New Mexico releases cap-and-trade draft rule

The New Mexico Environment Department released a preliminary draft rule for its cap-and-trade greenhouse gas reduction program.

NMED has not yet filed the draft rule with the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board. The department is seeking public comment on the draft rule, and will hold a proposed rule meeting on May 25 at Santa Fe Community College from 4 to 6 p.m.

The cap-and-trade program would initially only apply to sources that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of carbon dioxide per year.

The draft defines the conditions that would allow New Mexico to implement the greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program as part of the Western Climate Initiative regional program.

One of the conditions of the draft rule is that the state will only participate in cap-and-trade if there are sufficient pollution allowances within the Western Climate Initiative to make the trading program efficient and cost-effective.

Other states in the initiative include Arizona, California, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington, as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

Read the full post in the New Mexico Business Weekly.