Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Dixon/Romero
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 2/14/2025
SHORT TITLE Direct Air Capture Technology
BILL
NUMBER
House Joint
Memorial 4
ANALYST Jorgensen
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
NM Tech
No fiscal
impact
Indeterminate
but minimal
No fiscal
impact
Indeterminate
but minimal
Nonrecurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Joint Memorial 4
House Joint Memorial 4 (HJM4) requests the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
(NM Tech) conduct a study of the benefits and costs of sequestering carbon dioxide emissions
through direct air capture technology and make recommendations to facilitate the development
of direct air capture technologies in the state.
This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result, would go into effect 90 days after the
Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
HJM4 requests NM Tech to conduct a study but does not contain an appropriation; additional
costs would be paid out of the institution’s existing operating budget. The additional costs are
unknown but much of the resource to conduct the study already exists within NM Tech.
Therefore, the additional estimated operating budget impact is indeterminate but minimal.
House Joint Memorial 4 – Page 2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
NM Tech reports:
There are over 4,000 direct air capture startups when there were only a handful five years
ago. In part this is due to stimulus under Part 45Q of the U.S. tax code, which can give a
tax credit of up to $180 per ton of CO2 captured and stored, but also due to companies of
all sorts with emissions that are hard to mitigate seeking to find storage offsets. An
example of this is airlines which are pre-buying storage credits at over $1000 per ton, and
public utilities which are willing to pay similar amounts to offset emissions from natural
gas peaker plants needed for grid stability when the sun is down or the wind is not
blowing.
CJ/rl/SL2