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An ambitious bill setting aggressive greenhouse gas emissions and reporting requirements has cleared its first hurdle in the Roundhouse.
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Last month, the New Mexico Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico to a rule that regulates ozone emissions. Environmental advocates say they are encouraged though industry leaders maintain this will hurt business.
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For years ozone levels monitored by the New Mexico Environment Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Permian Basin have exceeded national standards. EPA told state an ozone nonattainment zone was imminent for the Permian Basin, which would have brought over oversight of oilfield operations. Now that may not happen with the election of Donald Trump.
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The data is clear: The village of Loving in the Permian Basin has been hit hard by waves of pollutants from Big Oil, yet the EPA hasn’t acted to force a cleanup.
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With the EPA hamstrung by the Supreme Court and shaky state funding, New Mexico could face a future with reduced protections.
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A state Environment Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspection of oil and gas facilities in New Mexico’s portion of the Permian Basin found more than half may be violating air quality rules. Environment Secretary James Kenney said the results are “cause for alarm.”
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In the last legislative session, no reforms were made to oil and gas regulations despite bills to impose fines for oil spills, limit fresh water use and create buffers around schools. Looking forward to next year's session, the Legislative Finance Committee met in oil-rich southeastern New Mexico Tuesday to discuss reintroducing one of those failed proposals — setbacks for wells.
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New Mexico's landmark 2021 Methane Rule banned routine venting and flaring of natural gas. But some 15 exceptions for pipeline operators allow such venting and flaring in certain circumstances, including when gas is so far out of pipeline specifications that it constitutes an “emergency,” which is what the company claimed 10 times in the first two months of the year, each time releasing millions of cubic feet of the potent greenhouse gas.
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The recently approved state budget sent to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham increases funds for environmental conservation efforts, but some say it’s not enough.
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On Dec. 22, the federal Bureau of Land Management’s field office in Farmington publicly announced (quietly, via a webpage update) that work on an update and amendment to the district’s Resource Management Plans had been scrapped, with no replacement or path forward announced.