Clean Transportation Fuel Standard

In March 2024, the State of New Mexico became the first state in the Intermountain West to adopt a Clean Transportation Fuel Standard (CTFS) (House Bill 41). 

The Clean Transporation Fuel Standard utilizes a market mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuels used for transportation – while also supporting economic innovation and investment in infrastructure. It is technology-neutral, which means it does not limit or favor any technology for accomplishing the purpose of the program. Instead, the purpose of the program is to encourage the development of fuels that have low carbon intensity (CI).  

House Bill 41 created the authorization and framework for the Clean Transporation Fuel Standard, and planning is underway at NMED to create the regulations that will inform how the Clean Transporation Fuel Program operates. House Bill 41 requires the Environmental Improvement Board to promulgate regulations to initiate the program no later than July 1, 2026. 

The general public may provide public comments on the forthcoming, proposed CTFS rule by emailing comments to cleanfuel.standard@env.nm.gov or attending the future hearing on the proposed rule and commenting during the “public comment” portion of the hearing per the hearing officer’s guidance.

As part of program development, House Bill 41 directs the Environment Secretary to convene a Clean Transportation Fuel Advisory Committee to inform the rules that will govern the state’s program. The Clean Transportation Fuel Advisory Committee will include stakeholders from transportation fuel producers and distributors, utilities, environmental protection groups, environmental justice groups, Tribal and local government representatives, and others with relevant expertise. Announcements, agendas, minutes, recordings, copies of presentations, the Technical Report, and procedures for the Advisory Committee meetings can be found below.

New Mexico CTFS Advisory Committee: Technical Report (final; adopted and issued on July 26, 2024): https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/jeDOxDem

• The public may provide written comments to NMED on the CTFS Advisory Committee Technical Report from 5:00 PM MT Friday, July 26, 2024, through 5:00 PM MT Friday, August 2, 2024, at: https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=fG3AeTk6d.

New Mexico CTFS Advisory Committee: 2024 Open Meeting Compliance Procedures (final; adopted and issued on June 28, 2024): https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/hxZbZnmp

June 21, 2024, CTFS Advisory Committee Meeting Information:

Meeting Announcement:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/SSBcMegW
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/FQwtNJPo

Meeting Agenda:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/GYxRsoZO
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/bvRqpBNr

Meeting Minutes, Recording, and Copies of Presentations:

• Minutes: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/YhAfnpCE
• Recording: https://youtu.be/hb-wlHnyxQc
• Presentations: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/dtQjbPmN

June 28, 2024, CTFS Advisory Committee Meeting Information:

Meeting Announcement:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/KUJzJzFX
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/IvQUByRA

Meeting Agenda:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/zDhPPoeM
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/vHFfujZu

Meeting Minutes, Recording, and Copies of Presentations:

• Minutes: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/OZfBIAEE
• Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYyobTA2-OU
• Presentations: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/WTVWDuFM

July 12, 2024, CTFS Advisory Committee Meeting Information:

Meeting Announcement:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/eEtNsnPD
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/iECcCoDB

Meeting Agenda:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/HOyhaNYt
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/MTMxmIHn

Meeting Minutes, Recording, and Copies of Presentations:

• Minutes: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/JxnBjlFG
• Recording: Coming soon!
• Presentations: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/vnfinMCR

July 26, 2024, CTFS Advisory Committee Meeting Information:

Meeting Announcement:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/jVfnzakX
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/PtWQbEgb

Meeting Agenda:

• English: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/xopWHZBu
• Español: https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/nqEkDznQ

Meeting Minutes, Recording, Copies of Presentations:

• Minutes: Coming soon!
• Recording: Coming soon!
• Presentations: Not applicable.

CTFS Advisory Committee Members:

Name:	Affiliation:
Alaric Babej	Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM)
Amy Brown	Adelante Consulting, Inc.
Anthony Willingham	Electrify America, LLC
Brian Bartlett	Valero Energy
Cara Lynch	Coalition for Clean Affordable Energy
Cory-Ann Wind	Clean Fuels Alliance America
Dalva Moellenberg	New Mexico Mining Association
Daniel Klein	Twenty-First Strategies an Libertad Power
Eduardo Barrientos	ExxonMobil
Ethan Epstein	New Mexico Tax Credit Alliance
Evan Rosenberg	SRECTrade
Gabriel Pacyniak	UNM School of Law Clinic
Graham Noyes	Sustainable Aviation Fuel Producer Group
Jane Sadler	RMI
Jed Smith	Rio Valley Biofuels, LLC
Jessica Gregg	Carbon America
Joseph (Joe) Sorena	Chevron Products Company
Kari Buttenhoff	Christianson PLLP
Karl Feldman	Individual
Lloyd Funk	Phillips 66
Luis Reyes	Kit Carson Electric Cooperative
Matthew Weyer	Taos Ski Valley
Michael Teague	ONEOK
Robert Hagevoort	NMSU Dairy Extension
Sam Wade	Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas
Teresa Sosa	El Paso Electric Company
Tiffany Wallace Polak	Occidental Petroleum
Todd Trauman	Energy Mission Control, Inc. dba FuSE
Tom Dollmeyer	Individual
Travis Madsen	Southwest Energy Efficiency Project
Viswanath Krishnamoorthy	Qynergy Corporation

The general public may provide public comments on the CTFS rule promulgation in multiple ways:

• The public may provide written comments to NMED on the CTFS Advisory Committee Technical Report (https://service.web.env.nm.gov/urls/jeDOxDem) from 5:00 PM MT Friday, July 26, 2024, through 5:00 PM MT Friday, August 2, 2024, at: https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=fG3AeTk6d.
• Once the proposed rule has been petitioned to the Environmental Improvement Board (EIB), and the EIB has agreed to consider the rules, then the public can provide comments to the EIB through a comment portal. Stay tuned for that portal to open.
• The public may directly address the EIB if it holds a future hearing on the proposed rule.
• Members of the public can request a meeting with the NMED rulemaking team, by submitting a meeting request form.
• The public can participate in the public engagement meetings that NMED will be hosting on the CTFS rules and program, anticipated to take place later this year.

With guidance from the Clean Transportation Fuel Advisory Committee, NMED’s Climate Change Bureau (CCB) plans to propose CTFS program rules to the Environmental Improvement Board later in 2024. Throughout the rulemaking process, CCB will engage with stakeholders from a range of perspectives such as environmental justice, agricultural/rural communities, environmental and resource conservation, petroleum markets, labor and economic development, utilities, and business. 

If you are interested in participating, please subscribe to our Listserv, or contact CCB at cleanfuel.standard@env.nm.gov. 

Experience in other states that have adopted a CTFS has shown that it not only decreases harmful emissions, but also provides economic growth, jobs, and more fueling options for consumers. Adelante Consulting estimates that the CTFS could generate 1,600 permanent jobs in New Mexico, such as process engineers and delivery drivers, and 2,300 yearly construction jobs to New Mexico by 2030 – providing an estimated value of $470 million in workforce benefits. Furthermore, a CTFS provides commuters in New Mexico with greater fuel choice, reducing reliance upon traditional fossil fuels.  

There is no statistically significant data that ties a CTFS to price increases at the pump in states that have already enacted them. Many oil and gas producers are already innovating to decrease the carbon intensity of their fuels and improve extraction safety methods for environmental considerations. The CTFS gives these producers and clean fuel innovators incentives to make the change happen faster. 

• No Correlation Between Gas Prices and a Clean Transportation Fuel Standard  

House Bill 41 provides that a participating utility’s net clean fuel credit revenue must support transportation decarbonization projects – with at least fifty percent of such revenues supporting low-income and underserved communities.  

With each year, investment in clean fuels development technologies and energy diversification and advancement only increases across the nation. At the same time, the ground-level ozone readings in many communities in New Mexico continue to be too high and neighborhoods along transportation corridors bear the brunt of high-carbon fuels and the effects of climate change. A CTFS in New Mexico will help improve the health of people living in our state, help diversify our economy and help bring our carbon output levels down.