New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE
Chapter 15 - OIL AND GAS
Part 29 - RELEASE NOTIFICATION
Section 19.15.29.12 - REMEDIATION AND CLOSURE

(1) Unless remediation is completed, and a final closure report submitted, within 90 days of discovery of the release, the responsible party must complete division-approved remediation for releases either pursuant to a remediation plan approved pursuant to 19.15.29.12 NMAC or pursuant to an abatement plan in accordance with 19.15.30 NMAC. If the director determines that the release has caused water pollution in excess of the standards and requirements of 19.15.30 NMAC, the director may notify the responsible party that an abatement plan may be required pursuant to 19.15.30 NMAC.

(2) Any remediation under 19.15.29 NMAC should be completed as soon as practicable. Any remediation that exceeds 90 days must follow the division-approved timeline in the remediation plan. The responsible party may request an extension of time to remediate upon a showing of good cause as determined by the division.

(1) The responsible party must submit a detailed description of proposed remediation measures in accordance with the findings of the site assessment/characterization plan that includes:

(2) The responsible party shall restore the impacted surface area of a release occurring on a developed well pad, central tank battery, drilling site, compressor site or other exploration, development, production or storage sites to meet the standards of Table I of 19.15.29.12 NMAC or other applicable remediation standards and restore and reclaim the area pursuant to 19.15.29.13 NMAC. If contamination is located in areas immediately under or around production equipment such as production tanks, wellheads and pipelines where remediation could cause a major facility deconstruction, the remediation, restoration and reclamation may be deferred with division written approval until the equipment is removed during other operations, or when the well or facility is plugged or abandoned, whichever comes first. The deferral may be granted so long as the contamination is fully delineated and does not cause an imminent risk to human health, the environment, or ground water. Final remediation and reclamation shall take place in accordance with 19.15.29.12 and 19.15.29.13 NMAC once the site is no longer being used for oil and gas operations.

(3)The responsible party shall remediate the impacted surface area of a release not occurring on a lined, bermed or otherwise contained exploration, development, production or storage site to meet the standards of Table I of 19.15.29.12 NMAC or other applicable remediation standards and restore and reclaim the area pursuant to 19.15.29.13 NMAC.

(4) If a release occurs within the following areas, the responsible party must treat the release as if it occurred less than 50 feet to ground water in Table I of 19.15.29.12 NMAC:

(5) The division has 60 days from receipt of the proposed remediation plan to review and approve, approve with conditions or deny the remediation plan. If 60 days have lapsed without response from the division, then the plan is deemed denied. If the plan is approved with conditions or affirmatively denied, the division shall provide a written summary of deficiencies on which the decision is based. If the responsible party disagrees with any conditions of approval or denial of the plan, it shall consult with the division or file an application for hearing pursuant to 19.15.4 NMAC within 30 days of the denial or issuance of the conditions.

(1) The responsible party must test the remediated areas for contamination with representative five-point composite samples from the walls and base, and individual grab samples from any wet or discolored areas . The samples must be analyzed for the constituents listed in Table I of 19.15.29.12 NMAC or constituents from other applicable remediation standards.

(2) If all composite and grab sample concentrations are less than or equal to the parameters listed in Table I of 19.15.29.12 NMAC or any conditions of approval, then the responsible party may proceed to backfill any excavated areas.

(1) The responsible party must submit to the division a closure report on form C-141, including required attachments, to document all closure activities including sampling results and the details on any backfilling, capping or covering, where applicable. The responsible party must certify that all information in the closure report and attachments is correct and that the responsible party has complied with all applicable closure requirements and conditions specified in division rules or directives. The responsible party must submit closure report along with form C-141 to the division within 90 days of the remediation plan approval. The responsible party may apply for additional time to submit the final closure report upon a showing of good cause as determined by the division. The final report must include:

(2) The division district office has 60 days to review and approve or deny the closure report. If 60 days have lapsed without response from the division, then the report is deemed denied. If the report is affirmatively denied, the division shall provide a written summary of deficiencies on which the decision is based. If the responsible party disagrees with denial of the closure report, it may consult with the division or file an application for hearing pursuant to 19.15.4 NMAC within 30 days of the denial.

*Or other test methods approved by the division.

**Numerical limits or natural background level, whichever is greater.

***This applies to releases of produced water or other fluids, which may contain chloride.