If you haven’t been paying attention to Regional Haze, it’s time to start. While the focus has been on the many new federal rules coming out, the Regional Haze Rule is already in place and set to make a big impact on the fossil fuel industry as EPA starts reviewing states’ Round 2 plans. If Round 2 is anything like…
Participating but Not Paying: A review of the remedies for nonpayment of JIBs
In the oil and gas regulatory environment, operators are familiar with the following increasingly common pattern. As part of the process of pooling the working interests in a drilling and spacing unit (“DSU”), an operator sends AFEs and election letters to working interest owners and other parties with interests in the DSU. A non-operator signs and returns its election letter,…
Beware the Camel’s Nose Under the Tent
EPA’s New Climate Enforcement Policy and Third-Party Monitoring Program Is EPA’s new third-party methane super-emitter monitoring and reporting program the camel’s nose under the tent? In the classic fable, on a cold night, a camel asks his owner if he could put his nose inside the owner’s tent to keep warm; and through a series of seemingly modest incremental requests,…
BLM Rulemakings: What to Expect in 2024
Federal leaseholders should expect to see a series of final rules issued by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2024, aimed at updating BLM’s land management and environmental regulations. While many of the underlying proposed rules were labeled as “updates” to existing regulations, they each contain potential hurdles to federal oil and natural gas development and access to new…
Two Recent Federal Court Decisions Impose Significant Limits on Plaintiffs’ Sweeping Lawsuits Against the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Program
Since 2015, the environmental plaintiff industry has been filing sweeping lawsuits challenging the federal onshore oil and gas program. The scope of these lawsuits, and the judicial relief requested, raise significant constitutional issues on plaintiff organizations’ legal viability to bring such programmatic challenges. Examples include a lawsuit against every single federal oil and gas lease sale in five states dating…
The Waters of the United States: What Sackett Means for New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas
On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court again weighed in on what is to be considered a “water of the United States” (“WOTUS”) under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) in Sackett v. EPA, 143 S. Ct. 1322 (2023). The fundamental holding in Sackett is that the only wetlands qualifying as WOTUS are waters that are indistinguishable from traditionally…
BLM Proposes Raising Minimum Bonding by 15 – 20x Current Levels
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently proposed raising the minimum bonding requirements by a factor of 15 for individual federal leases, raising the minimum amount from $10,000 to $150,000, and by a factor of 20 for statewide bonds, raising the minimum amount from $25,000 to $500,000. The proposal, which would require the updated bonding amounts in place one year…
Texas Railroad Commission Moves Closer to Establishing Regulatory Framework for CO2 Sequestration
The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) adopted new rules governing carbon capture and sequestration and storage at its August 22, 2023, Open Meeting. The rules go into effect on September 11, 2023, and are intended to align with the requirements of Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Class VI Underground Injection Control (UIC) program. Importantly, these rules go into effect while the State…
Say Goodbye to COGCC
This week marks the end of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the beginning of the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). Senate Bill 2023-285, which was signed into law May 22, 2023, expands the Commission’s regulatory authority beyond oil and gas development to include deep geothermal energy production (geothermal resources more than 2,500 feet below surface),…
New Mexico Oil and Gas Regulators Send $40M Message: Noncompliance is Expensive
New Mexico’s oil and gas regulators levied some of the largest fines in state history on June 29, seeking over $40M from Amerdev, an Austin-based oil and gas company, for alleged violations of the New Mexico Air Quality Control Act (“AQCA”) and other oil and gas regulations. Section 74-2-12(B) of the AQCA authorizes a civil penalty of up to…