EPA head announces oil and gas emission rules rollbacks during visit to Santa Fe

By Joshua Bowling | Senior Reporter

Good morning, everyone. It’s Thursday. During a Wednesday visit to Santa Fe, the head of the the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to further cancel Biden-era oil and gas regulations meant to curb emissions. The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer is also pushing back on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to unilaterally waive New Mexico’s water laws and regulations in its pursuit to build the border wall. We have these stories and many more below and online at sourcenm.com. Thanks for being here.

EPA head announces oil and gas emission rules rollbacks during visit to Santa Fe

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Wednesday for further cancellations of Biden-era oil and gas regulations aimed at reducing emissions of climate-warming gasses while on a visit to New Mexico. Environmental groups protested the proposals and urged New Mexico to codify the regulations in state law.

Doña Ana County seeks state disaster declaration as officials begin flood recovery

Officials overseeing New Mexico’s second largest county are urging Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to declare an emergency due to recent floods they estimate have caused at least $15 million in damages to public infrastructure.

State engineer denounces ‘outrageous’ federal waiver of New Mexico water laws to build border wall

The chief lawyer for New Mexico’s Office of the State Engineer told legislators this week that the state is pushing back against the Trump administration’s announcement of a “waiver” of all the state’s laws and regulations regarding the use of groundwater to aid construction of a border wall.

Public advocacy staff for New Mexico utility regulator seek probe into PNM over high power bills

Staff for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission are asking commissioners to authorize a formal investigation into the state’s largest electric provider after widespread customer complaints of exceedingly expensive bills. In a Tuesday filing, they wrote that electric provider PNM in July began estimating residential customer bills, rather than obtaining readings from meters, in the Alamogordo and Ruidoso areas because of a meter reader shortage.

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