The BLM has announced four public meetings on their proposed rule to reduce waste from venting, flaring and leaks, and to clarify when produced gas lost through venting, flaring or leaks is subject to royalties. The first of the four meetings will be held February 16 in Farmington at the San Juan College Room 7103 at 1:00 p.m.

Please see the linked notice for RSVP information and additional dates and locations. A call-in number is also provided for those who cannot attend. The proposed rule can be found at . The attached also provides contact information if you have further questions.

If you currently have Rights of Way (ROW) on Federal Lands, the Federal Government has updated the fees associated with ROW annual payments beginning for years 2016 to 2025.

Please see the attached letter which was sent to current ROW holders in December 2015.

Updated information on Federal ROW rental fee schedules (cost recovery) can be found at this website.

If you have questions, please contact Stephen Fusilier, BLM Rights-of-Way Branch Chief, at (202.912.7148) or sfusilie@blm.gov

Yesterday, IPANM attended the BLM stakeholder meeting for revisions to OnShore Orders #3, #4 and #5. The revisions are very technical in nature and will severely impact ANY COMPANY THAT OPERATES ON FEDERAL LANDS. Comments are due by December 14th. IPANM has already commented on OSO #3. We will update those comments and will prepare comments for OSO#4 and #5. We will also sign on to those prepared by Western Energy Alliance and IPAA. Comments are due December 14th.

Due to multiple requests from IPANM as well as others, the BLM has established a call in line for the meeting tomorrow in Oklahoma city. From the BLM, I received the following notice:
“Individuals who want to take part via telephone may call 1-800-857-2889, and when prompted, enter the passcode 4111819. The phone number and passcode is the same for both meetings. — The Bureau of Land Management”

The meetings will be:

• Dec. 3 at 1:00 p.m. CST. It is being held at the Renaissance Oklahoma City Convention Center Hotel, 10 N Broadway Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102.

• Dec. 8 at 1:00 p.m. MST. This meeting is taking place at the Astoria Hotel and Event Center, 363 15th St W., Dickinson, ND 58601.

Copies of the Powerpoint presentations about the proposed regulations are available at . Also posted on the site are copies of the proposed regulations.

Order 3 establishes standards to ensure that oil and gas are properly and securely handled to prevent theft and loss and to enable accurate measurement and production accountability. Orders 4 and 5 establish minimum standards for the accurate measurement of all oil and gas, respectively. Like the existing orders, the purpose of the proposed rules is to ensure that the oil and gas produced from Federal and Indian leases (except Osage Tribe) are accurately measured and accounted for, so that the proper royalties due are paid. Royalties are split between the Federal treasury and the State where the production occurs. Indian tribes and individual Indian allotment owners keep 100 percent of the royalties collected from leases on their lands.

These rulemakings are underway because Onshore Orders 3, 4, and 5 were put in place in 1989 and have not been updated since. As a result, they do not reflect modern measurement techniques. The requirements contained in the proposed rules reflect advances in technology, as well as critical updates in industry standards and practices. These proposals also respond directly to concerns from the Government Accountability Office, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General, and the Secretary’s Subcommittee on Royalty Management.

In addition to accepting comments at the meetings, comments are also being accepted through December 14 by any of the following means:

• Mail to U.S. Department of the Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 2134LM, 1849 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240,
o Attention: 1004-AE15 (for Site Security),
o 1004-AE16 (for Oil Measurement), or
o 1004-AE17 (for Gas Measurement), or

• Via the Internet at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions at this website.

The New Mexico Environment Department will be hosting Public Listening Sessions for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SIP Call for Startup, Shutdown and Malfunction (SSM) Operations.

On May 22, 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final action to ensure states have plans in place that are fully consistent with the Clean Air Act and recent court decisions concerning startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM) operations.

In response to this final action, the New Mexico Environment Department Air Quality Bureau will be required to revise 20.2.7 NMAC – Excess Emissions during Malfunction, Startup, Shutdown, or Scheduled Maintenance. The Air Quality Bureau will host a series of listening sessions to provide the opportunity for interested citizens and industry representatives to provide input to the Air Quality Bureau and to ask questions regarding the final action. The locations and times are as follows:

December 2, 2015 – 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Roswell Public Library, 301 N Pennsylvania Ave, Roswell, NM 88201

December 10, 2015 – 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM at the Farmington Museum at Gateway Park, 3041 East Main St, Farmington, NM 87402

December 15, 2015 – 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the NMED Air Quality Bureau, 525 Camino de los Marquez, Suite 1, Santa Fe, NM 87505

Please RSVP for the December 15th meeting in Santa Fe due to limited seating.

For more information and to RSVP please contact Robert Spillers at 505-476-4324 or email at robert.spillers@state.nm.us.

Earlier this month, IPANM commented on the proposed revisions to OnShore Order #3. As a result of the many comments and extension requests for commenting on OnShore Orders #4 and #5, the BLM has extended the deadline to December 14th. The BLM has also opted to have stakeholder meetings on the proposals. As a reminder to the invitation that was sent out last week, the first meeting will be tomorrow at 1pm in Durango at the Double Tree Hotel. The next meeting will be December 3, at 1pm at the Oklahoma City Convention Center Renaissance Hotel. The final meeting will be December 8 at 1pm at the Astoria Hotel in Dickinson, North Dakota. Please note that although the BLM has provided a contact named Mike Wade at phone 303-239-3737, Mr. Wade will be out of the office until December 10th.

In addition, the BLM has provided the linked powerpoint presentation on their website in preparation for the meeting.