Several bills sponsored by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham could not get the Senate and House through before the 30-day session was over.
Every other year, Santa Fe hosts four-week lawmaking sessions. This allows legislators to concentrate on budgetary issues and few policy modifications.
The Legislature passed an $8.7 billion budget, a record for the next fiscal year. This increased spending on social services like education, law enforcement, and other public safety programs.
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However, numerous bills that addressed pollution and the environmental impact of energy development were either not submitted to committees or did not make it through them quickly enough to reach Lujan Grishams desk.
Tabling a bill is the end of any action to advance the legislation. Often, bills that have been submitted are not taken up during session.
New Mexico’s leading industry, oil and gas, is oil and natural gas. New Mexico has the third largest budget in the country. New Mexico is also the second-largest oil-producing state in the U.S.
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This distinction is not without controversy, as fossil fuels are also known for being one of the most significant contributors to New Mexico’s pollution and other environmental impacts.
Republicans looking to capitalise on the economic growth brought on by oil producers often classify with progressive Democrats who seek to mitigate the effects on climate change they perceive to be directly linked to oil and gas.
These are the environmental and energy bills that were approved or rejected during the 2022 Legislative Session.
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What happened?
Four times, hydrogen energy fails
Lujan Grisham believed that legislation to support growth this year in the States hydrogen-power sector could help the state get closer to its climate goals. This would be done by her administration.
Environmentalists opposed the initiative. They argued that hydrogen power was still fossil fuel based, as most of the U.S. sector currently involves burning natural gases to extract the required hydrogen.
The Hydrogen hub Development Act was presented in three forms this yea: House Bill 4, House Bill 227, and House Bill 238, respectively. Each bill was eventually introduced despite amendments that would lower carbon emission limits, require public-private partnership, and include language to encourage producers to look for new technologies that would reduce the natural gas supply chain’s emissions.
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Rep. Patricia Lundstrom (D-9), who is chair of the House Appropriations and Finance Committee hoped that the bills would lead to a pilot program for the conversion of the Escalante power plant, a coal-fired facility in McKinley County. This could result in the creation of more jobs in her district.
House Bill 4 was introduced in its first hearing before House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee, while HB 2277 and HB 228 were placed on the House Floor.
In its first hearing before Senate Conservation Committee, Senate Bill 194, which would have defined hydrogen power under New Mexico’s Renewable Energy Act as a renewable fuel, was also presented.
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While progress is made with pollution reduction bills, it doesn’t materialize
Three bills, which were supported by environmentalists and targeted greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental impacts of industry, were also blocked during the legislative process. They will not be brought before Lujan Grisham.
Senate Bill 14 would have created a clean fuel standards to require fuel producers to meet certain requirements. It also includes emission caps to reduce air pollution in the transportation sector, which is a major greenhouse gas producer.
While environmentalists praised the bill sponsored by Sen. Mimi Stewart (17) as necessary action for climate change, modeled on similar legislation in California. However, both the Republican Party’s and the energy sector’s opponents claimed that it would only increase fuel prices at the pump.
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Despite strong objections to the bill, it passed quickly through the Senate and House. It was then put to a vote before full House, where it died in a deadlock vote.
House Bill 6, also known as the Clean Future Act, would have established greenhouse reduction benchmarks in New Mexico. This would require New Mexico to reduce its greenhouse emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and reach net zero by 2050. Direct emissions would then be reduced by 10% from 2005 levels.
Rep. Nathan Small (D36), a frequent supporter and advocate of environmental legislation, sponsored HB 6, which passed through two House committees. However, it stalled on House Floor, and never received a vote.
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It would codify in law New Mexicans’ right to a clean environment through House Joint Resolution 2 (and an identical resolution in Senate).
HJR 2 would put such a question on the next election ballot and give New Mexicans the opportunity to oppose perceived pollutive developments and actions in court.
Opponents feared this would remove lawmakers from making policy decisions and place them in charge of the justice system.
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The House version, sponsored by Rep. Joanne Ferrary, (D-37), was passed through the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee. However, it was held up in House Judiciary Committee and never received a vote. While the Senate version was held up at its first committee.
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Holtec International proposed to build a facility that would temporarily house high-level spent nuclear fuel rods. It would be located on approximately 1,000 acres near the border of Eddy and Lea county.
Local leaders supported the project, even choosing the site and recruiting Holtec for the purported economic benefits and diversity it could bring the oil-and-gas-dependent southeast region of the state.
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommended that Holtec be issued a federal license for the project last year. It did issue a license to a similar development at the Texas-New Mexico border in Andrews (Texas)
Opponents from New Mexico, including Lujan.Grisham and her Cabinet, claimed the project presented an unacceptable threat to public safety and could be the final resting place for wastes. A permanent repository is not available in the U.S.
Senator Jeff Steinborn (D 36) from Las Cruces, a frequent critic, introduced Senate Bill 54. This would have prohibited New Mexico from issuing state permits to discharge wastewater and other activities at the site.
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SB 54 passed the Senate Conservation Committee, but was rebuffed by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It did not move any further.
House Bill 127, a similar measure, was also introduced to the House Floor.
What happened?
Legislators show broad support for the cleanup of Uranium mines
Steinborn also led the effort to clean up New Mexico’s decommissioned mines of uranium. This was accomplished by introducing Senate Bill89 and House Bill164, which were then passed by the Legislature.
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Residents and Indigenous groups living near the mines in northern California feared that they could pose dangers to their communities and the environment for many generations.
The House equivalent to Steinborns bill, for which he testified during hearings, received unanimous support in both the Senate and House. It will now go before Lujan Grisham to be signed into legislation.
HB 164 directed state funds towards remediating abandoned mines. The work was to be done by the New Mexico Environment Department, and a fund was established to support such activities.
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The final version of the bill established the fund, but a section that appropriated $350,000 to the fund was removed from the final form.
House and Senate pass bills supporting renewable energy and low income users
House Bill 37, also known as the Community Energy Efficiency Development Block Grant Act Act, was introduced to increase the affordability and accessibility of energy utilities in New Mexico’s low-income communities. It created a pilot program to improve energy efficiency for low-income households.
Local governments and Indigenous groups would be eligible to receive grants under the bill to help fund improvements for New Mexicans living with poverty.
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Rep. Kristina (D-42) sponsored the bill. The bill would also establish a fund at State Treasury for donations, federal funds, and appropriations to support grants.
HB 37 was approved by the House with 44-24 votes, and the Senate with 26-14 votes.
House Joint Memorial 1 was also passed in support of HB 37. This question could be placed on a future ballot to ask voters to alter the State Constitution to allow state money to directly support utility needs without violating State anti donation rules.
House Bill 163 was also approved by lawmakers to extend tax credits to residential solar power. This bill, many believed, would continue to offer broad access to New Mexicans.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-618-7631, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
