New Mexico Environment Department proposes mandatory investigations, fixes for major methane leaks

The proposal, which the department announced Friday, would create a new statewide program to identify large methane leaks through satellite and aircraft imagery. When the program flags possible large leaks, NMED officials would then notify oil and gas operators in the area and require them to investigate.

If an operator finds a leak during the course of the investigation, they’re required to repair it and file a report with the Environment Department. Most investigations and repairs would need to be done within three days of the initial notification, NMED noted in a news release.

In addition, the new rules would increase requirements for oil and gas operating equipment to more closely align with federal standards by 2031.

“Methane leaks result in climate change, air pollution and waste of New Mexico’s natural resources,” NMED Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. The proposal, he noted, “builds on New Mexico’s nationally-leading oil and gas rules,” and will help oil and gas operators address leaks faster to keep “more natural gas where it belongs — in the pipeline.”

Members on the governor-appointed Environmental Improvement Board will decide whether to proceed with a public hearing on NMED’s proposal.

In a statement Monday, officials with the national Environmental Defense Fund praised the proposed rules, which they said would be “significantly stronger” than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s.

“New Mexico is standing against the Trump administration’s reckless attack on our health and standing up for state climate action,” Environmental Defense Fund Senior Regulatory and Legislative Manager Nini Gu said in a statement.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last year announced that New Mexico’s methane emissions were half of those measured in neighboring Texas, although wells across the state still experience “venting,” a term that refers to methane leaking into the air.