A House committee started work on a bill to add fees to natural-gas and oil companies to pay for additional local drilling inspectors. The same panel was considering ordering a study of whether Front Range drilling operations can harm human health.

The proposals are the latest push by ruling Democrats to put additional oversight on the industry. Additional bills to require more financial disclosure by drillers and to dramatically hike daily fines for spills and violations await votes.

Democrats haven’t ruled out a potential bill to give local governments new rights to exceed requirement by state gas and oil regulators.

House Democratic Leader Dickie Lee Hullinghorst told reporters Thursday that such a measure could be introduced in the next few days.

Legislative Democrats say the bills are the result of local demands for greater oversight. Technological advances have allowed the rise of drilling in places that never had it before, prompting worries that drilling in populated areas carries new health risks.

Residents “have a lot of concerns about what the environmental impacts and the human health impacts of this development are going to be,” said Democratic Rep. Randy Fischer of Fort Collins, sponsor of the local fee requirement.

The drilling debates threaten to fracture the Democratic majority in the Capitol. Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper zealously defends the industry, especially the controversial drilling procedure of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The administration has vowed to sue cities and counties that try to ban the technique, which involves injecting high-pressure mixtures of water, sand or gravel and chemicals to extract oil and gas from rock.

Hickenlooper has been silent on the proposals made by his Democratic counterparts in the Legislature, so it’s unclear whether he would veto any of the new limits that land on his desk.

Natural-gas and oil lobbyists have pressed hard this session to turn back attempts to limit drilling. Industry groups have been a constant presence at legislative hearings this year as drilling regulations have been considered.

Some drilling critics have griped that the industry’s push shows it’s too powerful.

“It appears there are more oil and gas lobbyists in this building than the state has inspectors,” said Boulder County drilling regulation volunteer Rod Bruski.

On the other side, industry groups are hoping lawmakers defer to an industry that brings thousands of direct and indirect jobs to Colorado.

“There are many jobs that are brought into this state,” said Carly West of the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry.