{"id":25293,"date":"2024-03-01T14:05:23","date_gmt":"2024-03-01T21:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/?p=25293"},"modified":"2024-03-02T10:39:28","modified_gmt":"2024-03-02T17:39:28","slug":"29-groups-urge-gov-to-veto-tax-exemptions-for-high-polluting-low-producing-oil-and-gas-wells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernlaw.org\/es\/29-groups-urge-gov-to-veto-tax-exemptions-for-high-polluting-low-producing-oil-and-gas-wells\/","title":{"rendered":"29 grupos instan al gobernador a vetar las exenciones fiscales para los pozos de petr\u00f3leo y gas altamente contaminantes y de baja producci\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-nine environmental and civic organizations sent a letter<\/a> to Gov. Lujan Grisham urging her to line-item veto parts of House Bill 252<\/a> that would create an oil and gas severance tax exemption for \u201cstripper well properties\u201d for the costs of complying with the state\u2019s 2021 methane waste rule and 2022 ozone precursor rule. If signed into law, this bill would perversely give companies a tax break for costs incurred to protect the public against hazards of these businesses\u2019 own creation.<\/p>\n

In its analysis, the New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee<\/a> found the exemption could cost the state $17.2 million in revenue between fiscal years 2025 to 2028, reduce bonding capacity by $18.8 million over the same time period, increase the Oil Conservation Division\u2019s annual operating costs by $200,000, and require two new full-time-equivalent OCD employees. This tax giveaway to oil and gas operators therefore comes at the expense of the severance tax\u2019s permanent fund and agency capacity at the precise time the state should be leveraging its resources to prepare for the inevitable decline of oil and gas revenue and production.<\/p>\n

\u201cHouse Bill 252\u2019s oil and gas severance tax exemption reflects well-founded public concerns that the political deck is decidedly stacked in favor of the oil and gas industry, not the people of New Mexico,\u201d said Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, executive director of the Western Environmental Law Center<\/b>. \u201cThe oil and gas industry secured this severance tax exemption in the shadows while gutting sensible oil and gas reforms backed by the Lujan Grisham administration and other state officials. Line-item vetoing HB 252\u2019s oil and gas severance tax exemption provides Gov. Lujan Grisham with an opportunity to stand strong for the people of New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several state agencies expressed concern with the severance tax exemption:<\/p>\n