Regulating Natural Gas Venting and Flaring as Waste: A Review of the New Mexico Approach
Article from: OGEL 2 (2022), in Flaring
Abstract
This essay interrogates the regulation of routine venting and flaring of natural gas as a source of prohibited "waste," using New Mexico's recently adopted Waste Rule as an example. It begins with a survey of both the environmental and economic benefits to be achieved by limiting or eliminating venting and flaring and the direct and indirect costs of doing so, including the forgone opportunity to produce crude oil. Then the essay explains the common law and statutory definitions of "waste" to demonstrate that the concept implicates a balancing of the costs and benefits of any given ...