The House is now debating HB 464, the controversial bill to ban any local restrictions on siting of oil and gas wells, reserving that regulation to the state Oil & Gas Commission. Rep. Bill Killen, D-Boise, asked sponsor Rep. Bert Stevenson, R-Rupert, the House resources chair, whether the bill would force local governments to accept a gas well in "the park in the middle of town. ... They would not be able to prohibit that?" he asked. Stevenson responded, "I can't imagine someone wanting to set up a well rig in the park in the middle of the town to drill for gas and oil, but that being the case, if, when they applied for the permit from the Department of Lands ... the Department of Lands would then contact the county and the city" to notify them.

Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, said the state Oil & Gas Commission by law isn't tasked with considering local zoning conflicts that well siting issues would raise. "The primary purpose of the commission is not to waste this resource," he said. "My city and my county will not be able to prevent drilling in residential neighborhoods. They will not be able to prevent drilling on the river, under the river that runs through it."
 

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