Last week, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) adopted amendments to New Mexico’s Community Solar Rule (17.9.573 NMAC) that will bring significant developments to the state’s solar energy landscape. Importantly, the PRC raised the statewide solar...
The Royalty Resiliency Act, House Resolution 7377, (“the Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on September 20, 2024, and requires the Secretary of the Interior to issue all determinations of allocations of production for units and communitization agreements...
As has been highly reported and talked about, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) final rule on leases and the leasing process, known as the Leasing Rule,[1] raises minimum bonding requirements from $10,000 to $150,000 for a lease bond and from $25,000 to $500,000...
The U.S. Supreme Court formally ended the administrative law doctrine known as “Chevron deference” this summer in Loper Bright Enterprises, Inc v. Raimondo. This decision is celebrated as a significant victory for reigning in federal agency regulatory over-reach and...
Changes are coming to the statutory pooling process in Colorado. Senate Bill 24-185 (SB24-185), which was signed into law on May 22, 2024, expands protections for and grants additional rights to unleased mineral interest owners and local governments in Colorado. Under...
For the first time, the New Mexico Supreme Court has confirmed that electric rates established by New Mexico electric cooperatives are subject to New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission’s (“PRC”) review and approval. Prior to this decision, under New Mexico’s Public...
In a remarkable decision, the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) rejected a settlement agreement between New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas regarding a long-standing legal battle over use of waters from the Rio Grande. In Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado,[1]...
The First Judicial District New Mexico Court for Santa Fe County’s (“New Mexico District Court”) recent decision denying the State’s motion to dismiss in Atencio, et al. v. State of New Mexico provides little to no insight into the viability of the claims in this...
The EPA is reportedly taking another look at redesignating the Permian Basin in both Texas and New Mexico as an ozone nonattainment area. The first impact of an ozone redesignation would be to restrict air permits for constructing or modifying stationary sources of...
A Washington D.C. federal judge upheld the Bureau of Land Management’s greenhouse gas and climate impact analysis, conducted in connection with six 2022 federal onshore oil and gas lease sales. A coalition of environmental plaintiff organizations sued to challenge...
