The 2023 New Mexico Legislative session ended on March 17th. Here is a breakdown of bills that passed, didn’t pass or were stalled – as reported by Retake Our Democracy. Retake is a Santa Fe based volunteer citizen advocacy group who attend the legislative session hearings and report on up-to-date details. (Edited by RACC for brevity-editorial comments by Retake).
Fifteen good bills that passed. Those signed by the Gov. as of 3-20-23 are marked with an asterisk. We should feel very good about these wins for our state. We did especially well for children.
1. HB 4 Voting Right Protections
2. *HB 7 Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Healthcare
3. *HB 9 Unlawful Access to Firearm by Minor
4. *HB 95 Renewable Energy Office in State Land Office
5. HB 142 Generating Facility and Mine Remediation: After decades of trying to close San Juan Generating Station, a cesspool of toxins leeching into the water was the legacy. This bill results in a comprehensive plan to fully remediate and restore the habitat. Thank you, New Energy Economy.
6. HB 400 State-Administered Health Coverage Plan: Wider access to health coverage.
7. HB 547 Tax Changes: Tripling the child tax credit. Thanks to NM Voices for Children.
8. *SB 1 Regional Water System Resiliency
9. SB 4 Healthy Universal School Meals: Free, healthy meals for every New Mexican student.
10. SB 9 Land of Enchantment Legacy Fund: An historic investment in land, water, and cultural projects.
11. SB 13 Reproductive Health Provider Protections
12. SB 19 Law Enforcement & Public Safety Telecomm
13. *SB 53 Storage of Certain Radioactive Waste: It stops a mega corporation from turning NM into the nation’s Sacrifice Zone for high-level radioactive waste.
14. *SB 64 No Life Sentence for Juveniles
15. SB 337 Water Security Planning Act: Giving water the attention it needs.
Eighteen good bills that didn’t pass, notes where they died. Some of these were deliberately killed, others ran out of time, and still others admittedly needed fine tuning to succeed. (Committee abbreviations at the end.)
1. HB 25 Minimum Wage Increase & Indexing – Died in HCEDC
2. HB 42/SB 5 Public Health & Climate Resiliency – Died in HAFC/SFC
3. HB 50 Possession of Large Capacity Gun Magazine – Died in HCPAC
4. HB 100 14-Day Waiting Period for Firearm Sales – Died on House Floor
5. HB 101 Large-Capacity Magazines & Assault Weapons – Died in HJC
6. HB 432/SB 243 Plastic Waste Reduction Act – Died on House Floor/STBTC
7. HJR 1 – Independent Redistricting Commission – Died in HJC
8. HJR 2 Legislative Changes – Died on House Floor
9. HJR 4/SJR 6 Environmental Rights (Green Amendment) – Died in HENRC/SRC
10. HJR 8 Legislative Salaries – Died in SFC
11. SB 11 Paid Family & Medical Leave Act – Died in HCEDC
12. SB 44 Prohibit Firearms at Polling Places – Died on House Floor
13. SB 57 Water Trust Fund – Died in SFC
14. SB 99 Rent Control Prohibitions – Died in SHPAC
15. SB 116 21 Years Old to Purchase or Possess Firearms – Died in SJC
16. SB 140 NM Housing Trust Fund – Died in SFC
17. SB 165 Local Choice Energy Act – Died in SJC
18. SB 427 Firearm Sales Waiting Period – Died on Senate Floor.
Bad Bills Defeated
1. HB 174 Underground Injection Fund – Died in HAFC
2. HB 431 Local Govt. Utility Service Restrictions – Died in HGEIC
3. SB 493 Brackish Water Reuse – Died on Senate Floor. Calls and emails kept it from being heard on the Senate Floor.
4. SB 520 Clean Future Act – Died in SCONC.
5. HB 12 Advanced Energy Technology Act – Died in HENRC
Key to Committee Abbreviations
HAFC House Appropriations & Finance - HCEDC House Commerce & Economic Development – HCPAC House Consumer & Public Affairs - HENRC House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources - HJC House Judiciary – SCONC Senate Conservation - SFC Senate Finance - SHPAC Senate Health & Public Affairs -SJC Senate Judiciary -SRC Senate Rules - STBTC Senate Tax, Business & Transportation
Two bills that need our attention- Reported by Retake Our Democracy – whose headlines in the article below say it all. 1) “SB 520 – Enacting the Clean Futures Act: A bill badly in Need of Amendments”. 2) “HB 12: The Bill We Thought We Killed but is Rewarded with $50M in the Current Budget”.
Both of these bills will ENSURE that Hydrogen development will happen in New Mexico – unless we speak up. We are in the last 2 weeks of the NM 2023 Legislative session, so staying focused is key. (RACC has missed the Tues. morning window for speaking to committee members for SB520 – but there is still time to speak up regarding HB12 which died, but the intentions morphed into the overall Budget Bill). Read on for details and action information – RACC edited for brevity.
SB 520 – Enacting the Clean Futures Act: A bill badly in Need of Amendments
We agree and support state efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and appreciate how bill sponsors have been responsive to input from environmental organizations and we especially appreciate the sponsors responding to that input by eliminating the net zero, offset and carbon trading aspects of the bill, which we believe is harmful and undermines effective regulation.
While this was our largest concern with SB520 it is not our only concern and so we remain opposed to this legislation until we can see three critical changes in the bill.
1) Include downstream accounting of emissions:
Given New Mexico’s continuing global carbon impact from increased extraction in the Chaco region and Permian Basin, it’s essential that we include downstream emissions tracking from NM oil and gas extraction in the reporting section of the bill. We are not persuaded that this will significantly increase the costs of implementation, as OCD already tracks O&G production and assigning carbon output values to this production is not an onerous task.
2) Fully fund EMNRD & NMED for environmental enforcement actions, and to not use that funding for hydrogen planning & development.
As reported, in 2022, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division (OCD) — the state’s oil and gas monitoring body — has only 11 inspectors dedicated to field work and has vacancies for two more. The Air Quality Bureau (AQB) at the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has six inspectors, but they monitor a lot more than just oil and gas operations.[1] That means fewer than a dozen full-time, oil-and-gas-only field monitors to cover more than 52,000 active wells in the state. That’s not to mention thousands more injection wells, with more and more wells drilled every day. That is not adequate levels of inspection and reduces regulation to industry self- report. And guess what? Industry reports almost no leaks. We need inspectors to inspect and we need inspection to hold the industry accountable.
3) Ensure that “beneficial reuse” won’t be used for hydrogen.
We do not support efforts to squeeze hydrogen into bills. and want assurance that reuse has nothing to do with hydrogen. With these changes we would see this bill as an excellent start toward holding our gas & oil operators accountable. But the devil is in the details and so we insist on these amendments.
We also need to observe that a bill of this importance should not be introduced in a dummy bill in the last two weeks of the session, especially when the bill was developed in a Conservation Voters of NM silo with input sought only after the bill had been designed. Our environmental community is better served by working proactively and collaboratively. But CVNM has graciously sought input now and as noted above, conceded on our largest concerns (off sets and net zero language).
HB 12: The Bill We Thought We Killed but is Rewarded with $50M in the Current Budget
The bill is now officially dead and buried thanks to vigorous opposition and the bill sponsor’s late realization that the anticipated strong support from the tribal community, was in fact, strong opposition. But the work never ends as we killed the bill now, we need to kill the funding.
Call or email Senate Finance committee and say: “My name is xx. I live in xx. I’m curious what the $50 million for the Economic Development Department for Advanced Energy Federal matches is in the budget bill. Why is this huge amount of money in the budget when it doesn’t seem to have a viable bill attached to it? I’d like to see Climate Solutions and Just Transition bills funded with this money until the public has a more clear view of what this money is for.”
Contact info for Senate Finance Committee members below - group email info to save time: For HB 12 Contact Sen Finance Committee Members This Week
Bulk mail: use BCC: “William F. Burt” <bill.burt@nmlegis.gov>, “Pete Campos” <pete.campos@nmlegis.gov>, “Crystal R. Diamond” <crystal.diamond@nmlegis.gov>, “Roberto “Bobby” J. Gonzales” <roberto.gonzales@nmlegis.gov>, “Siah Correa Hemphill” <siah.hemphill@nmlegis.gov>, “George K. Munoz” <george.munoz@nmlegis.gov>, “Michael Padilla” <michael.padilla@nmlegis.gov>, “Nancy Rodriguez” <nancy.rodriguez@nmlegis.gov>, “William E. Sharer” <bill@williamsharer.com>, “Jeff Steinborn” <jeff.steinborn@nmlegis.gov>, “Pat Woods” <pat.woods@nmlegis.gov>
From this article Emphasis upon the word CLEAN when referring to hydrogen. Every method now presented to NM legislators is DIRTY (they know it, we know it but still it moves forward into our reality)
"It will be another seven years before the world realises that clean hydrogen should only be used to replace the existing 94 millions of tonnes of annual fossil-fuel hydrogen supply and in a handful of other sectors, according to Michael Liebreich, the influential founder of research house BloombergNEF who is now an independent clean-energy analyst, adviser and investor."
www.hydrogeninsight.com
Influential analyst and investor spells out views on how the clean H2 market will really develop in the coming yearsWe had a great interview on Chama Valley Radio about a month or two ago on the hydrogen mania. soundcloud.com/kxjr-the-eagle/is-hydrogen-the-answer-for-new-mexico-or-just-hot-air?si=65614ef3b9...
This just in – the House Bill which focused upon hydrogen hydra and was headed to the House Floor tomorrow is (HB 12) is dead…but wait! Thanks to dodging to keep public opposition to hydrogen spinning – New Mexico will have hydrogen hubs. Read below the behind the scenes actions our legislators and the Governor have been doing to ensure they and oil and gas get what they want – including massive amounts of federal funding. (Note: Hydrogen advancing in our state is dependent upon the $50 million dollars mentioned below inserted into the NM Budget Bill HB2). More importantly – there are only 2 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) facilities in the world that are functioning with little to no success. All 12 created in the U.S. have failed).
Stay tuned for more info as it becomes available. See the entire article in link below.
From Retake our Democracy (Note: RACC edited for brevity)
…”No matter how often the legislature says no, hydrogen advocates find ways to circumvent that process and continue their work. Today we learned that HB 12 has been pulled and is effectively dead. Nonetheless, bill sponsors Reps. Nathan Small and Margaret Dixon are also chair and co-chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee (HAFC), and when you hold those positions, you can make legislation on your own — no need for votes of other committees.”
…” buried on page 196 of HB 2, the overall House budget, there was an allocation of $50M “for public-private partnerships to seek matching federal funds for advanced energy-related projects.”
“This is precisely the language and the allocation amount that had been contained in HB 12 to support public private partnerships work on carbon sequestration. The House budget bill, HB2, has passed through the House and is now in the Senate. Hence, despite not receiving a single vote in either chamber, the funds to advance HB 12’s purpose are practically on the Governor’s desk with HB 2, only needing to pass through Senate Finance and then the Senate floor.”
“So, despite multiple legislative defeats in 2022 and now in 2023, NM hydrogen work has been moving along undeterred on multiple fronts.
Aside from sneakily inserting $50M in the state budget for carbon sequestration, NM has been moving on multiple hydrogen fronts.
• Federal Hydrogen Hub proposal. NM has entered into a multistate partnership to develop a Western Inter-State Hydrogen Hub (WISHH) with supporting facilities in each state in response to the U.S. Department of Energy RFP. The initial proposal has been approved with a full proposal due late this spring. All of the hydrogen maneuvering of the past two sessions should be seen as posturing and positioning for NM to succeed in this grant competition.
• Implementation, testing and evaluation of Underground Injection Wells. With Federal funds, NM Environment Dept. has been implementing an Underground Injection Wells program in NM and 12 other western states, with HB 174 being introduced to sustain that work and provide additional funding. In fact, New Mexico is already a leader in national and regional efforts to identify optimal geological formations where CO2 captured from industrial operations could be stored deep underground for at least 1,000 years. The New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology in Socorro is heading that effort here and 12 other western states with financing from the U.S. Department of Energy, not only to pinpoint storage zones, but to help investors test the sites and develop monitoring, reporting, and verification plans needed for federal permits to begin commercial operations.
• Hydrogen Research & Development. In Jan. 2022, the Governor signed an MOU directing the NM Environment Dept and Economic Development Dept. to work with both Sandia and Los Alamos national labs on hydrogen development. The MOU allows these organizations to partner on the science, technologies, and policy impacts of “zero-carbon hydrogen” as it relates to climate, economy, energy, environment, equity, research, water, and New Mexico’s workforce.
• NM Carbon capture projects. And again, even without legislative authorization, multiple carbon-capture projects are under way in NM
o Piñon Midstream LLC opened a new gas-processing facility with CCS technology in Lea County last fall, and it’s now preparing to open a second one.
o Lucid Energy, which already operates gas-processing facilities in both Lea and Eddy counties, is also working to retrofit its Red Hills complex with CCS.
o And in northwestern New Mexico — where Enchant Energy plans to convert the San Juan coal plant to carbon capture — Newpoint Gas LLC and Tallgrass Energy are pursuing a joint project to turn the coal-fired Escalante Generating Station near Grants into a hydrogen production facility.
“So, industry efforts to equip carbon-emitting facilities in both the Northwest and Southeast corners of the state with carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, systems are steadily advancing, spurred on by federal tax incentives to promote such projects. “
“And, despite repeated rejection by the legislature in 2022, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration is aggressively supporting those plans, proposing new rules, regulations, and state incentives that could position New Mexico to win a goodly share of billions of dollars in forthcoming federal funding to accelerate the deployment of CCS technology.”
“As described in its Financial Impact Report (FIR), HB 174 is intended to establish NM as the tip of the carbon capture spear nationally, by enabling NM to achieve “primacy enforcement authority designation from the EPA.” This is but another strategy for demonstrating to the feds that NM is all in and ready to move on hydrogen”
Capital & Main produced an excellent primer on state efforts to advance hydrogen with or without legislative support in “New Mexico’s Budget Battles Continue While a Hydrogen Development Bill (Likely) Appears: The Advanced Energy Technology Act clearly echoes last year’s quartet of failed hydrogen bills that promoted public-private partnerships.”
retakeourdemocracy.org/2023/02/27/hb-12-is-dead-but-its-work-continues/
From New Energy Economy, who along with other environmental advocates are keeping an eye bills at the Roundhouse. HB12 has been bumped to Tuesday morning. If we are not careful and stop speaking up – New Mexico will have Hydrogen “Hydra”. The governor has been pushing for Hydrogen for quite some time to keep the oil and gas industry happy. Read on. Link below for the entire NEE notice with article links.
NEW MEXICO ALREADY FAILS TO REGULATE OIL AND GAS. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY ESTABLISH A WHOLE NEW DIRTY INDUSTRY?
A great article today from Capital and Main summarizes the issues with hydrogen and HB 12, reporting -"Making hydrogen from natural gas increases hydrogen’s total carbon footprint from leaks in the natural gas production stream that OCD and NMED have historically been unable to thoroughly police. Furthermore, the production process leaves behind vast amounts of carbon that would need to be captured and sequestered underground, an expensive process that, historically, hasn’t met project goals."
Why is this bill being pushed now? Why is the Governor promoting it and why is there no hope for amending the bill to make it something acceptable? An article published by NM Political Report before the session began clarifies the strategy of the administration - they are intent on finding ways to "separate ourselves from the other applicants” for federal Hydrogen Hub dollars.
NMED Secretary Kenney said "a public-private partnership bill could help with WISHH’s April 7 deadline by showing that New Mexico is not just after the federal grant money."
In fact that is precisely what they are after, never mind that dirty hydrogen will fan the flames of climate catastrophe, resulting in higher emissions and a lost opportunity to instead focus on the federal funds available for the development of clean solar and wind energy.
Our pressure and opposition is working - sponsors are wheeling and dealing, resulting in this delay. While we wait for the bill to be retooled and rescheduled, keep the calls and emails coming!
Contact your friends and ask them to take action as well. We defeated the Hydrogen Hydra once before, and we can do it again.
newenergyeconomy.salsalabs.org/hb12-rolled?wvpId=efcb97c9-cb7f-4906-bbc6-cf64bdbbde5d
This just in – both New Energy Economy and Retake our Democracy have reported just today - shenanigans going on at the Roundhouse – Action Alert!
An excellent bill – HB188 was proposed before the House, but was stalled and pulled by the bill sponsors who saw it was not going to succeed. However, much of the language was rolled into HB12 which is being described as another way to sneak hydrogen development into law in New Mexico. (Remember these kinds of things happened during our last legislative session – but the public outcry was able to shut them down).
Advocates are saying JUST SAY NO to HB12 and want us to speak up and out to our legislators – revise HB12!
Contact info for our Legislators: Representative Susan Herrera - phone - 505-986-4333, email: susan.herrera@nmlegis.gov
Senator Leo Jaramillo – phone - 505-986-4487, email: leo.jaramillo@nmlegis.gov
Below are reasons why there is opposition to HB12 and some history on HB188.
…(from Retake) - HB 188 was an excellent bill developed by the coalition Power4New Mexico, which includes some very progressive, people-focused, and credible organizations like the Native American Voters Alliance, Olé, and Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The bill is sponsored by Reps. Kristina Ortez and Angelica Rubio, two pretty solid legislators. Unfortunately, HB 188 stalled and Rep. Nathan Small offered to include important parts of HB 188 in his bill, HB 12.
The resulting bill HB 12 is co-sponsored by the two most prominent hydrogen advocates in our legislature, Reps. Patty Lundstrom and Nathan Small. While purporting to set up a fund to be used in support of “advanced energy technology,” a closer review reveals potential problems.
The real intent of HB12 may be buried in the definition of “advanced energy technology,” which includes “carbon capture, sequestration, transport utilization and storage systems” (CCS).
Unbelievably, it also includes nuclear energy. But CCS is at the heart of all grey hydrogen production because the economic and environmental viability of hydrogen production rests with successful sequestration of CO2, which is something that has never worked anywhere in the world.
(RACC edit: every CCS facility in the entire U.S. has failed, mostly funded using taxpayer dollars - hundreds of millions of wasted dollars on a technology which does not work and does NOT pull carbon from the atmosphere. Contact us for a video from a policy expert who has researched CCS worldwide, we will send you the link).
What was good about HB188? House Bill 188 would have appropriated a total of $13.385 million from the general fund to the Economic Development Department for the purpose of creating an Economic Transition Division. The new division would be tasked with providing programmatic, funding, administrative, and logistical support for communities and workers in economic transition.
What are the huge flaws in HB12? (Retake again)…HB 12 is basically a gray hydrogen bill, with a bunch of other really bad stuff added.
Listed below are our biggest concerns:
• The bill defines nuclear energy and carbon capture and sequestration as “advanced energy technology projects.”
• The bill rewards failure. HB 12 allows the state to take over failed projects from companies and pay those companies for their failure– essentially offering incentives for industry to invest in risky projects–for which carbon sequestration certainly qualifies.
• The Bill guts consumer protections. HB12 makes numerous exceptions to the procurement code, making that code meaningless.
See the link below for details on HB12 and reasons why it must be modified or opposed!
3207b075-4a4d-43ad-a9d9-11a95ddd032f.usrfiles.com/ugd/3207b0_4752f71f48224f01ac46e53205ed6044.pdf...
Kill the bill Don’t accept any of it coercion on the part of political Operatives Something is not better