Santa Fe – December 4, 2008 – The latest version of Santa Fe County’s new oil and gas drilling ordinance is available at santafecounty.org. The new ordinance is one of the many issues being discussed by the Board of County Commissioners at the 2:00 PM meeting on December 9. The ordinance is scheduled to be taken up by the Board at 5:30 PM.
The mission of Drilling
Bob Gallagher of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association noted that the state's landowner protection law, which just went into effect July 1, was borne out of cooperation between landowners and energy companies. The result was a balanced, fair bill that protected both sides, he said.
"It does not delay or deny access to mineral resources," Gallagher said.
Gallagher implied that the federal legislation, by contrast, is too one-sided. "It is not a good start. It is not a good finish. It was not written by someone in the field doing the work," he said.
Aside from the split-estate provisions, H.R. 2337 would amend sections of the 2005 Energy Policy Act that accelerated oil and gas drilling on public lands, severely limit the Interior Department's royalty-in-kind program and establish a fee on nonproducing leases. The measure also aims to bolster carbon sequestration studies and require new studies for wind power siting, and it would establish an intra-agency panel to address the effect of warming on federal lands, oceans and federal water infrastructure (E&E Daily, July 16).
Gable is an independent energy and environmental writer in Woodland Park, Colo
The House of Representatives will vote next week. Congressman Udall: Phone 202-225-6190 or 505-984-8950
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The inhabited residential setback is still stated as a minimum of 750 feet.
ReplyDeleteThe old one (from a few months ago) was a HALF MILE.
We need to fight this and get it changed back to a minimum of a half mile.