HOUSE BILL 871

47th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2005

INTRODUCED BY

Jim R. Trujillo

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO OIL AND GAS; AMENDING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE OIL AND GAS ACT AND AMENDING THE GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION ACT; PROVIDING FOR PERMITS FOR THE DISCHARGE OR POTENTIAL DISCHARGE OF WATER CONTAMINANTS; PROVIDING FOR APPEAL FROM DECISIONS OF THE OIL CONSERVATION COMMISSION; ESTABLISHING CERTAIN FINES; AMENDING, REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 70-2-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 71, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

     "70-2-12. ENUMERATION OF POWERS.--

          A. Included in the power given to the oil conservation division of the energy, minerals and natural resources department is the authority to collect data; to make investigations and inspections; to examine properties, leases, papers, books and records; to examine, check, test and gauge oil and gas wells, tanks, plants, refineries and all means and modes of transportation and equipment; to hold hearings; to provide for the keeping of records and the making of reports and for the checking of the accuracy of the records and reports; to limit and prorate production of crude petroleum oil or natural gas or both as provided in the Oil and Gas Act; and to require either generally or in particular areas certificates of clearance or tenders in connection with the transportation of crude petroleum oil or natural gas or any products of either or both oil and products or both natural gas and products.

          B. Apart from any authority, express or implied, elsewhere given to or existing in the oil conservation division by virtue of the Oil and Gas Act or the statutes of this state, the division is authorized to make rules [regulations] and orders for the purposes and with respect to the subject matter stated in this subsection:

                (1) to require dry or abandoned wells to be plugged in a way to confine the crude petroleum oil, natural gas or water in the strata in which it is found and to prevent it from escaping into other strata; the division shall require a cash or surety bond in a sum not to exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) conditioned for the performance of such regulations;

                (2) to prevent crude petroleum oil, natural gas or water from escaping from strata in which it is found into other strata;

                (3) to require reports showing locations of all oil or gas wells and for the filing of logs and drilling records or reports;

                (4) to prevent the drowning by water of any stratum or part thereof capable of producing oil or gas or both oil and gas in paying quantities and to prevent the premature and irregular encroachment of water or any other kind of water encroachment that reduces or tends to reduce the total ultimate recovery of crude petroleum oil or gas or both oil and gas from any pool;

                (5) to prevent fires;

                (6) to prevent ["blow-ups"] "blow-outs" and "caving" in the sense that the conditions indicated by such terms are generally understood in the oil and gas business;

                (7) to require wells to be drilled, operated and produced in such manner as to prevent injury to neighboring leases or properties;

                (8) to identify the ownership of oil or gas producing leases, properties, wells, tanks, refineries, pipelines, plants, structures and all transportation equipment and facilities;

                (9) to require the operation of wells with efficient gas-oil ratios and to fix such ratios;

                (10) to fix the spacing of wells;

                (11) to determine whether a particular well or pool is a gas or oil well or a gas or oil pool, as the case may be, and from time to time to classify and reclassify wells and pools accordingly;

                (12) to determine the limits of any pool producing crude petroleum oil or natural gas or both and from time to time redetermine the limits;

                (13) to regulate the methods and devices employed for storage in this state of oil or natural gas or any product of either, including subsurface storage;

                (14) to permit the injection of natural gas or of any other substance into any pool in this state for the purpose of repressuring, cycling, pressure maintenance, secondary or any other enhanced recovery operations;

                (15) to regulate the disposition of water produced or used in connection with the drilling for or producing of oil or gas or both and to direct surface or subsurface disposal of the water, including disposition by use in drilling for or production of oil or gas, in road construction or maintenance or other construction, in the generation of electricity or in other industrial processes, in a manner that will afford reasonable protection against contamination of fresh water supplies designated by the state engineer;

                (16) to determine the limits of any area containing commercial potash deposits and from time to time redetermine the limits;

                (17) to regulate and, where necessary, prohibit drilling or producing operations for oil or gas within any area containing commercial deposits of potash where the operations would have the effect unduly to reduce the total quantity of the commercial deposits of potash that may reasonably be recovered in commercial quantities or where the operations would interfere unduly with the orderly commercial development of the potash deposits;

                (18) to spend the oil and gas reclamation fund and do all acts necessary and proper to plug dry [and] or abandoned oil and gas wells and to restore and remediate abandoned well sites and associated production facilities in accordance with the provisions of the Oil and Gas Act, the rules and regulations adopted under that act and the Procurement Code, including disposing of salvageable equipment and material removed from oil and gas wells being plugged by the state;

                (19) to make well price category determinations pursuant to the provisions of the federal Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 or any successor act and, by [regulation] rule, to adopt fees for such determinations, which fees shall not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per filing. Such fees shall be credited to the account of the oil conservation division by the state treasurer and may be expended as authorized by the legislature;

                (20) to regulate the construction and operation of oil treating plants and to require the posting of bonds for the reclamation of treating plant sites after cessation of operations;

                (21) to regulate the disposition of nondomestic wastes resulting from the exploration, development, production or storage of crude oil or natural gas to protect public health and the environment; [and]

                (22) to regulate the disposition of nondomestic wastes resulting from the oil field service industry, the transportation of crude oil or natural gas, the treatment of natural gas or the refinement of crude oil to protect public health and the environment, including administering the Water Quality Act as provided in Subsection E of Section 74-6-4 NMSA 1978;

                (23) to require permits for activities regulated by this chapter, including permits for construction or operation of facilities that may discharge any water contaminant; and

                (24) to establish a schedule of fees for permits issued pursuant to Section 6 of this 2005 act, not exceeding the estimated cost of investigation, issuance, modification and renewal of such permits."

     Section 2. Section 70-2-25 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1935, Chapter 72, Section 17, as amended) is amended to read:

     "70-2-25. REHEARINGS--APPEALS.--

          A. Within twenty days after entry of an order or decision of the commission, a party of record to the proceeding before the commission that is adversely affected by the order or decision may file with the commission an application for rehearing in respect of any matter determined by the order or decision, setting forth the respect in which the order or decision is believed to be erroneous. The commission shall grant or refuse the application in whole or in part within ten days after the application is filed, and failure to act on the application within that period shall be deemed a refusal and final disposition of that application. In the event the rehearing is granted, the commission [may] shall enter a new order or decision after rehearing as may be required under the circumstances.

          B. An order of the commission shall become final twenty days after the order is issued if no application for rehearing is filed. If an application for rehearing is filed and not granted, the order shall become final on the day that the application for rehearing is denied or deemed denied. If the commission grants a timely application for rehearing within ten days after it is filed, the original order shall not become final but the order entered after rehearing shall become final.           [B.] C. A party of record to the [rehearing] proceeding [dissatisfied with the disposition of the application for rehearing] before the commission that is adversely affected by a final order of the commission may appeal to the district court pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.

          D. In applying the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978 for an appeal pursuant to this section:

                (1) at the time an order is issued, service of a copy of the commission order shall be made upon parties of record to the proceeding, together with a statement of both the time when the order will become final and rights of appeal, which shall constitute compliance with Subsection B of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978; provided that if the commission denies an application for rehearing by written order, a copy of the order denying the application for rehearing shall also be served on each party of record to the proceeding at the time of its issuance;

                (2) the notice of appeal required by Subsection C of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978 shall be filed within thirty days after the date when the commission order becomes final; and

                (3) a final order of the commission adopting or amending a rule may be appealed in the same manner as any other final order of the commission."

     Section 3. Section 70-2-28 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1935, Chapter 72, Section 19, as amended) is amended to read:

     "70-2-28. ACTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS.--Whenever it [shall appear] appears that any person is violating or threatening to violate any statute of this state with respect to the conservation of oil and gas or both or any provision of [this] the Oil and Gas Act or any rule [regulation] or order [made thereunder] adopted pursuant to that act, the division through the attorney general shall bring suit against [such] that person in the county of the residence of the defendant or in the county of the residence of any defendant, if there [be] is more than one defendant, or in the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred for penalties, if any are applicable, and to restrain [such] the person from continuing [such] the violation or from carrying out the threat of violation. In [such] the suit, the division may obtain injunctions, prohibitory and mandatory, including temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions, as the facts may warrant, including, when appropriate, an injunction restraining any person from moving or disposing of illegal oil or illegal oil product or illegal gas or illegal gas product, and any or all such commodities or funds derived from the sale thereof may be ordered to be impounded or placed under the control of an agent appointed by the court if, in the judgment of the court, such action is advisable. The remedies provided by this section shall be cumulative and shall not limit any other rights or remedies of the division or the commission with respect to any violation of the Oil and Gas Act or of any rule, order or permit made or issued pursuant to that act."

     Section 4. Section 70-2-31 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 362, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "70-2-31. VIOLATIONS OF THE OIL AND GAS ACT--PENALTIES.--

          A. [Any] Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, a person [who knowingly and willfully] that violates [any] a provision of the Oil and Gas Act or any [provision of any] rule, [or] order or permit issued pursuant to that act shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each day of violation. [For purposes of this subsection, in the case of a continuing violation each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation. The penalties provided in this subsection]

          B. If a person violates any provision of the Oil and Gas Act or any rule or order issued under that act, which violation is an unauthorized discharge into the environment of any water contaminant, the civil penalty for each day of violation shall be ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each day of violation.

          C. The division or the commission may assess the civil penalties provided in this section after notice and an opportunity for a public hearing. In assessing the penalty, the division or the commission shall take into account the seriousness of the violation and any good-faith efforts to comply with the applicable requirement.

          D. A penalty not paid within thirty days after the order assessing the penalty becomes final and shall be recoverable by a civil suit filed by the attorney general in the name and on behalf of the commission or the division in the district court of the county in which the defendant resides or in which any defendant resides if there [be] is more than one defendant or in the district court of any county in which the violation occurred. The payment of [such] the penalty shall not operate to legalize any illegal oil, illegal gas or illegal product involved in the violation for which the penalty is imposed or relieve a person on whom the penalty is imposed from liability to any other person for damages arising out of [such] the violation.

          [B.] E. It is unlawful, subject to a criminal penalty of a fine of not more than [five thousand dollars ($5,000)] fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both such fine and imprisonment, for any person to knowingly and willfully:

                (1) violate any provision of the Oil and Gas Act or any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or the division] or permit issued pursuant to that act; [or]

                (2) do any of the following for the purpose of evading or violating the Oil and Gas Act or any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or the division] or permit issued pursuant to that act:

                     (a) make any false entry or statement in a form or report required by the Oil and Gas Act or by any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or division] or permit issued pursuant to that act;

                     (b) make or cause to be made any false entry in any record, account or memorandum required by the Oil and Gas Act or by any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or division] or permit issued pursuant to that act;

                     (c) omit or cause to be omitted from any such record, account or memorandum full, true and correct entries; or

                     (d) remove from this state or destroy, mutilate, alter or falsify any such record, account or memorandum; or

                (3) procure, counsel, aid or abet the commission of any act described in this subsection.

          [C.] F. For the purposes of Subsection [B] E of this section, each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense.

          [D. Any person who knowingly and willfully procures, counsels, aides or abets the commission of any act described in Subsection A or B of this section shall be subject to the same penalties as are prescribed therein.]

          G. Penalties assessed and collected pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall be deposited in the oil and gas reclamation fund."

     Section 5. A new section of the Oil and Gas Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] OIL AND GAS FACILITIES FUND CREATED.--The "oil and gas facilities fund" is created in the state treasury to be administered by the energy, minerals and natural resources department. The fund is composed of all fees collected pursuant to the rules adopted under Subsection B of Section 70-2-12 NMSA 1978 or from the issuance of discharge permits and of earnings from investment of the fund. Money in the fund is appropriated to the energy, minerals and natural resources department for the purpose of administering the rules adopted pursuant to Chapter 70 NMSA 1978 and shall not revert at the end of a fiscal year. Disbursements from the fund shall be made upon warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of energy, minerals and natural resources."

     Section 6. A new section of the Oil and Gas Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] DISCHARGE PERMITS.--

          A. The commission may require by rule that an operator of any facility subject to the jurisdiction of the division obtain a permit for the disposition of nondomestic wastes.

          B. The commission shall set by rule the dates for filing applications for the permits authorized in Subsection A of this section and shall prescribe the contents of the application and set the time periods within which the division shall either grant or deny the permit or grant a conditional permit.

          C. The division may deny any application for a permit if:

                (1) the wastes would not meet all applicable state or federal rules and regulations, performance standards or limitations;

                (2) any provision of the Oil and Gas Act or any other statute would be violated; or

                (3) the disposition of waste would cause or contribute to contaminant levels in excess of any state or federal standard, including any water quality standard adopted by the water quality control commission. Determination of the discharge's effect on ground water shall be measured at any place of withdrawal of water for present or reasonably foreseeable future use. Determination of the discharge's effect on surface waters shall be measured at the point of discharge.

          D. The commission shall adopt rules for procedures to ensure that the public and appropriate governmental agencies receive notice of each application for issuance or material modification of a permit and shall provide an opportunity for filing of written comments on the application. If an application is protested or if the division determines that there is substantial public interest in an application, the division may hold a public hearing prior to ruling on the application.

          E. The commission shall adopt rules for the operation and maintenance of those facilities regulated under Paragraphs (21) and (22) of Subsection B of Section 70-2-12 NMSA 1978, including requirements for continuity of operation, personnel training and financial responsibility, including financial responsibility for corrective action.

          F. Permits shall be issued for fixed terms not to exceed five years, except that new permits shall commence on the date the permitted activity begins, but in no event shall the term of the permit exceed seven years from the date of issuance.

          G. The division may impose reasonable conditions upon permits, requiring permittees to:

                (1) install, use and maintain effluent monitoring devices;

                (2) sample wastes and receiving waters for any known or suspected water contaminants, in accordance with methods and at locations and intervals as may be prescribed by the division;

                (3) establish and maintain records of the nature and amounts of effluents and the performance of effluent control devices;

                (4) provide any other information relating to the discharge or release of water contaminants; and

                (5) notify the division of the introduction of new water contaminants from a new source and of a substantial change in the volume or character of water contaminants being introduced from sources in existence at the time of the issuance of the permit.

          H. The issuance of a permit does not relieve a person from the responsibility to comply with all state or federal statutes, rules or regulations or state or federal water quality standards.

          I. A permit may be terminated or modified by the division prior to its date of expiration for the following causes:

                (1) violation of a condition of the permit;

                (2) the obtaining of a permit by misrepresentation or failure to disclose fully all required information;

                (3) violation of any applicable statute, rule, performance standard or water quality standard;

                (4) violation of applicable state or federal effluent rules or regulations; or

                (5) a change in any condition that requires either a temporary or permanent reduction or elimination of the discharge of waste to ensure that any state or federal standard, including any water quality standard adopted by the water quality control commission, is not exceeded.

          J. If the division denies, terminates or modifies a permit, other than as requested by the permittee, or grants a permit subject to condition, the division shall notify the applicant or permittee by certified mail of the action taken and the reasons. If the permittee files an application for review of the division's decision within thirty days of the date of the notice, the applicant shall be entitled to a hearing as provided in Section 70-2-13 NMSA 1978."

     Section 7. Section 70-2-33 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1935, Chapter 72, Section 24, as amended) is amended to read:

     "70-2-33. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Oil and Gas Act:

          A. "person" means:

                (1) any individual, estate, trust, receiver, cooperative association, club, corporation, company, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate or other entity; or

                (2) the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof or the state or any political subdivision thereof;

          B. "pool" means an underground reservoir containing a common accumulation of crude petroleum oil or natural gas or both. Each zone of a general structure, which zone is completely separate from any other zone in the structure, is covered by the word pool as used in the Oil and Gas Act. Pool is synonymous with "common source of supply" and with "common reservoir";

          C. "field" means the general area that is underlaid or appears to be underlaid by at least one pool and also includes the underground reservoir or reservoirs containing the crude petroleum oil or natural gas or both. The words field and pool mean the same thing when only one underground reservoir is involved; however, field, unlike pool, may relate to two or more pools;

          D. "product" means any commodity or thing made or manufactured from crude petroleum oil or natural gas and all derivatives of crude petroleum oil or natural gas, including refined crude oil, crude tops, topped crude, processed crude petroleum, residue from crude petroleum, cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, treated crude oil, fuel oil, residuum, gas oil, naphtha, distillate, gasoline, kerosene, benzine, wash oil, waste oil, lubricating oil and blends or mixtures of crude petroleum oil or natural gas or any derivative thereof;

          E. "owner" means the person who has the right to drill into and to produce from any pool and to appropriate the production either for [himself] the person or for [himself] the person and another;

          F. "producer" means the owner of a well capable of producing oil or natural gas or both in paying quantities;

          G. "gas transportation facility" means a pipeline in operation serving gas wells for the transportation of natural gas or some other device or equipment in like operation whereby natural gas produced from gas wells connected therewith can be transported or used for consumption;

          H. "correlative rights" means the opportunity afforded, so far as it is practicable to do so, to the owner of each property in a pool to produce without waste [his] the owner's just and equitable share of the oil or gas or both in the pool, being an amount, so far as can be practicably determined and so far as can be practicably obtained without waste, substantially in the proportion that the quantity of recoverable oil or gas or both under the property bears to the total recoverable oil or gas or both in the pool and, for such purpose, to use [his] the owner's just and equitable share of the reservoir energy;

          I. "potash" means the naturally occurring bedded deposits of the salts of the element potassium;

          J. "casinghead gas" means any gas or vapor or both indigenous to an oil stratum and produced from such stratum with oil, including any residue gas remaining after the processing of casinghead gas to remove its liquid components; [and]

          K. "produced water" means water that is an incidental byproduct from drilling for or the production of oil and gas;

          L. "commission" means the oil conservation commission as created in Section 70-2-4 NMSA 1978;

          M. "division" means the oil conservation division of the energy, minerals and natural resources department; and

          N. "party of record" means a person who is a formal and legal participant in a proceeding before the commission."

     Section 8. Section 71-5-18 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 272, Section 18, as amended) is amended to read:

     "71-5-18. REHEARINGS--APPEALS.--

          A. Within twenty days after entry of an order or decision of the [division] commission, a party of record to the proceeding before the commission who is adversely affected by the order or decision may file with the commission an application for rehearing in respect of any matter determined by the order or decision, setting forth the respect in which the order or decision is believed to be erroneous. The commission shall grant or refuse the application in whole or in part within ten days after it is filed, and failure to act within the ten-day period shall be deemed a refusal of the application and a final disposition of the application. In the event the rehearing is granted, the commission [may] shall

enter a new order or decision after rehearing as may be required under the circumstances.

          B. An order of the commission shall become final twenty days after the order is issued if no application for rehearing is filed. If an application for rehearing is filed and not granted, the order shall become final on the day that the application for rehearing is denied. If the commission grants a timely application for rehearing within ten days after it is filed, the original order shall not become final but the order entered after the rehearing shall become final.

          [B.] C. A party of record to the [rehearing] proceeding [dissatisfied with the disposition of the application for rehearing] before the commission who is adversely affected by a final order of the commission may appeal to the district court pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978.

          D. In applying the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978 to any appeal pursuant to this section:

                (1) at the time an order is issued, service of a copy of the commission order shall be made upon parties of record to the proceeding, together with a statement of both the time when the order will become final and rights of appeal, which shall constitute compliance with Subsection B of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978; provided that if the commission denies an application for rehearing by written order, a copy of the order denying the application for rehearing shall also be served on each party of record to the proceeding at the time of its issuance;

                (2) the notice of appeal required by Subsection C of Section 39-3-1.1 NMSA 1978 shall be filed within thirty days after the date when the commission order becomes final; and

                (3) a final order of the commission adopting or amending a rule may be appealed in the same manner as any other final order of the commission.

          [C.] E. The pendency of proceedings to review shall not of itself stay or suspend operation of the order or decision being reviewed, but during the pendency of the proceedings, the district court in its discretion may, upon its own motion or upon proper application of any party to the proceedings, stay or suspend in whole or in part operation of the order or decision pending review on terms as the court deems just and proper and in accordance with the practice of courts exercising equity jurisdiction; provided that the court, as a condition to any staying or suspension of operation of any order or decision, may require that one or more parties secure, in a form and amount as the court may deem just and proper, one or more other parties against loss or damage due to the staying or suspension of the commission's or division's order or decision in the event that the action of the commission or division is affirmed."

     Section 9. Section 71-5-20 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 272, Section 20, as amended) is amended to read:

     "71-5-20. ACTIONS FOR VIOLATIONS.--Whenever it [shall appear] appears that any person is violating or threatening to violate any statute of this state with respect to the conservation of geothermal resources or any provision of the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or any rule [regulation] or order made [thereunder] pursuant to that act, the division through the attorney general shall bring suit against [such] the person in the county of the residence of the defendant or in the county of the residence of any defendant if there [be] is more than one defendant or in the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred for penalties, if any are applicable, and to restrain [such] the person from continuing [such] the violation or from carrying out the threat of violation. In [such] the suit, the division may obtain injunction, prohibitory and mandatory, including temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions, as the facts may warrant, including, when appropriate, an injunction restraining any person from moving or disposing of illegal geothermal resources or illegal geothermal resources product, and any or all such commodities or funds derived from [the] their sale [thereof] may be ordered to be impounded or placed under the control of an agent appointed by the court if, in the judgment of the court, such action is advisable. Remedies provided by this section shall be cumulative and shall not limit any other rights or remedies of the division or the commission with respect to any violation of the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or of any rule, order or permit made or issued pursuant to that act."

     Section 10. Section 71-5-23 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1981, Chapter 362, Section 2) is amended to read:

     "71-5-23. VIOLATIONS OF THE GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION ACT--PENALTIES.--

          A. [Any] A person who [knowingly and willfully] violates [any] a provision of the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or any [provision of any] rule, [or] order or permit issued pursuant to that act shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation. If the violation results in an unauthorized discharge into the environment of any water contaminant, the applicable civil penalty shall be not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation. For purposes of this subsection, in the case of a continuing violation, each day of violation shall constitute a separate violation. The [penalties provided in this subsection] division or the commission may assess the penalties provided in this subsection after notice and an opportunity for a public hearing. A penalty not paid within thirty days after issuance of the order assessing the penalty becomes final and shall be recoverable by a civil suit filed by the attorney general in the name and on behalf of the commission or the division in the district court of the county in which the defendant resides or in which any defendant resides if there [be] is more than one defendant or in the district court of any county in which the violation occurred; provided that, if any final order assessing a penalty is appealed pursuant to Section 71-5-18 NMSA 1978, the commission may seek recovery of the penalty by counterclaim in such case. The payment [to] of such penalty shall not operate to legalize any illegal geothermal resources or illegal geothermal resources product involved in the violation for which the penalty is imposed or relieve a person on whom the penalty is imposed from liability to any other person for damages arising out of [such] the violation.

          B. It is unlawful, subject to a criminal penalty of a fine of not more than [five thousand dollars ($5,000)] fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both such fine and imprisonment, for any person to knowingly and willfully:

                (1) violate any provision of the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or the division] or permit issued pursuant to that act; [or]

                (2) do any of the following for the purpose of evading or violating the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or the division] or permit issued pursuant to that act:

                     (a) make any false entry or statement in a form or report required by the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or by any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or division] or permit issued pursuant to that act;

                     (b) make or cause to be made any false entry in any record, account or memorandum required by the Geothermal Resources Conservation Act or by any rule, [regulation or] order [of the commission or division] or permit issued pursuant to that act;

                     (c) omit or cause to be omitted from any such record, account or memorandum full, true and correct entries; or

                     (d) remove from this state or destroy, mutilate, alter or falsify any such record, account or memorandum; or

                (3) procure, counsel, aid or abet the violation of this section by any other person.

          C. For the purposes of Subsection B of this section, each day of violation shall constitute a separate offense.

          [D. Any person who knowingly and willfully procures, counsels, aids or abets the commission of any act described in Subsection A or B of this section shall be subject to the same penalties as are prescribed therein.]"

     Section 11. REPEAL.--Section 70-2-26 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1977, Chapter 255, Section 60, as amended) is repealed.

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