Photo Credit: Doug Holt

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall has led a bipartisan call to extend a decision whether to list the lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act, his office announced today.

Udall and senators from the five states affected by a possible listing sent a letter to Dan Ashe, Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), requesting an additional six months in the listing decision process, as allowed by the Endangered Species Act.

Read Entire Story Here

Click Here to view a video recording of the hearing including Secretary Jewell’s announcement which occurs at the 01:02:15 point in the video.

BLM Press Release:

Bureau of Land Management
Contact: Jeff Krauss, 202-912-7410
For immediate release
Date: June 7, 2013

BLM Extends Public Comment Period on Proposed Hydraulic Fracturing Rule

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that it is extending the public comment period on its proposed revised rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public and Indian trust lands. Notice of the 60-day extension, which extends the comment period deadline to August 23, 2013, will be published in the Federal Register on Monday, June 10.

The high level of interest in the rule, which is the first update of these Federal oil and gas regulations since the 1980s, prompted the extension.

“Extending the comment period ensures that we’ll have greater input from the public and from key stakeholders, including industry and environmental groups, Indian tribes, as well as other people who have hydraulic fracturing operations in their communities,” said BLM Principal Deputy Director Neil Kornze. “This rulemaking process has been open at every step, and today’s announcement underscores that fact.”

The Department of the Interior held its first public forum on hydraulic fracturing in November 2010. Following that meeting and several others with tribal representatives, industry and others, the BLM released its first proposed rules in May 2012. During the comment period that followed, the BLM received more than 177,000 public comments and feedback that helped to inform the updated draft proposal, which was published May 25, 2013. The new proposal includes important safety standards, improves integration with existing state and tribal standards, and increases flexibility for oil and gas developers.

The revised rule supports the Obama Administration’s commitment to an all-of-the-above approach to American energy by expanding domestic oil and gas production in order to make America energy self-reliant, while remaining true to a focus on promoting safe and responsible development on public lands.

Approximately 90 percent of wells drilled on Federal and Indian lands use hydraulic fracturing, but the BLM’s current regulations governing hydraulic fracturing operations on public and Indian lands have been on the books since 1983 and were not written to address modern hydraulic fracturing activities. The revised proposed rule will modernize BLM’s management of hydraulic fracturing operations, and help to establish baseline environmental safeguards for these operations across all public and Indian lands.

The updated draft proposal maintains the three main components of the initial proposal: requiring operators to disclose the chemicals they use in fracturing activities on public lands; improving assurances of well-bore integrity to verify that fluids used during fracturing operations are not contaminating groundwater; and confirming that oil and gas operators have a water management plan in place for handling fluids that flow back to the surface.

The BLM encourages the public to remain actively engaged in the rulemaking process by submitting comments on the revised proposed rule before August 23 in one of the following ways:

Mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, Director (630), Bureau of Land Management, Mail Stop 2134 LM, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC, 20240, Attention: 1004-AE26.

Personal or messenger delivery:   Bureau of Land Management, 20 M. St. SE, Room 2134 LM, Attention: Regulatory Affairs, Washington, DC 20003.

Online at the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments at this Website.

To read the proposed rule, click here.

Albuquerque — The New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (NM OSHA) has teamed up with several New Mexico Oil and Gas industry groups to reduce the number of heat-related illnesses at worksites. The Heat Illness Prevention Initiative is a cooperative effort that includes NM OSHA, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA), Four Corners Safety Network, and the Southeast New Mexico Service, Transmission, Exploration and Production Safety Network.
The goal of the Heat Illness Prevention Initiative will be to provide training on how to prevent heat-related illnesses and deaths within the state and to raise awareness to employers and employees about the hazards of working outdoors in hot weather.
“Remember three simple words when working outdoors: Water, Rest and Shade,” said Harry Buysse, NM OSHA Consultation Program Manager. “Drinking water often, taking breaks, and limiting time in the heat can help prevent heat illness.”

The following training materials are available:
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/osha_heattraining_guide_0411.pdf
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/osha_heattraining_guide_0411_sp.pdf
“Heat illness can be a matter of life and death,” said Wally Drangmeister, NMOGA Communication Director. “People throughout the country die from heat stroke every summer and every death is preventable.”
“The same information that companies can use to train their employees is also great advice for all New Mexicans as the weather starts to heat up,” says Mr. Buysse, “Our goal is for every worker and every New Mexican to make it through the heat of the summer safely.”

The Mora County Commission has turned its back on New Mexican families, school students and the unemployed to embrace the environmental lobby with open arms. In a recent decision that has left many residents scratching their heads, the commission decided to ban oil and natural gas development in their county. With the New Mexican oil and natural gas industry serving as a primary engine for both the state’s economic recovery and public-school funding, blocking drilling has severed people in that area from employment opportunities, property rights, and additional education funding. Read Entire Article Here

by Paul Gessing, May 3, 2013.

If the Obama Administration approves liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to non-free trade nations (those that do not have separate trade agreements with the United States), New Mexico could see an immediate increase in economic output of $200 million and the addition of 2,000 jobs according to a new Rio Grande Foundation analysis of publicly-available data.

To come to its conclusions regarding the jobs and economic input of natural gas exports, the Foundation relied on data available from IHS Global Insight which stated that “exports would create over 100,000 direct, indirect, and economy wide jobs and have an immediate impact resulting in between $3.6 and $5.2 billion in potential revenues.”

Read Entire Report Here

Click here to read press release from Governor’s office

Click here to Download a PDF Version of the Chart