Alva Review-Courier -

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An effort to modernize state oversight of a thriving petroleum industry in the nation's No. 2 state for oil production advanced past its first committee vetting Thursday at the New Mexico Legislature.

The bill would rewrite portions of the state's 1930s-era Oil and Gas Act in order to help regulators keep pace with the industry's meteoric growth in recent years — as well as increasingly assertive calls to hold the sector accountable for air pollution, spills and the costly cleanup of equipment and abandoned wells.

It advanced on 6-5 vote of the lead House committee on nat...