Rio Arriba County has recently released their proposed ordinance for oil and gas operations in the county.  A very quick read of the proposal highlights some very disturbing new provisions:

1.   The County proposes to regulate all operations on Federal, state trust and local lands.
2.  The ordinance would require every company to have an employee reside in the county for purposes of emergency contact;
3.   The county would require a limit of one surface pad site for every 28 wells drilled by an applicant for a given mineral estate or a group of contiguous or nearby mineral estates;
4.  The site drawing for the locations will be for the entire 45 acre area around a proposed well;
5.   A complete list of chemicals that will be used for the completion process must be filed with the application as part of an emergency response plan;
6.   An employee impact plan must be filed with the application with a list of the number of employees expected and their housing locations;
7.   Completely enclosed pump jacks with sound barriers;
8.   A minimum of 3/4 mile setbacks and monitor wells for each well drilled
9.    A 10,000,000 insurance policy must be maintained per occurrence with a 20,000,000 annual aggregate;
10.   For each and every dwelling located within 1/2 mile from the facility, the applicant shall provide funding and installation of individualized solar energy systems for each dwelling prior to commencement of drilling;
11. The proposed ordinance states that the People of Rio Arriba county have inalienable rights to air, water and land that cannot be preempted by any state, federal or county ordinance conflicting with any provisions of this ordinance.

There will be several public meetings, but the important dates are:
March 6th, in Espanola will be the public meeting with the Planning and Zoning Board.
March 28th in Espanola will be the County Commission meeting to adopt the proposed changes to the ordinance.

Eddy County released an updated version of a proposed partnership agreement. Eddy County Manager, Allen Sartin, wanted to stress to industry that this newest version of the public-private partnership (PPP) is completely voluntary. This agreement is to be used when a company needs to get a road repaired so that they can use the road for operations without waiting for county road crews to get there. There will be a reimbursement from the County in the amount of 30% of what it would have cost the county to repair that road. Note that the maximum reimbursement will be $50,000 because that is the maximum allowable under the procurement code. The County Manager will also have to determine if the road needs to be fixed and if the county has the funds for reimbursement prior to beginning the road work. This agreement will be between the County Manager and the company and will not necessarily go before the Commission. In addition, the company takes on liability for the period of the road work until the County signs off on the work. The County will also retain the right to supervise the work. In the packet there is a liability waiver that the County will require for a company to be involved in any road work.

Please review the linked proposed agreement within your company and with your legal staff. If you have any concerns or comments, please get back to Karin Foster by MARCH 1ST so that IPANM can continue our communications with the County in this issue.