Citizen's Lobby Day on Surface Owners' Protection Act

Passed along by the Coalition for the Valle Vidal:
COME ONE! COME ALL! NM Surface Owners’ Protection Act Citizen’s Lobby Day and Press Conference

Representative Andy Nuñez (D-Hatch) invites you and yours to Santa Fe for a special press conference and citizen’s lobby day in support of the Surface Owners’ Protection Act, a strong bill that would protect landowners’ facing oil and gas development on their property:

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
11:00 AM – Citizen’s Lobby Orientation (location TBA)
12:30 PM – Press Conference, State Capitol Room 310
Santa Fe, New Mexico

A brief orientation session on the legislative process and the Surface Owners’ Protection Act will take place at 11:00 AM. We are in the process of confirming the location for this session. A press conference in support of the Surface Owners’ Protection Act will take place at 12:30 PM in Room 310 of the Roundhouse. Your attendance at the both the orientation and the press conference is requested. Those travelling to Santa Fe are encouraged to call their State Representatives and Senators and let them know you would like to meet next Tuesday to discuss the need for passage of a strong bill protecting landowners’ facing oil and gas development on their property. For a list of all legislators, visit https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/

Background
The Surface Owners’ Protection Act, if passed, will for the first time, require companies in New Mexico to: notify landowners 30 days in advance of drilling operations; negotiate a surface use agreement with the landowner; and, adequately compensate the landowner for damages and use of the land. Representative Andy Nuñez (D-Hatch) has led the charge to pass the bill for the past two legislative sessions in Santa Fe. In 2005 the bill made it through the House of Representatives but
the session ended before the bill could be voted on in the Senate. In 2006 the bill was pulled because it was amended heavily in committee and watered down by the oil and gas industry to the point that it lacked key landowner protections. With your support and involvement, Representative Nuñez is hopeful the bill will pass in 2007. (Final bill language should be available on-line very soon). 

For more information, call Gwen at 970-759-4387.