| Summary |
Section 2 of the bill requires the division of administration
(division) in the department of public health and environment
(department) to propose rules to the air quality control commission
(commission) to reduce certain emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
generated by upstream oil and gas operations in certain areas of the state
by 50% by 2030 relative to 2017 NOx emission levels.
Section 3 requires the division to prepare an annual air quality
enforcement benchmark report to summarize the division's statewide
enforcement actions, including civil penalties assessed.
Under current law, the division or commission, in an enforcement
action, cannot obtain a temporary restraining order or preliminary
injunction if there is probable cause that the temporary restraining order
or preliminary injunction would cause serious harm to the person affected
by the temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction or another
person or if the source to which the enforcement action pertains has
obtained a renewable operating permit and continues operations in
compliance with that permit. Section 4 repeals those limitations on
temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions. Section 4 also
authorizes a district attorney or the attorney general to seek injunctive
relief to reduce the potential for a recurrence of a violation.
Sections 5 and 6 clarify that the division has authority to impose
civil penalties for violations of requirements related to toxic air
contaminants, fenceline and community-based monitoring, and, if enacted
in House Bill 24-1338, petroleum refinery emissions monitoring.
Section 8 authorizes the director of the energy and carbon
management commission (ECMC) to hire at least 2 community liaisons
to serve as dedicated resources for disproportionately impacted
communities, and section 12 authorizes funding of the community liaison
positions from the energy and carbon management cash fund.
Under current law, an oil and gas operator (operator) is required
to obtain a permit from the ECMC to commence oil and gas drilling
operations. Section 9 requires the operator to also obtain from the ECMC
a license to conduct oil and gas operations. Section 9 also requires
operators to take actions in accordance with ECMC rules to reduce
certain emissions of NOx generated from oil and gas production and
preproduction operations. The ECMC is also required, in consultation
with the department, to adopt rules to require enhanced systems and
practices to avoid, minimize, and mitigate emissions of ozone precursors
from oil and gas operations at newly permitted oil and gas locations in
certain parts of the state.
Section 10 limits a court's authority to postpone the effective date
of an ECMC order suspending or revoking an operator's license to
conduct oil and gas operations or a certificate of clearance, requiring the
court to first consider various factors, including whether the moving party
would face real, immediate, and irreparable injury if the effective date is
not postponed and the effect that such postponement would have on the
public interest.
Section 11 expands the ECMC's enforcement authority to include
revoking an operator's license to conduct oil and gas operations and
expands the types of violations that are subject to suspension of all of the
operator's permits and certificates of clearance and the operator's license
to conduct oil and gas operations to include violations resulting in a
penalty of $1,000,000 or more, violations that cause a major adverse
impact, as defined by the ECMC by rule, and violations that cause death
or serious bodily injury.
Section 13 expands the scope of the orphaned wells mitigation
enterprise to help finance the plugging, reclamation, and remediation of
marginal wells that are at the highest risk of becoming orphaned.
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