

In 2012, the Longmont City Council updated its rules and regulations on oil and gas activity that generally:

• prohibit new oil and gas surface operations in residential-zoned areas;
• require disclosures of fracking chemicals to the City’s first responders;
• require groundwater monitoring;
• provide recommended setbacks for new oil and gas facilities from occupied structures, residential lots, parks, recreational areas, and water bodies;
• and mitigate visual and noise impacts.

The regulations ask oil-and-gas operators to incorporate best management practices used throughout the state in their Longmont operations.

Air Quality

As directed by City Council, and in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainability Plan, an air quality monitoring program has been developed to monitor oil and gas emissions and the overall air quality in the City of Longmont.

Air monitoring instruments are located at Union Reservoir and Vance Brand Airport. Air monitors track the presence of compounds such as carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, methane, benzene, and particulate matter.

*NOTE: The air quality dashboard is best viewed using Google Chrome. Questions about interpretation of the air quality data should be directed to the air quality contractor, whose contact information can be found on the dashboard site.

Learn more about air quality along the Front Range and in Boulder County, as well as steps to take to better air quality on the City's Air Quality webpage.