HB 237 CLIMATE, ENERGY & WATER AUTHORITY ACT

Rep Meredith Dixon

Actions: [3] not prntd-HRC

Scheduled: Not Scheduled

 House 237 Bill (HB 237) enacts the Climate, Energy and Water Authority Act and creates the Climate, Energy and Water Authority. It provides the powers and duties of the authority. HB 237 establishes a decarbonization technology program and creates the Climate, Energy and Water Project Fund. It appropriates fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000).  

 House 237 Bill (HB 237) enacts the Climate, Energy and Water Authority Act and provides definitions for authority; board; and eligible entity. It creates the Climate, Energy and Water Authority that is administratively attached to the Economic Development Department (EDD).
HB 237 specifies that a fifteen-member board will govern the authority with seven ex-officio voting members from set state agencies: six voting members with certain expertise or affiliation; and two nonvoting ex-officio members as described.  The term will be four-years with a staggered term for three of the initially appointed members that the governor selects from a list generated by the heads of the senate and house. It gives the board power to delegate its authority and to appoint an executive director who would have prescribed duties. HB 237 requires at least monthly meetings with a majority vote of the quorum to take action. Appointed members receive per diem and mileage for in-person attendance and per diem for virtual attendance.
HB 237 assigns the authority certain powers and duties including being a project-permitting navigator, identifying eligible sites; working to coordinate and collaborate with entities at every level (international, regional, national, indigenous nations) that are working on these issues and with certain organizations and institutions, create plans and programs; establish guidelines and rules for programs and grants, and make recommendations to the governor.
HB 237 mandates that the Authority establish a decarbonization technology program for recruitment, promotion, coordination, development and implementation, and recommendations for the purposes for policy and statutory change to attract climate, energy and water technology companies, 
HB 237 creates the non-reverting Climate, Energy and Water Project Fund (Fund) administered by the Authority to make grants to eligible entities for matching funds; pilot and demonstration projects; and studies and research concerning clean energy and energy conservation.
HB 237 appropriates fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) from the General Fund (GF) as follows:
•	Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) to the Fund for expenditure for Fiscal Years (FY) 2025 and subsequent FYs for the purpose of the Fund.  Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of a FY will not revert to the GF;
•	Five million dollars ($5,000,000) to the Authority for expenditure for Fiscal Years (FY) 2025 to carry out the purpose of the Fund. 
Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY 2025 reverts to the GF;
 

 There is no central state agency that focuses on these issues at this time. New Mexico's objective is to achieve a statewide reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of at least 45% by 2030 as compared to 2005 levels. Governor Lujan Grisham by executive order 2019-003 established the Climate Change Task Force comprised of nine smaller, interagency Climate Action Teams responsible for proposing, planning, and implementing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance New Mexico's ability to adapt to climate change.