HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 76

46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2004

INTRODUCED BY

Richard P. Cheney

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT TO CONTINUE WITH ITS PLAN TO ALLOW ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE DRILLING ON OTERO MESA.

     WHEREAS, the United States depends on the availability of energy supplies to protect the health and safety of its residents, provide funding for services such as education and financing infrastructure, provide economic stability and provide continued economic progress and growth; and

     WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico is a national leader in the production of natural gas and oil, which benefits the residents of New Mexico through the payment of taxes and royalties, the creation of jobs and the provision of supplies and services used by that industry and which benefits the nation by supplying needed energy resources; and

     WHEREAS, significant reserves of oil and natural gas are located on federal lands controlled by the United States bureau of land management of the department of the interior that are deemed multiple-use lands, open to grazing, hunting, off-road vehicles and oil and gas exploration; and

     WHEREAS, the bureau of land management recently completed an extensive planning process and published an amended resource management plan for Otero mesa that takes into consideration special conservation measures that would be applied in areas of environmental concern and wilderness study areas in Otero and Sierra counties; and

     WHEREAS, oil and gas leasing will not be allowed in six existing and eight proposed areas of environmental concern and wilderness study areas totaling eighty-eight thousand two hundred eighty-six acres, and leasing will be withheld from core areas for the Aplomado falcon totaling thirty-five thousand seven hundred ninety-three acres for at least five years and until any effects of gas development in adjacent areas are found and understood; and

     WHEREAS, it is possible to regulate the development of natural gas reserves using methods that protect the health and safety of residents, provide for the multiple use of federal lands, provide energy supplies for the benefit of the residents of New Mexico and the nation and provide needed revenues for governmental operations and economic growth; and

     WHEREAS, the planned development of natural gas on Otero mesa would only account for one thousand six hundred acres of short-term surface disturbance and eight hundred acres of long-term surface disturbance from well pads, roads and pipelines on federal lands that total more than one million acres;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the bureau of land management of the United States department of the interior be encouraged to continue with its plans to allow drilling on Otero mesa and to continue to study environmentally safe oil and gas development on Otero mesa that will increase the availability of our nation's energy resources, increase local, state and federal government revenues from those resources, increase the economic and job growth from energy production, ensure the use of the Otero mesa for multiple purposes and appropriately protect the environment of New Mexico; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the bureau of land management of the United States department of the interior be applauded for taking the steps necessary to more efficiently and effectively regulate federal lands and natural resources for the benefit of the residents of New Mexico and the nation; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the state director of the bureau of land management of the United States department of the interior, the director of the bureau of land management, the secretary of the interior, the director of the White House task force on energy project streamlining, the chair of the United States senate committee on energy and natural resources, the chair of the United States house of representatives committee on resources and members of the New Mexico congressional delegation.

- 4 -