Future looks bad for Sonnenberg’s oil, gas valve tampering bill

    A bill to make tampering with oil and gas operations a felony has cleared the Republican-controlled state Senate, but House Democrats signaled almost immediately what they intend to do with it by assigning it to a “kill” committee.
    Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling is the sponsor of Senate Bill 17-035, which would change the penalty for tampering with oil and gas valves from a misdemeanor to a class 6 felony, the lowest level felony in state law. It still carries a penalty of up to 18 months in jail and up to a $100,000 fine.
    According to Senate Democrats and environmentalists who testified against the bill in mid-February, there’s little evidence of this kind of activity. Sen. Matt Jones, a Democrat from Louisville, said there have been 10 cases of tampering in the last three years but only one conviction. “It hardly ever happens,” he said.
    Sonnenberg and those in the oil and gas industry point to increased vandalism at oil and gas sites. But he agreed last week to scale back some of the bill’s harsher language that said tampering that put other people “in danger of death or serious bodily injury” would be subject to a felony charge.

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