Modrall Sperling Welcomes Two Shareholders to Executive Committee
Modrall Sperling is pleased to welcome Michelle Hernandez as a newly elected member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and announce that Daniel Alsup has been elected to a…
Business as Unusual Pro Bono Virtual Legal Clinic
On January 27, 2021, the Modrall Sperling Law Firm is partnering with the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce to conduct a Business as Unusual Pro Bono Virtual Legal…
Modrall Sperling Announces New Shareholders
Modrall Sperling is pleased to have two attorneys join the rank of Shareholder in 2021: Chris Killion’s practice focuses on oil, gas and mineral development, including issuing drilling,…
New Mexico’s Public Lands Commissioner Announces Intention to End Easements to State Lands for Pumping Fresh Groundwater
Public Lands Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard on December 15, 2020 informed companies holding easements granting access for pumping fresh water from state trust lands managed by the New Mexico State Land Office (SLO) that SLO will not be renewing their easements, nor…
New Mexico’s Conditional Certification of EPA’s Proposed Reissuance of the Multi Sector General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity Raises Significant Concerns
Background In mid-2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to reissue the Multi Sector General Permit (MSGP) for stormwater discharges associated with industrial activity (Permit NMR050000) under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Section 401…
New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission Adopts Rule Changes Concerning Produced Water
On September 3, 2020, the New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission adopted rules changes concerning produced water. See OCC Order No. R-21343-A (Sept. 3, 2020). Under the Produced Water Act, signed into law in 2019, the Commission and the Oil Conservation Division of…
New Mexico Environment Department’s Surface Water Quality Bureau Begins Triennial Review Process
On November 2, 2020, the New Mexico Environment Department’s (“NMED”) Surface Water Quality Bureau (“SWQB”) issued its notice inviting public comment on NMED’s proposed amendments to the State’s standards for interstate and intrastate surface water quality, codified under 20.6.4 NMAC. NMED issued…
New Mexico’s Proposed Methane Rules
Executive Order 2019-003 One month after she assumed office on January 1, 2019, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued Executive Order 2019-003. The executive order finds that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and that the oil and gas industry is…
New Mexico’s 2020 Statewide Water Quality Management Plan and Continuing Planning Process Approved by EPA
On October 23, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved New Mexico’s 2020 Statewide Water Quality Management Plan and Continuing Planning Process (WQMP/CPP). Broadly speaking, the WQMP/CPP outlines the processes by which New Mexico manages its water quality programs, including…
Are Your Overrides Really Pooled? REALLY?
The answer may depend on whether they were created by assignment or by reservation. An uncommitted overriding royalty interest in a unitized tract can gum the works. Its owner can claim her full undiluted percentage of production from a drillsite tract, forcing…