Information Only - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

DOE and BLM regarding resource management issues within the Land Withdrawal Act.
Additionally, it sets forth cooperative arrangements for administering decisions made by
these two departments.
References
U.S. Department of Energy, 1994, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land Management Plan,
DOE/WIPP 93-004, U.S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad, NM, 67 pp.
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New Mexico Air Quality Control Act
The New Mexico Air Quality Control Act (AQCA), New Mexico Statutes
Annotated C:MSA) 74-2-1 to 74-2-17, was enacted in 1967 and has been amended
several times since 1980, most recently in 1994. The AQCA makes the New Mexico
Environment Department (NMED) the regulatory agency that enforces all state air-quality
regulations and delegated CAA requirements. New Mexico has adopted a more comprehensive
regulatory approach than that required by the CAA and uses a comprehensive
permitting program to control air emissions from new or modified Stationary sources. The
requirements in the state act are codified in the New Mexico Ambient Air Quality
Standards and Air Quality Control Regulations (AQCR).
Operations that exttaet oil, gas, or potash must be permitted by NMED if their
operations could exceed any AQCR standard. Generally. the AQCRs follow the CAA
regulations in 40 CFR Parts 60 and 61. However, in some cases the AQCRs are more
stringent than the federal regulations. Oil and gas production facilities are exempt from
the permitting requirements for toxic air pollutants. Mining or extraction operations may
be subject to the following AQCR regulations:
• Open burning (AQCR 301) (1';,}wever. the burning of natural gas at gasoline
plants and compressor stations and burning at oil and gas wells to avoid a serious
safety hazard are exempted from the requirements of AQCR 301.)
• Smoke and visible emissions (AQCR 401) (However, the oil we). drilling and
servicing rigs are exempted from the requirements of AQCR 4C )
• Particulate-matter releases by oil burning equipment (AQCR 507)
• Particulate-matter releases from potash and or salt processing equipment (AQCR
508)
• Nitrogen dioXIde releases from gas-burning equipment (AQCR 606)
• Hydrogen sulfide releases from hydroc~n storage facilities (AQCR 631)
• Prevention of significant deterioration (AQCR 707)
• New-source performance standards (AQCR 750)
• National emission standards for hazardous air pollutants requirements (AQCR 771)