New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico House Bill HB259 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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28	28	HOUSE BILL 259
29	29	57
30	30	TH LEGISLATURE
31	31	-
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33	33	STATE
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35	35	OF
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37	37	NEW
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39	39	MEXICO
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41	41	-
42	42	FIRST SESSION
43	43	,
44	44
45	45	2025
46	46	INTRODUCED BY
47	47	Matthew McQueen and Kristina Ortez
48	48	AN ACT
49	49	RELATING TO NATURAL RESOURCES; INCREASING CIVIL PENALTIES
50	50	ASSESSED FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE OIL AND GAS ACT; INCREASING
51	51	CERTAIN APPLICATION FEES IN THE OIL AND GAS ACT AND ADJUSTING
52	52	THEM FOR INFLATION.
53	53	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
54	54	SECTION 1. Section 70-2-31 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981,
55	55	Chapter 362, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
56	56	"70-2-31. VIOLATIONS OF THE OIL AND GAS ACT--PENALTIES.--
57	57	A. Whenever the division determines that a person
58	58	violated or is violating the Oil and Gas Act or any provision
59	59	of any rule, order, permit or authorization issued pursuant to
60	60	that act, the division may seek compliance and civil penalties
61	61	by:
62	62	(1) issuing a notice of violation;
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90	90	(2) commencing a civil action in district
91	91	court for appropriate relief, including injunctive relief; or
92	92	(3) issuing a temporary cessation order if the
93	93	division determines that the violation is causing or will cause
94	94	an imminent danger to public health or safety or a significant
95	95	imminent environmental harm. The cessation order will remain
96	96	in effect until the earlier of when the violation is abated or
97	97	thirty days unless a hearing is held before the division and a
98	98	new order is issued.
99	99	B. A notice of violation issued pursuant to
100	100	Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of this section shall:
101	101	(1) state with reasonable specificity the
102	102	nature of the violation; [shall ]
103	103	(2) require compliance immediately or within a
104	104	specified time period; [shall ]
105	105	(3) provide notice of the availability of an
106	106	informal review and the date of a hearing before the division;
107	107	and [shall]
108	108	(4) provide notice of potential sanctions,
109	109	including assessing a penalty, suspending, canceling or
110	110	terminating a permit or authorization, shutting in a well and
111	111	plugging and abandonment of a well and forfeiting financial
112	112	assurance pursuant to Section 70-2-14 NMSA 1978.
113	113	C. If the notice of violation is not resolved
114	114	informally within thirty days after service of the notice, the
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143	143	division shall hold a hearing and determine whether the
144	144	violation should be upheld and whether any sanctions, including
145	145	civil penalties, shall be assessed. In assessing a penalty
146	146	authorized by this section, the division shall take into
147	147	account the seriousness of the violation, any good faith
148	148	efforts to comply with the applicable requirements, any history
149	149	of noncompliance under the Oil and Gas Act and other relevant
150	150	factors. When a decision is rendered by the division after a
151	151	hearing, any party of record adversely affected shall have the
152	152	right to have the matter heard de novo before the commission
153	153	pursuant to Section 70-2-13 NMSA 1978.
154	154	D. Any civil penalty assessed by a court or by the
155	155	division or commission pursuant to this section may not exceed
156	156	[two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ] ten thousand
157	157	dollars ($10,000) per day of noncompliance for each violation
158	158	unless the violation presents a risk either to the health or
159	159	safety of the public or of causing significant environmental
160	160	harm, or unless the noncompliance continues beyond a time
161	161	specified in the notice of violation or order issued by the
162	162	division, commission or court, whereupon the civil penalty may
163	163	not exceed [ten thousand dollars ($10,000) ] twenty-five
164	164	thousand dollars ($25,000) per day of noncompliance for each
165	165	violation. No penalty assessed by the division or commission
166	166	after a hearing may exceed [two hundred thousand dollars
167	167	($200,000)] three million six hundred fifty thousand dollars
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196	196	($3,650,000); provided that such limitation does not apply to
197	197	penalties assessed by a court.
198	198	E. The commission shall make rules, pursuant to
199	199	Section 70-2-12.2 NMSA 1978, providing procedures for the
200	200	issuance of notices of violations, the assessment of penalties
201	201	and the conduct of informal proceedings and hearings pursuant
202	202	to this section.
203	203	F. It is unlawful, subject to a criminal penalty of
204	204	a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) or
205	205	imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both such
206	206	fine and imprisonment, for any person to knowingly and
207	207	willfully:
208	208	(1) violate any provision of the Oil and Gas
209	209	Act or any rule, regulation or order of the commission or the
210	210	division issued pursuant to that act; or
211	211	(2) do any of the following for the purpose of
212	212	evading or violating the Oil and Gas Act or any rule,
213	213	regulation or order of the commission or the division issued
214	214	pursuant to that act:
215	215	(a) make any false entry or statement in
216	216	a report required by the Oil and Gas Act or by any rule,
217	217	regulation or order of the commission or division issued
218	218	pursuant to that act;
219	219	(b) make or cause to be made any false
220	220	entry in any record, account or memorandum required by the Oil
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249	249	and Gas Act or by any rule, regulation or order of the
250	250	commission or division issued pursuant to that act;
251	251	(c) omit or cause to be omitted from any
252	252	such record, account or memorandum full, true and correct
253	253	entries; or
254	254	(d) remove from this state or destroy,
255	255	mutilate, alter or falsify any such record, account or
256	256	memorandum.
257	257	G. For the purposes of Subsection F of this
258	258	section, each day of violation shall constitute a separate
259	259	offense.
260	260	H. Any person who knowingly and willfully procures,
261	261	counsels, aids or abets the commission of any act described in
262	262	Subsection A or F of this section shall be subject to the same
263	263	penalties as are prescribed in Subsection D or F of this
264	264	section."
265	265	SECTION 2. Section 70-2-39 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019,
266	266	Chapter 260, Section 1) is amended to read:
267	267	"70-2-39. FEES--[APPROPRIATION ] FEE ADJUSTMENTS--OIL
268	268	CONSERVATION DIVISION SYSTEMS AND HEARINGS FUND .--
269	269	A. The following fees, as adjusted for inflation
270	270	pursuant to Subsection B of this section , are required to be
271	271	paid to the [oil conservation ] division [of the energy,
272	272	minerals and natural resources department ] with each
273	273	application for:
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302	302	(1) [with each application for ] a non-federal
303	303	and non-Indian permit to drill, deepen, plug back or reenter a
304	304	well, the applicant shall submit to the division a
305	305	nonrefundable fee of [five hundred dollars ($500) ] one thousand
306	306	five hundred dollars ($1,500) ;
307	307	(2) [with each individual application for ]
308	308	administrative approval of a non-standard location, downhole
309	309	commingle, surface commingle, off-lease measurement, release
310	310	notification and corrective action, change of operator,
311	311	application for modification to surface waste management
312	312	facility, request for the creation of a new pool, proposed
313	313	alternative method permit or closure plan application or
314	314	authorization to move produced water, the applicant shall
315	315	submit to the division a nonrefundable fee of [one hundred
316	316	fifty dollars ($150)] four hundred fifty dollars ($450) ;
317	317	(3) [with each application for ] a fluid
318	318	injection well permit, the applicant shall submit to the
319	319	division a nonrefundable fee of [five hundred dollars ($500) ]
320	320	one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per well;
321	321	(4) [with each application for ] a permit for a
322	322	commercial surface waste management facility, landfill or
323	323	landfarm, the applicant shall submit to the division a
324	324	nonrefundable fee of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per
325	325	facility;
326	326	(5) [with each application for ] an
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355	355	administrative hearing, re-hearing or de novo hearing before
356	356	the division or commission, the applicant shall submit to the
357	357	division a nonrefundable fee of [five hundred dollars ($500) ]
358	358	one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per application; and
359	359	(6) [with each application for ] a continuance
360	360	of an administrative hearing, re-hearing or de novo hearing
361	361	before the division or commission, the applicant shall submit
362	362	to the division a nonrefundable fee of [one hundred fifty
363	363	dollars ($150)] four hundred fifty dollars ($450) per
364	364	application.
365	365	B. On January 1, 2027 and on January 1 of each
366	366	successive year, the division may adjust for inflation the fees
367	367	required in Subsection A of this section by multiplying the fee
368	368	as of January 1, 2026 by a fraction, the numerator of which is
369	369	the consumer price index ending in September of the prior year
370	370	and the denominator of which is the consumer price index ending
371	371	in September 2025; provided that the fees shall not be adjusted
372	372	below the minimum amounts provided in Subsection A of this
373	373	section as a result of a decrease in the consumer price index.
374	374	By November 1, 2026 and by November 1 of each successive year,
375	375	the division shall post on its website the fees required in
376	376	Subsection A of this section for the subsequent year.
377	377	[B.] C. An application for an administrative
378	378	hearing, re-hearing or de novo hearing before the [oil
379	379	conservation] division or commission will be considered to be
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408	408	materially amended if the amendment is made for a purpose other
409	409	than to correct:
410	410	(1) typographical errors; or
411	411	(2) clerical errors.
412	412	[C.] D. The "oil conservation division systems and
413	413	hearings fund" is created in the state treasury as a
414	414	nonreverting fund. All funds received by the [oil
415	415	conservation] division from fees imposed pursuant to Subsection
416	416	A of this section shall be delivered to the state treasurer and
417	417	deposited in the fund. Disbursements from the fund shall be
418	418	made upon warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and
419	419	administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of
420	420	energy, minerals and natural resources or the secretary's
421	421	authorized representative. Money in the fund is subject to
422	422	appropriation by the legislature to the division to develop and
423	423	modernize the division's online application processing system,
424	424	online case management system, online data reporting and
425	425	visualization systems and online case file system and for other
426	426	technological and equipment upgrades necessary to support the
427	427	efficient and transparent implementation and enforcement of the
428	428	Oil and Gas Act, including hiring necessary information
429	429	technology personnel, and for hearing administration costs.
430	430	Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining in the fund at
431	431	the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund.
432	432	[Money in the fund in fiscal year 2020 may be expended by the
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461	461	division for the purposes of the fund. ]
462	462	E. As used in this section, "consumer price index"
463	463	means the average of the monthly consumer price indexes or its
464	464	successor indexes, not seasonally adjusted, for urban consumers
465	465	of the entire United States, as published by the United States
466	466	department of labor for the month ending September 30. "
467	467	SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
468	468	provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.
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