La Plata County's proposed regulations have drawn a large number of public comments, ranging from concerns about the industry's environmental effects to worries that the regulations will be overly onerous for drillers.
Krista Wilson, the county's oil and gas planner, said staff was recommending that the county wait for the state to preserve the good working relationship between the two.
"If we throw out a bunch of new rules it could jeopardize what we have going," she told commissioners Tuesday during a meeting scheduled to discuss the issue.
County Attorney Jeff Robbins said the two sets of rules could overlap in various areas, including adjacent landowners, wildlife, noise and other environmental issues.
He recommended putting the county's rules on hold "so we don't end up in two different sandboxes, not playing together," he said.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is scheduled to release a draft of its new rules later this month. The date for adoption is July 1.
Josh Joswick, an organizer who works on gas and oil issues with the San Juan Citizens Alliance, urged commissioners to move forward with the county regulations, but Christy Zeller, executive director of the La Plata County Energy Council, suggested waiting.
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"It just seems prudent to let everyone work together," Zeller said.
But Joswick said that La Plata County, which has pushed to retain its regulatory authority, should not stand down now.
"It strikes me as not being the most consistent approach," he said.
Commissioner Kellie Hotter said she favored waiting.
"At this point it doesn't seem prudent to proceed through when we have other things happening on a concurrent track," she said.
But Commissioner Wally White said the county had already been working on its rules for a year and half and he preferred approving them, then changing them later if needed.
Commissioners agreed that at their April 1 meeting they would decide how to proceed.
