Require the Oil Conservation Division to Protect Public Health and the Environment - HB 34
The Oil Conservation Division (OCD) is the agency in charge of oil and gas in New Mexico, but it does not have the power or duty to protect New Mexicans or our environment when making permitting decisions about oil and gas production.
Under the current law, OCD is only empowered to prevent oil and gas waste and protect property rights as it makes and enforces rules, regulations, and orders regarding production and permitting.
This limited authority prevents OCD from considering harm to New Mexicans’ health and the environment when it grants permits to drill.
OCD identifies more than 50,000 active oil and gas wells in New Mexico—each of those wells received a permit with no environmental or public health considerations.
Oil and gas activities affect New Mexicans’ health and our environment.
Those 50,000+ oil and gas sites all create air, land, and water pollution affecting New Mexicans and our ecosystems.
Air quality in certain regions of New Mexico is out of compliance with basic health standards due to oil and gas production and the pollution it causes.
Peer-reviewed scientific studies prove that pollution from oil and gas wells increases the risks of cancer, asthma, birth defects, preterm births and high-risk pregnancies, low birthweights, higher hospitalization rates, and upper respiratory problems and rashes—OCD should consider these risks when regulating oil and gas.
Requiring OCD to consider human health and the environment would improve the quality of life for New Mexicans.
The Oil and Gas Act designates OCD as the agency tasked with overseeing oil and gas permitting and development in New Mexico—it should have the duty to regulate that development in a way that protects New Mexico’s people and environment.
OCD should be required to consider the negative health effects of oil and gas development for New Mexicans who live near oil and gas infrastructure and should protect our communities when it makes permitting decisions.
This amendment would require OCD to consider risks to public health and the ecosystems as it permits oil and gas development in our state.