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Committee gives due pass to bill enabling state to seek Class VI primacy for CO2 storage with tribal consultation added
Summary
HB457 (as amended) would give state agencies authority and guidance to seek Class VI primacy from the EPA to regulate underground CO2 storage; the committee adopted an amendment adding tribal consultation and voted 9-0 to give the bill a due pass.
The committee unanimously gave House Bill 457 a due pass after sponsors and witnesses described the bill as a framework to allow New Mexico to seek Class VI primacy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage wells.
Senator Scherer presented HB457 and said the bill clarifies the state legal and regulatory environment needed for New Mexico to apply for Class VI primacy — authority now exercised by the EPA — and would allow the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) to administer permitting, monitoring and enforcement if the state obtains primacy. “Primacy allows us… to put in place stricter state-led guidelines,” Scherer said, and the bill adds explicit requirements including tribal consultation, community engagement, and community benefit agreements.
Proponents emphasized that Class VI wells are already governed by rigorous rules — site evaluation, geologic capacity, financial assurances, monitoring and emergency response plans, and protections for underground sources of drinking water — and argued the bill would position New Mexico to use carbon storage as a tool in climate mitigation and for economic development. Carlos Lucero of Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) told the committee that while carbon capture and storage is not yet broadly deployed, “should CCS become viable and cost effective… New Mexico would be positioned to be able to sequester carbon deep underground.”
Expert testimony in the hearing described mature technical experience with long-running storage projects abroad and U.S. acid-gas disposal wells and said the bill incorporates established legal tools (such as unitization frameworks) to protect rights and manage shared pore space. Committee members asked about interaction with federal standards and land-management entities; witnesses said a state primacy program must meet or exceed EPA Class VI requirements and that defining ‘‘pore space’’ in state law can create a clear framework for surface owners and the State Land Office to manage rights.
The committee adopted an amendment to add tribal consultation language to the bill, then voted 9-0 to give HB457 a due pass as amended. Sponsors said they had consulted with agencies, tribes, environmental groups and trades during drafting and expect further stakeholder engagement as rules are developed.
HB457 provenance: topic introduced at transcript time 3324.88; amended adoption and due pass recorded through transcript time 4355.46.
