Words, phrases, and terms defined in this amendment to the Land
Development Code (“LDC”) shall be given the meanings set
forth below. Words, phrases, and terms not defined in the LDC shall
be given their usual and customary meanings except where the context
clearly indicates a different meaning.
The text shall control captions, titles, and maps.
The word “shall” is mandatory and not permissive;
the word “may” is permissive and not mandatory.
Words used in the singular include the plural; words used in
the plural include the singular. Words used in the present tense include
the future tense; words used in the future tense include the present
tense.
Within this Ordinance, sections prefaced “purpose”
and “findings” are included. Each purpose statement is
intended as an official statement of legislative purpose or findings.
The “purpose” and “findings” statements are
legislatively adopted, together with the formal text of the Ordinance.
They are intended as a legal guide to the administration and interpretation
of the Ordinance and shall be treated in the same manner as other
aspects of legislative history.
In their interpretation and application, the provisions of this
Ordinance are considered minimal in nature. Whenever the provisions,
standards, or requirements of any other applicable chapter of the
LDC are greater, or any other County Ordinance more restrictive, the
latter shall control.
In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by this
appendix, the day of the notice or final application, after which
the designated period of time begins to run, is not to be included.
Further, the last day is to be included unless it is not a working
day, in which event the period runs until the next working day.
Words with specific defined meanings are as follows:
The permanent abandonment of a well or an Oil or Gas Facility,
as established by filings of the operator with the state OCD, from
production records maintained by the OCD, and from information gathered
by the Administrator. The County may presume abandonment of an Oil
or Gas Facility based upon: (i) nonuse or the lack of any production
for one (1) year plus ninety (90) days, as established from records
of the OCD; (ii) plugging and abandonment of a well pursuant to OCD
Rule 19.15.4.202 NMAC; or (iii) any other evidence that the well has
been abandoned or plugged and abandoned as established by filings
of the Operator with the OCD or other records maintained by the OCD,
or independent observations of the Administrator.
Having property lines in common.
An off-site public facility or system of facilities including,
but not limited to: roads, fire, police, stormwater, and related substance
retention; and emergency service and preparedness that has sufficient
available capacity to service the oil or gas facility at adopted specified
levels of service.
Two properties, lots, or parcels are “adjacent”
where they abut, even if separated by a roadway or street, right-of-way,
or railroad line, or any stream, river, canal, lake, or other body
of water.
The Administrator is the Director of the Land Use Division
of the Growth Management Department, Santa Fe County, or any person
subsequently assigned or delegated to perform some portion of the
functions exercised by that person.
The LOS standards adopted for Adequate Public Facilities
and Services. All applications are evaluated for the purposes set
forth in this ordinance in accordance with these adopted LOSs.
A negative change in the quality of the environment, floodplains,
floodways, streams, wetlands, hillsides and steep slopes, wildlife
or vegetation habitats, air and water quality, global warming, public
facilities and services, transportation capacity, health and safety,
historical, architectural, archaeological, or cultural significance
of a resource.
Property currently used for farming or ranching purposes,
including pasture.
An appeal to the Board where it is alleged that there is
an error in any development order, requirement, decision, or determination
made by the Administrator, Hearing Officer or CDRC.
The owner of a mineral estate or oil and gas lease, or a
production right owner or lessee of lands, leases, or mineral estates
proposed to be developed or duly designated representative who shall
have express written authority to act on behalf of the owner. Consent
shall be required from the legal owner of the premises and any person,
corporation, partnership, trust, business entity in the same ownership.
Applicant shall also be a unit operator who is appointed under a unit
agreement or pooling arrangement, including working interest, royalty
interest, and overriding interest owners or lessess.
Any application for a development order or a development
approval of an Oil or Gas Facility.
A Plan encompassing a specific geographic area of the County,
which is prepared for the purpose of specifically implementing the
County General plan by refining the policies of the General plan to
a specific geographic area or containing specific recommendation as
to the detailed policies and regulations applicable to a focused development
scheme. An area plan shall consist of goals, objectives, policies,
and implementing strategies for capital improvements, zoning; subdivision
regulations, official maps, the level of service required for public
facilities and services; physical and environmental conditions; cultural,
historic and archeological resources, and land-use characteristics
of the area; and maps, diagrams, and other appropriate materials showing
existing and future conditions. Area plan shall include, but not be
limited to, the Galisteo Basin Area Plan.
Any of the zoning districts established pursuant to Articles
III and VI [Chapter 8] of the LDC, which underlay an Oil and Gas Overlay
Zoning District Classification.
The Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County, State
of New Mexico.
All water situated wholly or partly within or bordering upon
the County whether surface or subsurface, public or private.
Any form of a surety bond in an amount and form satisfactory
to the County attorney. All bonds shall be approved by the County
attorney whenever a bond is required by these regulations.
The required area and setback, with appropriate installation
of landscaping and screening materials, for Oil or Gas Facilities.
That portion of an Oil or Gas Facility upon which buildings,
structures, wells or equipment may be placed, limited by floodplain,
slope or other terrain constraints[,] required buffer zones and setbacks,
the maximum number of wells and co-location of wells or other design
and development standards set forth in the Ordinance.
A structure designed, built, or occupied for an Oil or Gas
Facility, storage or equipment.
See development approval; A ministerial permit required by
the LDC after a Special Use and Development Permit for an Oil or Gas
Facility has been approved has been approved [sic].
The maximum demand that can be accommodated by a public facility
or service without exceeding the adopted level of service (LOS). For
roads and highways, “capacity” shall be measured by the
maximum number of vehicles that can be accommodated by an intersection
or road link, during a specified time period, under prevailing traffic
and control conditions at that road’s adopted LOS.
A public facility with a life expectancy of three or more
years, to be owned and operated by or on behalf of the County, which
shall also include equipment for roads, highways, fire, police, stormwater
or liquid material detention, or emergency service response.
The list of recommended public capital improvements and public
services to be constructed and/or provided during the forthcoming
five-year period (“CIP”).
A plan setting forth, by category of public facilities and
public services, those capital improvements and public services and
that portion of their costs that are attributable to serving new development
or resolving existing infrastructure and/or provided deficiencies
within designated service areas for such public facilities and public
services over a period from five (5) to twenty (20) years (“CIP”).
A measure to determine environmental infrastructure, water
availability, traffic capacity, police, fire and emergency service
and response capacity, or fiscal criteria upon which to ground development
approval of Oil and Gas projects, without degrading the adopted level
of service.
The County Development Review Committee of Santa Fe County
or successor Planning Commission of Santa Fe County.
The additional permit(s) required by subsection 11.16.1 of
this Ordinance.
Whenever this Ordinance requires that an agency or official
certify the existence of some fact or circumstance such certification
be made in any manner, oral or written, which provides reasonable
assurance of the accuracy of the certification.
A system for oil and gas drilling that utilizes a series
of completely enclosed aboveground tanks instead of a Reserve Pit
that are used for the management of drilling, workover, or other fluids.
A group of cultural, historical, architectural, or archaeological
resources with compatible buildings, objects, artifacts or structures
geographically or thematically relating to and reinforcing one another
through design, setting, materials, workmanship, congruency, and association.
means Santa Fe County Land Development Code, Ordinance No.
1996-11 (as amended) and any successor ordinance amendments.
See road, collector.
The placement of two or more well bores on a single drilling
site, or the placement of two or more drilling sites contiguous to
each other.
The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission.
See Same Ownership.
A situation where an Oil or Gas Facility or Facilities can
co-exist or act together harmoniously, considering adverse effects
or impacts on environmentally sensitive habitats, wetlands, flood
areas, steep slopes, historic, cultural and archaeological artifacts
and sites, noise levels, odors, glare, potential fire hazards, explosions,
visual impacts, effects to surface water and groundwater quality/quantity,
adequacy of the road and highway system, stormwater detention, fire,
police and emergency response services, air quality and surrounding
land uses.
A use which has received development approval for the Oil
and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification and Special Use and
Development Permit, Grading and Building permits and Certificate of
Completion.
A device designed to increase the pressure of gas for transmission
through a gathering system or transmission line.
The preliminary development plan required to be submitted
with an application for an Oil and Gas Overlay Zone District Classification.
A non-possessory interest of a holder in real property that
imposes limitations or affirmative obligations designed to: retain
or protect natural, scenic, or open space values of real property
or assure its availability for agricultural, forest, recreational,
or open space use; protect natural resources; maintain or enhance
air or water quality; or preserve the historical, architectural, archeological,
or cultural aspects of real property.
Lots are contiguous when at least one boundary line of one
lot touches a boundary line or lines of another lot.
Santa Fe County, New Mexico.
The County Assessor of Santa Fe County, State of New Mexico.
The County Attorney or his Deputy designated by the Board
to furnish legal assistance for the administration, interpretation,
enforcement and implementation of this Ordinance.
The County Clerk of Santa Fe County, State of New Mexico.
The County Manager of Santa Fe County, State of New Mexico.
The transfer of fee simple title to, or grant of an easement
over lands and improvements to the County subject to the conditions
of a development order requiring such transfer and acceptance.
Pollution of water that unreasonably reduces the quality
of such water. The quality of a representative sample of water is
unreasonably reduced when such water is rendered harmful, detrimental,
or injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property, or the
public health, safety, or welfare, or impairs the usefulness or the
public enjoyment of the water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.
Any act or process that destroys or razes in whole or in
part, or permanently impairs the structural integrity, or allows deterioration
by neglect of a building or structure or land, wherever located, or
a building, object, site, or structure, including interior spaces,
of cultural, archeological or historic artifacts, or external sites.
Any portable framework, tower, mast, and/or structure which
is required or used in connection with drilling or reworking a well
for the production of oil or gas.
Any manmade change in improved and unimproved subsurface
mineral and surface estates, including, but not limited to: buildings
or other structures; oil and gas drilling, dredging, filling, extraction
or transportation or [of] oil and gas, grading, paving, diking, berming,
excavation, exploration, or storage of equipment or materials, whether
in pits, structures, ponds, containers, land fills, any other detention
facility, or significant land disturbance.
An agreement between the County and an applicant for an Oil
and Gas Overlay Zone District Classification, Special Use and Development
Permit regarding the development and use of the property through which
the County agrees to vest development use density or intensity, or
refrain from adopting new regulations affecting subsequent phases
of development, in exchange for the provision of public facilities
or services by the applicant and satisfaction of conditions incorporated
into a development order granting a Special Use and Development Permit
or Oil and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification.
Any authorized action by the Board, CDRC, Administrator,
or other officer or agency of the County that approves, approves with
conditions, or denies applications for development of a parcel, tract,
building, or structure, including any of the following: oil and gas
overlay zoning district classification; concept and detailed development
plans; beneficial use or value determination; transfers of development
rights; special use and development permits, grading or building permits;
certificate of completion or appeals.
The official ordinance, regulation, resolution, or decision
of the Board, CDRC, Administrative Officer or an officer or agency
of the County with respect to the granting, granting with conditions,
or denial of an application for an oil and gas project including:
an Oil and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification; a Special Use
and Development Permit; building and grading permits and a certificate
of completion.
A detailed plan for an oil and gas project accompanying development
approval of a Special Use and Development Permit including such drawings,
documents, and other information necessary to illustrate completely
the proposed development. Shall specifically include such information
as required by this Ordinance.
Any Oil or Gas Facility subject to the approval of an Oil
and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification, Special Use and Development
Permits, Grading and Building Permits, and a Certificate of Completion.
The rights of a subsurface or surface mineral, gas or oil
estate owner and/or lessee to develop such property, dependent on
the type of leasehold or ownership interest, and subject to the constraints
of applicable law. Under certain circumstances, development rights
may be transferred to other owners or lessees of mineral, oil or gas
fee or leasehold interests thus permitting the recipient to develop
more intensely than otherwise permitted; see Transfer of Development
Rights (defined below) and Section 9.7.
The designated and approved oil or gas surface drill site
within a Buildable Area upon which an approved Oil or Gas Facility
may be constructed. The development site of a lot, tract or parcel
includes buildings and/or structures, accessory uses, retention facilities
and landscape, buffer and screening areas.
Standards and technical specifications for improvements to
land required for an Oil or Gas Facility approval, including specifications
for the placement, dimension, composition, and capacity of: derricks,
drilling equipment, oil and gas wells, streets and roadways; signage
for traffic control and other governmental purposes, including road
signs, and other traffic-control devices on roadways; highways, lighting
of roads; water mains and connections, including facilities and connections
for the suppression of fires; off-street parking and access; landscaping,
screening and contouring of land, drainage, sedimentation, and erosion
control; open space and storm drainage culvert facilities, including
drains, conduits, and ditches; environmental, air and water quality,
global warming, historic, cultural and archeological site and artifact
preservation.
Any method of drilling for oil or gas that can reach a subsurface
reservoir containing oil or gas resources at a significant horizontal
distance from the surface location of the bore or wellhead on a single
or co-located drill site. For purposes of this Ordinance, directional
drilling includes without limitation related current technologies
variously called slant drilling, horizontal drilling, extended-reach
drilling, multi-lateral drilling (branched directional techniques),
coiled tube drilling, and any fixture oil or gas technology that can
span horizontal distance between surface and subsurface locations.
Digging or boring a new oil or gas well or reentering an
existing well for the purpose of exploring for, developing or producing
oil, gas, or other hydrocarbons, or for the purpose of injecting gas,
water, or any other fluid or substance into the earth.
The premises used during the drilling or reworking of an
oil and gas well or wells and subsequent life of a well or wells or
any associated operation. The area of land in which oil and gas derricks,
equipment, buildings, structures, improvements, wells, excavations,
dumps, waste piles, ponds and other features normally utilized in
oil and gas operations are located.
The derrick, together with all parts of and appurtenances
to such structure, every piece of apparatus, machinery, or equipment
used or erected or maintained for use in connection with drilling
on an oil and gas development site.
Authorization by a property owner for another to use the
owner’s property for a specified purpose.
See Adverse effect or impact.
See professional engineer.
A process to examine adverse on- and off-site environmental
effects [or] impacts by an oil and gas project.
Soil movement due to wind or water.
A deposit of cash with the County or escrow agent to secure
the promise to perform some act.
The requirement for development to dedicate a portion of
land or a payment in lieu of land costs of public facilities or services
as a condition of a development order.
A structure that is built and completed as of the effective
date of this code.
A sum of money paid out in return for some benefit or to
fulfill some obligation. Includes binding contractual commitments,
whether by development agreement or otherwise, to make future expenditures
as well as any other substantial change in position.
Those expenses that shall include consultant and engineering
costs, exactions, application fees, costs of obtaining a bond, trust
agreement, or irrevocable letter of credit posted with the County
to assure compliance with conditions of approval of an Oil and Gas
Overlay Zoning District Classification, Special Use and Development
Permit, and other Grading and Building Permit Applications, as well
as necessary development costs.
Geologic or geophysical activities related to the search
for oil, gas, or other subsurface hydrocarbons including prospecting,
geophysical and geologic seismic surveying and sampling techniques,
which include but are not limited to core or rotary drilling or making
an excavation, performed in the search and evaluation of oil and gas
deposits[.]
A well drilled for the purpose of discovering oil, gas, or
mineral reserves[.]
The Santa Fe County Fire Department – County professionally
employed firefighters, excluding volunteer personnel.
The process of assessment of oil and gas development applications
as to the positive or negative effects or impacts they will have on
the community’s revenues and expenditures for public improvements,
delivery of services and net cash flow.
A general and temporary condition of partial or complete
inundation of normally dry land areas from the overflow of inland
or tidal waters or the unusual and rapid accumulation of runoff of
surface waters from any source.
Any land area susceptible to being inundated by water from
any source. See area of special flood hazard, flood or flooding, and
100-year floodplain.
See 100-year floodplain.
A channel, river, stream, creek or other watercourse and
the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge
the base flood; the 100-year floodplain.
The use of water or other fluids as a stimulant injected
into an oil or gas well to split or fracture subsurface geological
formations to improve the productivity of the oil or gas well.
Any fluid, either combustible or noncombustible, which is
produced in a natural state from the earth and which maintains a gaseous
or rarefied state at standard temperature and pressure conditions
and/or the gaseous components or vapors occurring in or derived from
petroleum or natural gas; whenever “gas” is used in this
Ordinance it includes “natural gas” and/or “methane.”
A well having a pressure and volume of natural gas; specifically,
producing methane, often in combination with a variety of other substances
such as butane, propane and carbon dioxide, or an Oil well with a
(gas-oil ratio) in excess of 100,000 cubic feet of gas per barrel
of oil.
A system of pipes, auxiliary tanks and other equipment used
to move oil, gas or water from the well to a tank battery or to a
transmission line for eventual delivery to a refinery.
The statutorily defined long-range plan intended to guide
the growth and development of the County which includes inventory,
analytical sections, Growth Management and Oil and Gas elements, land
use, future economic development, housing, recreation, parks, open
space, environment, libraries, utilities, public safety, fiscal integrity,
transportation, infrastructure, public services, facilities, and community
design, and environmental sustainability, all related to the goals
and objectives, policies, and strategies contained within the Plan.
A report, including baseline studies, on potential adverse
effects and impacts of an oil and gas project on subsurface and groundwater
resources and identifying fractured geological formations that would
permit degradation of the water resources.
The sensation produced by luminance within the visual field
that is sufficiently greater than the luminance to which the eyes
are adapted to cause annoyance, discomfort, or loss in visual performance
and visibility.
All subsurface water as distinct from surface water, specifically,
that part of the water in the saturated zone (a zone in which all
voids, large and small, ideally are filled with water under equal
or greater than atmospheric pressure).
The vertical dimension measured from the average elevation
of an oil and gas building or structure.
Historic Sites, Cultural Sites, Archeological Sites, Artifacts
and Landmarks that are designated (or eligible for designation) by
the State of New Mexico. A list, called the official register of Cultural
Properties, and the list of the National Register for Historic Places,
are on file with the Administrator.
The area within which a proposed Oil or Natural Gas Facility
creates a demand for public services and/or facilities and is evaluated
for compliance with the provisions of this Ordinance; that area in
which the capacity of public facilities and services will be aggregated
and compared to the demand created by existing development, committed
development, and the proposed oil and gas project.
A special district formed by the Board for the purpose of
levying assessments, rates, or charges on public facilities and services
needs generated by Oil or Natural Gas Facilities.
Areas within the boundaries of the County, but not within
the limits of any incorporated municipality.
Any physical system or facility that provides essential services,
roads and highways, such as stormwater detention, transportation,
fire, police and emergency services, and the management and use of
resources regarding same. Includes other physical systems or facilities
that may not be specifically enumerated in this definition.
The number of oil and gas wells permitted per square mile
or section.
A systematic listing of cultural, historical, architectural,
or archaeological resources prepared by the County, Indian Tribe or
Pueblo, state, or federal government or a recognized local historical
authority, following standards set forth by federal, state, and County
regulations for evaluation of cultural properties.
All ordinances in the County Code including this Oil and
Gas ordinance, zoning, subdivision, official mapping, capital improvements
programming, planning and budgeting, building, housing, public nuisance,
safety, and environmental codes that relate to Land use.
The process or product of installing vegetation, fences,
screening, or material for purposes of screening or softening the
appearance of an oil and gas project site, including grading and installation.
A person, corporation or other legal entity that has been
granted an Oil and Gas Lease from the Owner of a mineral estate in
land or who has received an assignment of all or a portion of a previously
granted Oil and Gas Lease.
An indicator of the extent or degree of service provided
by, or proposed to be provided by, a facility or public service based
upon and related to the operational characteristics of the facility
or service. Indicates the capacity per unit of demand for each public
facility or service, including the cumulative impacts or capacity
of a series of oil and gas and other development projects taken together
to measure the joint and several impacts.
A tract, parcel, or portion of a subdivision or other parcel
of land intended as a unit for the purpose whether immediate or future,
of transfer of ownership, or possession, or for development.
See Gas.
An inanimate constituent of the earth, in solid, liquid,
or gaseous state which, when extracted from the earth, is usable in
its natural form or is capable of conversion into a usable form of
metal or metallic compound, a non-metal, a non-metallic compound,
a chemical, an energy source, or a raw material for manufacturing
road building or construction material or oil, oil shale, natural
gas, geothermal resources, but shall not include surface or subsurface
water.
A system by which an oil and gas facility causing adverse
effects or impacts is required to counterbalance that impact by creating
an equivalent benefit through dedication, payments, offsets, alternative
construction of self-imposed restrictions, reduction in the number
and location of wells, collocation of wells or purchase of development
rights under the transfer of development rights program.
16 U.S.C. Part 470.
See Gas.
The topography that exists at the time information is gathered
for Flood Insurance Rate Maps or any subsequent approved revisions
to those maps.
The Oil Conservation Division of the Energy, Minerals and
Natural Resources Department of the State of New Mexico.
A map established by law showing the right-of-way lines for
existing or proposed roads, highways, police, fire, and emergency
service facilities, off-site retention facilities, and stream buffers
laid out, adopted, and established pursuant to this Ordinance. The
official map shall be amended from time to time to show any amendments
or additions resulting from the recording and filing of approved subdivision
plats or oil and gas projects.
The amount of the reduction of an exaction designed to fairly
reflect the value of area-related facilities or other oversized facilities
provided by an applicant pursuant to rules or administrative guidelines
in the LDC.
Any premises not located within the area of the property
subject to development approval, whether or not in the same or common
ownership of the applicant.
A conveyance of a fee simple determinable estate in the minerals
whereby the lessee is granted the power to explore for, produce and
market the oil and gas pursuant to its terms.
See OCD.
includes, but is not limited to, the following:
A new Well and the surrounding Well site, built and operated
to produce crude oil and/or gas, including auxiliary equipment required
for production (e.g., separators, dehydrators, pumping units, Tank
Batteries, Tanks, metering stations, and other equipment located within
the perimeter of the well site);
Any equipment involved in the reworking of an existing well
bore, including, but not limited to, a workover rig;
A compressor station, including associated facilities that serve
one or more Wells employing engines and/or motors;
A water or fluid injection stations including associated facilities;
A storage or construction staging yard associated with an Oil
or Gas Facility;
A facility related to the production of crude oil and/or gas
which contains engines and/or motors;
A Gathering System consisting of crude oil or gas gathering
lines or water lines;
Any facility associated with a Gathering System or water collection
line, such as a drip station, vent station, pigging facility, chemical
injection station, transfer pump station and valve box;
A gas treating facility that serves multiple Wells or Gathering
Systems;
Any other structure, building or facility used in the exploration,
drilling or production phase of oil or gas development; and,
A pipeline for transportation of oil, gas or water with the
sole exception of facilities used for the transportation of natural
gas under a tariff regulated by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission
(“NMPRC”) or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(“FERC”).[1]
The land in the floodplain within a community subject to
a 1-percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year, and the
area designated as a Federal Emergency Management Agency Zone A, AE,
AH, or AO on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps. See area of special flood
hazard, flood or flooding, and floodplain.
Development, construction, installation of infrastructure,
or any other activity that occurs on the site that is the subject
of an application for an oil and gas project.
The owner of a subsurface mineral estate or an oil and gas
lessee, or other person, corporation or legal entity who, duly authorized,
is in charge of the development of a lease or the operation of a producing
property, or who is in charge of a facility’s operation or management
of an Oil or Gas Facility.
See development approval, or development order.
Any legislative action, however denominated, of the County
that has the force of law, including any amendment or repeal of any
ordinance, the General Plan, the Official Map or any Area Plan.
An organization operating on a membership basis with pre-established
formal membership requirements and with the intent to promote the
interests of its members.
An Oil and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification that
is superimposed over one or more base zoning districts or parts of
districts and that imposes specified requirements in addition to those
applicable in the underlying base zoning district, for oil and gas
projects.
The record owners of the fee, a contract purchaser holding
equitable title, an oil and gas lessee, or a vendee in possession,
including any person, group of persons, firm or firms, corporation
or corporations, or any other legal entity having legal title to or
sufficient proprietary interest in an Oil or Gas Facility.
An area of land not dedicated for public or common use capable
of being described with such definiteness that its location and boundaries
may be established and includes but is not limited to lots.
Regulation of oil and gas development based on environmental,
historic, cultural or archaeological, health, safety, adequate public
facility or service, fiscal impact, emergency preparedness, General
and Area Plan Consistency, water availability, traffic impact and
other criteria in this Ordinance.
See development approval or development order; Special Use
and Development Permit, Building Permit, Grading Permit or Certificate
of Completion for an approved Oil and Gas Project.
Any natural person, corporation, partnership, trust, entity,
organization, joint venture, association (including homeowners’
or neighborhood associations), trust, or any other entity recognized
by law.
A surface or subsurface impoundment, manmade or natural depression,
or diked area on the surface that is earthen excavation used for the
purpose of retaining or storing substances associated with the drilling
or operation of oil and gas wells.
A capital improvement that does not presently exist but which
is included within the capital improvements program, plan or budget,
and is funded, constructed, or otherwise made available within the
time period prescribed.
See CDRC.
Inherent, delegated, or authorized legislative power for
purposes of regulation to secure health, safety, and general welfare
and to prevent public nuisances.
The contamination or other degradation of the physical, chemical
or biological properties of land, water or air, including a change
in temperature, taste, color, turbidity or odor, or such discharge
of any liquid, gaseous, solid, radioactive or other substance onto
the land or into the water or air that will, or is likely to, create
a nuisance or render such land, water or air harmful, detrimental
or injurious to the public health, safety or welfare, or harmful,
detrimental or injurious to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural,
recreational or other beneficial uses, or to livestock, wildlife,
birds, fish or other aquatic life.
A term frequently used interchangeably with unitization but
more properly used to denominate the bringing together of small tracts
sufficient for the granting of a well permit under applicable spacing
rules, as distinguished from unitization, which term is used to describe
the joint operation of all or some portion of a producing reservoir.
Pooling is important in the prevention of drilling of unnecessary
and uneconomic wells, which result in physical and economic waste.
The term pooling is also used occasionally to describe cross-conveyances
of mineral or royalty interests by separate owners or conveyances
of such interests to a trustee for the purpose of sharing the income
from production of wells drilled anywhere on the consolidated tract.
The former usage of the term related to the working interest alone
or to the working and non-operating interests; the latter usage typically
relates to the non-operating interests only.
The development stage in which marketable quantities of oil
or gas, or both, are extracted from a well and may also signify the
extraction level at which the quantitative terms of the lease are
fulfilled.
The exclusive right to explore for, produce and develop oil,
gas or mineral resources within a given area or zone.
An engineer licensed by the State of New Mexico.
The traffic that is projected to develop in the future on
an existing or proposed road.
The uses, structures, and buildings contained in an application
for an oil and gas project approval.
A person, business, corporation, partnership, trust, association,
joint venture or other entity licensed by the OCD.
A proceeding preceded by published notice and actual notice
to certain persons and at which certain persons, including the applicant,
may present oral comments or documentation. In a quasi-judicial or
administrative hearing, witnesses are sworn and are subject to cross-examination.
A parcel of land that is the recipient of a transfer of oil
and gas development rights, directly or by intermediate transfer from
a sending parcel or a TDR Bank, upon which receipt the receiving parcel
may increase the number of oil and gas drill sites pursuant to Sections
9.4.1.1 and 9.7.
The employment during and after an oil and gas operation
of procedures reasonably designed to minimize, as much as practicable,
the disruption from the oil and gas facility and to provide for the
rehabilitation of affected land through the use of plant cover, soil,
stability, water resources, or other measures appropriate to the subsequent
beneficial use of such reclaimed lands. Any land or Oil or Gas Facility
not required for production shall be reclaimed immediately after drilling
ceases.
The designation of a portion of a property for a proposed
right-of-way without dedication of the right-of-way.
A pit that is created at the drilling site of an oil or gas
well for drilling fluid and mud and other materials used in or produced
during drilling.
A source or collection of buildings, objects, sites, structures,
or areas that exemplify the historical, cultural or archaeological
history of Santa Fe County.
A facility used for storage of peak discharge rates of stormwater
runoff, or which provides storage for pollutants, chemicals, minerals,
oil, gas, rocks, mud, sediments, gray water or materials.
Any road not dedicated to the public and to be maintained
by a private entity. All private roads must meet the same standards
as provided for public roads in the Santa Fe County Oil and Gas and
Growth Management Elements. Private roads will only be permitted if
the Applicant enters into a development agreement for which construction,
operation, maintenance standards and financial terms will be provided
in the development agreement.
Any immediate or future transfer of ownership, or any possessory
interest in land, including contract of sale, lease, devise, intestate
succession, or other transfer of an interest in the surface or subsurface,
whether by metes and bounds or lot and block description.
Ownership in whole or in part on the same or separate mineral
estates, leases, parcels, tracts, or lots, whether contiguous or not,
by any person, corporation, partnership, trust, business, entity,
association, fund, joint venture or any individual owning any stock
or a legal or equitable interest in such common ownership, person,
corporation, partnership, trust, business, entity, association, fund,
joint venture or individually, as of the date of enactment of the
Interim Development Ordinance on February 24, 2008. Same ownership
shall include common operation or control under an oil and gas unit
consisting of multiple leases with varied ownership.
Vegetation, fence, wall, berm, or a combination of any or
all of these that partially or completely blocks the view of, and
provides spatial separation of a portion or all of a site from, an
adjacent property or right-of-way.
The letter of credit or cash escrow provided by the applicant
to secure conditions imposed in a development order.
Soil or other surface material transported by wind or surface
water as a product of erosion.
A parcel of land that is a transferor of oil and gas development
rights and upon such transfer the right to develop oil and gas facilities
is extinguished.
The location of an Oil or Gas Facility or an historic building,
structure, or cluster, whether standing, ruined, or vanished, and
where the location itself maintains historical, architectural, archaeological,
or cultural value regardless of the value of any existing structure.
Vehicular trips attracted to, or produced by an oil and gas
project on the site.
The ratio of elevation change to horizontal distance, expressed
as a percentage. Computed by dividing the vertical distance by the
horizontal distance and multiplying the ratio by 100. For purposes
of this appendix [exhibit], a “slope” shall include only
those areas with a horizontal distance of at least 50 feet.
Dirt, sand, and other similar earth matter; rocks and other
solid or semisolid mass material, whether produced by man or by nature.
Any garbage; refuse; sludge from an oil or gas site; and
other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained
gaseous material resulting from oil and gas activities.
A development approval process required for an Oil or Gas
Facility subsequent to the granting of a development order approving
an Oil and Gas Overlay Zoning District Classification for the project
and the issuance of a state permit to drill.
The subsurface volume, as administratively calculated by
OCD. This Ordinance does not determine subsurface spacing or drainage-radius.
This Ordinance uses OCD-determined subsurface spacings calculations
for purposes of these regulations.
The State of New Mexico and includes all state departments,
agencies under the executive branch.
The duly authorized State Engineer of New Mexico whose office
has jurisdiction over certain surface and subsurface water rights.
A slope equal to or exceeding 11%.
Anything constructed or a combination of materials that form
a construction for use, occupancy, or ornamentation, whether installed
on, above, or below the surface of land or water.
The property subject to an application for a SUDP.
See mineral estate or subsurface oil and gas lease.
A cylinder made of steel or other impervious material that
is designed to store oil or other liquid hydrocarbons, water, produced
water or other liquids used in the drilling or production of an oil
or gas well.
A group of Tanks located at a convenient point for storing
oil prior to transportation by truck or pipeline to a refinery.
The conveyance of oil or gas development rights to a receiving
parcel by deed, easement, or other legal instrument by a subsurface
mineral estate owner or oil and gas lessee.
The total area incorporated in a unitization agreement. An area
of land, deposit, or deposits of minerals, stratum, or pool or pools,
or a part or parts thereof, as to which parties with interests therein
are bound to share minerals produced on a specified basis and as to
which those having the right to conduct drilling or mining operations
therein are bound to share investment and operating costs on a specified
basis. A unit may be formed by convention or by order of an agency
of the state or federal government empowered to do so. A unit formed
by order of a governmental agency is termed a “compulsory unit;”
or
The acreage allocated to a particular well.
An agreement or plan of development and operation for the
recovery of oil and gas made subject thereto as a single consolidated
unit without regard to separate ownerships and for the allocation
of costs and benefits on a basis as defined in the agreement or plan.
The person, association, partnership, corporation, or other
business entity designated under a unit agreement to conduct operations
on unitized land as specified in such agreement.
The purpose for which a land or a structure is designed,
arranged, or intended to be occupied or used, or for which it is occupied,
maintained, rented, or leased.
A request for a beneficial use and value determination to
the Board for permission to vary or depart from any development order
denying an oil and gas project where a literal enforcement of the
development order will result in an unnecessary and unconstitutional
hardship resulting in a loss of all or substantially all use or value
of the property interest in the same or common ownership.
A view through or along a street, which, as a view corridor,
frames, highlights, or accentuates a prominent building, object, site,
structure, scene, or panorama, or patterns or rhythms of buildings,
objects, sites, or structures.
A solid upright barrier, usually constructed of, but not
limited to, concrete block, adobe brick or stone, used to enclose
or screen areas of land. Walls that are part of a building are not
included in this definition.
Any hole or holes, bore or bores, to any sand, formation,
strata or depth for the purpose of exploring for, producing and recovering
any oil, gas, liquid, hydrocarbon, or any of them.
See Drill site.
Land that has a predominance of hydric soil; is inundated
or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration
sufficient to support a prevalence of hydrophytic vegetation typically
adapted for life in saturated soil conditions; and under normal circumstances
supports a prevalence of that vegetation.
An operation on a producing well to restore or increase production.
A workover is typically performed for routine maintenance or repair
of downhole equipment.
