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.

Last summer, there was a push by the County Manager in Eddy County, NM to institute a legal partnership between oil and gas companies and the County. This legal arrangement would have resulted in industry reimbursement to the County for use of public roads. IPANM was instrumental in getting that effort stopped at that time. We now have word that the County Manager is intending to continue to push this issue with his newly elected County Commission.

IPANM is now forming a working group to coordinate efforts with the County. If you are interested in becoming a member of this committee, please contact IPANM.

On January 8th, there will be a “General Land Use Meeting” in Rio Arriba County to discuss updates to their Oil and Gas Ordinance. It is unclear whether the County Commissioners will be present, although it is likely. Highlights of the proposed changes can be found on the link below. The changes to the Rio Arriba Ordinance are in response to a BLM Lease sale of six properties in the ‘Frontier’ portion of the County, and a public survey that was taken at the last General Land Use meeting (link below) . The Meeting will occur from 5 to 8pm at the Rio Arriba County Seat offices in Tierra Amarilla Commission Chambers at State Road 162 #149 Tierra Amarilla, NM 87575 (Phone 575-588-7254).

Highlights of the proposed changes
Public Survey

On January 10th, there will be a day-long meeting before the SAN MIGUEL County Commission regarding their proposed oil and gas ordinance. The meeting will be held from 10am to 7pm at the County Commission room at 500 National Street, Las Vegas NM.

San Miguel has hired Bob Freilich, the drafter of the Santa Fe Oil and Gas Ordinance, as their consultant, attorney and drafter. In addition, the Mora County Commission has stated they will adopt the San Miguel Ordinance when it is completed. If Mr. Freilich simply adopts the Santa Fe ordinance, which is what is expected, then Santa Fe, San Miguel and Mora County will be ‘no drill zones. The other counties surrounding San Miguel and Mora, specifically Guadalupe, Quay, Harding, Colfax and Union will be impacted by San Miguel’s adoption of a very bad oil and gas ordinance.

This will be the third public comment Session the Commission will hold on whether to have an ordinance. After two years of work on the Oil and Gas Taskforce and several rounds of legal comments, the Commission has decided to throw out our work in favor of whatever Mr. Frielich decides to propose. The environmental community has had very strong grass roots messaging throughout this process. Their concerns relate to hydraulic fracturing and water quality issues. They are adamant about their positions, which we believe poses significant concern from the Commission. In addition, the presentations by industry have consisted of IPANM on each day and one or two other land owners. We need ranchers, business people and employees of the Behavior Health Hospital in Las Vegas to speak. (The Behavioral health hospital will be receiving $1.9 million this year from the Land Grant Permanent Fund which is 94% supported by the oil and gas industry. ) The Commission needs to hear that oil and gas operations can be conducted in an environmentally safe manner and will assist the County economically.