N.M. Admin. Code § 19.15.28.7

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 23, December 10, 2024

Section 19.15.28.7 - DEFINITIONS

Terms shall have the meaning specified in 19.15.2 NMAC except as specified below.

A."ALARM" means advanced leak and repair monitoring technology for detecting natural gas leaks or releases that is not required by applicable state or federal law, rule, or regulation and which the division has approved as eligible to earn a credit against the reported volume of lost natural gas pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection B of 19.15.28.10 NMAC.

B."AVO" means audio, visual and olfactory.

C."Custody transfer point" means the transfer of natural gas from upstream separation, processing, treatment, or in-field gathering to a pipeline or any other form of transportation occurring at sales metering equipment.

D."Emergency" means a temporary, infrequent, and unavoidable event in which the loss of natural gas is uncontrollable or necessary to avoid a risk of an immediate and substantial adverse impact on safety, public health or the environment, but does not include an event arising from or related to:

(1) the operator's failure to install appropriate equipment of sufficient capacity to accommodate the anticipated or actual rate and pressure of the natural gas gathering system;

(2) the operator's failure to limit the gathering of natural gas when the volume of natural gas exceeds the capacity of the natural gas gathering system;

(3) scheduled maintenance;

(4) unscheduled maintenance or a malfunction that results in venting or flaring of natural gas by an upstream operator for which the operator fails to comply with Paragraph (2) of Subsection D of 19.15.28.8 NMAC;

(5) the operator's negligence;

(6) recurring equipment failure; 4 or more times within a single reporting area within the preceding 30 days pursuant to Subsection A of 19.15.28.10 NMAC; or

(7) Four or more emergencies within a single reporting area pursuant to Subsection A of 19.15.28.10 NMAC experienced by the operator within the preceding 30 days, unless the division determines the operator could not have reasonably anticipated the current event and it was beyond the operator's control.

E."Flare" or "Flaring" means the controlled combustion of natural gas in a device designed for that purpose.

F."Flare stack" means a device equipped with a burner used to flare natural gas.

G."Gathering pipeline" means a pipeline that gathers natural gas within a natural gas gathering system.

H."GIS" means geographic information system.

I."GPS" means global positioning system.

J."Malfunction" means a sudden, unavoidable failure or breakdown of equipment beyond the reasonable control of the operator that substantially disrupts operations, but does not include a failure or breakdown that is caused entirely or in part by poor maintenance, careless operation, or other preventable equipment failure or breakdown.

K."Natural gas" means a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, primarily composed of methane, and includes both casinghead gas and gas as those terms are defined in 19.15.2 NMAC.

L."Natural gas gathering system" means the gathering pipelines and associated facilities that compress, dehydrate or treat natural gas after the custody transfer point and ending at the connection point with a natural gas processing plant or transmission or distribution system.

M."New gathering pipeline" means a gathering pipeline placed into service after May 25, 2021.

N."Vent" or "Venting" means the release of uncombusted natural gas to the atmosphere.

N.M. Admin. Code § 19.15.28.7

Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXII, Issue 10, May 25, 2021, eff. 5/25/2021