HOUSE MEMORIAL 42

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

INTRODUCED BY

Reena Szczepanski

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP PROPOSALS FOR RULES AND LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS FROM NEW MEXICO'S REGULATED UTILITIES.

 

     WHEREAS, methane is responsible for one-third of net global warming since the industrial revolution and is approximately eighty times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere over a twenty-year period; and

     WHEREAS, methane accounts for seventeen percent of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, and reducing methane emissions that result from the operations of regulated utilities has enormous potential for targeted mitigation by 2030; and

     WHEREAS, at a recent United Nations climate change conference, one hundred fifty-five countries, including the United States, pledged to work together to collectively reduce global anthropogenic methane emissions across all sectors by at least thirty percent below 2020 levels by 2030; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico's regulated utilities frequently purchase fuel from New Mexico's natural gas industry for the utilities' own use and for delivery to their customers; and

     WHEREAS, achieving upstream reductions in methane emissions caused by the production, transportation and marketing of natural gas purchased by New Mexico's regulated utilities will have a significant impact in reducing methane emissions from the operations of New Mexico's regulated utilities; and

     WHEREAS, proven technologies and practices could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry by as much as two hundred million tons per year, or as much as forty-five percent, by 2030, and most of these technical solutions can be implemented at a negative or low cost, especially in the oil and gas sector; and

     WHEREAS, because methane has a short atmospheric lifetime, the benefits of mitigation quickly materialize and slow the rate of atmospheric warming, which would help limit dangerous climate feedback loops, such as the melting of the polar ice caps and sea level rise, while simultaneously delivering important health, environmental and economic benefits from reducing ground-level ozone; and

     WHEREAS, the oil and gas sector has the greatest share of ready-to-implement and cost-effective technical opportunities to reduce methane emissions; and

     WHEREAS, appropriate regulatory frameworks are needed to mitigate methane emissions relating to the production, transportation and marketing of natural gas purchased by New Mexico's regulated utilities;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of environment be requested to convene a working group of state experts and stakeholders to develop proposals for rules and legislative recommendations that aim to reduce methane emissions relating to the production, transportation and marketing of natural gas purchased by New Mexico's regulated utilities; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group develop proposals for rules, rate recovery mechanisms and legislative recommendations that will encourage New Mexico's regulated utilities to purchase fuels with the lowest possible amount of associated methane emissions; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group be requested to commence its work on or before April 1, 2024, meet no fewer than five times prior to October 1, 2024 and present proposals for rules and legislative recommendations to the appropriate interim legislative committee dealing with natural resources and regulated utilities prior to November 1, 2024; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of energy, minerals and natural resources, the secretary of environment, the secretary of economic development, the chief of staff of the public regulation commission and the appropriate interim legislative committee dealing with natural resources and regulated utilities no later than April 1, 2024.

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