The best government is the government closest to the people and yet we’re seeing a large effort to preempt local control to regulate industries like oil and gas, mining and agriculture.
There are five bills moving through the legislature that in some way aim to limit the ability of cities and counties to regulate these industries.
The goal of these types of bills is to give sole regulating authority to Oil Conservation Division. Their rules focus on waste disposal while state inspection is chronically underfunded.
CVNM opposes and is actively working to defeat these measures:
HB 366: Counties and municipalities have the power to adopt local ordinances that best suit community needs and interests. To date, some communities have passed ordinances restricting certain aspects of oil and gas production in response to concerns of water contamination and health risks. HB 366 would invalidate any county and municipality ordinance relating to oil and gas law, including zoning ordinances–removing the critical flexibility that communities need to protect the public interest on a local scale.
HB 199: Counties have the power to adopt local ordinances that best suit community needs and interests. To date, some counties have passed ordinances restricting oil and gas production in response to concerns of water contamination and health risks. HB 199 would invalidate any county ordinance relating to oil and gas production, removing the critical flexibility that communities need to protect the public interest on a local scale.
SB 184: In what can best be described as a creative way to ensure that local governments do not regulate activities that affect the health and welfare of their residents, SB 184 prevents the issuance of severance tax bonds for projects in municipalities or counties that are deemed to have ordinances on the books that would increase costs for extractive industry operations by 25% or more.
SB 421: Similar to HB 366, but far more sweeping in the types of local government ordinances that would be invalidated, SB 421 would give municipal or county governments authority to regulate mining and agricultural operations in addition to oil and gas activities. This would remove the critical flexibility that communities need to protect the public interest on a local scale.
SB 601: SB 601 would prohibit the Oil Conservation Commission from enacting special rules applying to specific counties and invalidate current rules that are in place such as those meant to protect the Galisteo Basin and Otero Mesa. This would remove the critical flexibility needed to protect distinct areas of the state.
Call your Senator or Representative and ask them to oppose HB 366, HB 199, SB 421, SB 184 and SB 601. Find your legislator’s Capitol contact info and call them TODAY!
Learn more about CVNM’s 2015 Legislative Priorities by reading our full agenda.
