New Mexico seeks record $47.8M fine for excess air pollution by natural gas processor - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
New Mexico environmental regulators on Friday issued a $47.8 million fine on allegations of excess air pollution at a natural gas processing facility in a prolific oil production region near the Texas state line.
The state Environment Department issued the sanctions including a cease and desist order against Houston-based Targa Resources at its processing plant near Jal, New Mexico, alleging permit violations and excess emissions of gases known to cause respiratory issues or contribute to climate change including ozone-producing pollutants.
Representatives for Targa could not immediately be reached for comment. Regulators say Targa has 30 days to respond and comply or request a hearing with the agency secretary.
Regulators also have ordered a series of corrective actions and improvements to the facilities that process gas for transmission by pipeline.
The sanctions are based on allegations of two permit violations, late reporting of emissions and an incomplete requirement for a root cause analysis of excess pollution.
The proposed air-pollution fine against Targa would be the largest in state history by the Environment Department, if upheld. The case also was referred to federal regulators.
Separately, the New Mexico Court of Appeals last month upheld regulations aimed at cracking down on air pollution in one of the nation's top-producing oil and gas states.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration has advanced new restrictions on ozone-precursor pollutants along with regulations to limit methane emissions in its efforts to combat climate change and meet federal clean air standards.
NM Health Department asks lawmakers for a raise - By Nash Jones, KUNM News
‘Tis the season for budget requests at the state capitol. And the New Mexico Department of Health is aiming high as the state boasts another year of strong income.
DOH is requesting nearly $43 million over its existing budget for the next fiscal year — around a 20% increase.
According to the guidelines for this round of budget requests, the state brought in about $3 billion more than it spent on recurring costs this fiscal year. But one-time spending was significant and, factoring that in, the state has more like $660 million in new money.
DOH officials are asking lawmakers to share some of that with their agency to spend internally on staffing and operations, but also with the public through programs and services.
The biggest chunk would go to salaries. Around $13 million would help cover previously mandated raises while also upping wages to be more competitive, according to the department.
The agency is also looking to spend about $4 million to expand drug and alcohol treatment in northeastern New Mexico. It’s aiming to stand up a 28-bed facility with San Miguel County in Las Vegas by next April.
Other plans for the money include building up its farmer’s market nutrition program, tribal engagement, disease intervention and STI clinical services, according to the proposal.
DOH is scheduled to present its budget request to lawmakers Monday afternoon, Dec. 9.
New Mexico reports more than $2B in revenue for the third year in a row - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Oil and gas revenue earned New Mexico more than $2.5 billion last fiscal year, state officials announced Thursday. It was the third straight year the state broke the $2 billion threshold from its land, and its second-biggest windfall of that type ever.
With record production, New Mexico has risen to become the second-highest producer of oil and gas in the U.S., just behind Texas. The state’s revenue from its 9 million acres of land and 13 million acres of below-ground holdings goes to its Land Grant Permanent Fund. The fund holds money in trust for public schools, universities and a handful of other beneficiaries. This year, it paid out more than $1 billion.
Nonpartisan analysts from the Legislative Finance Committee warned lawmakers earlier this year that the state is becoming increasingly reliant on the money generated by unparalleled oil and gas production, but that it is unrealistic to expect it to continue. Projections are showing that revenues are still growing, but slowing.
New Mexico land uses beyond oil and gas – think everything from grazing fees to leases for businesses like Netflix’s studios – made more than $214 million in revenues from the state, the highest amount ever, according to the State Land Office. That money flows into the separate Land Maintenance Fund, a catch-all fund which first pays for the State Land Office expenses, and then can generate revenue.
In years past, it typically amounted to just over 2.5% of the revenue, this year, it was more than 8%.
State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard credited the growth to seeking more diverse opportunities, such as leasing lands for renewable energy. But she predicted the state will need to address some budget gaps in the 2025 legislative session.
“I will continue working to make as much money for our schools as possible, including pushing the Legislature to raise the state’s inadequate oil and gas royalty rate,” Garcia Richard said in a statement.
Even as the oil boom is boosting New Mexico budgets – quadrupling revenues in five years – the state is also increasingly paying more for impacts of manmade climate change linked to fossil fuels such as damaging wildfires, increased flooding and continued drought.
While it’s hard to always track how much disasters cost, the state approved loans of $46 million for the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fires and more than $100 million in relief for fires and floods in Ruidoso earlier this year. Federal data tracking billion-dollar disaster events show New Mexico is suffering from hundreds of millions to billions in damages from storms, drought and fires.
Both the executive branch and the legislative finance committee will release their budget requests in the coming weeks.
Unemployment overpayments to be forgiven - By Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
New Mexicans who mistakenly received more unemployment insurance money than they should have are off the hook for returning those erroneous overpayments.
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) announced Friday it has received approval from federal authorities to issue a blanket waiver, allowing the department to forgive the overpayments, which were part of an economic stimulus effort during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Labor for granting this blanket waiver, which allows the department to continue reevaluating overpayments for claimants who were paid incorrectly due to the unprecedented expansion of benefits and rapidly changing rules of that time,” NMDWS Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair said. “This waiver provides much-needed relief to individuals who were overpaid pandemic benefits through no fault of their own.”
The blanket waiver applies to eligible individuals who received Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits.
The NMDWS paid some benefits in error, which established an overpayment that some claimants were required to pay back. The state later petitioned the Labor Department for permission to waive those amounts.
The waiver doesn’t cover pandemic-aid overpayments related to fraud; those must be repaid in full.
NMDWS will send out information regarding the blanket waiver via claimants’ preferred correspondence methods.
“The FPUC waiver is the latest effort by NMDWS to address the challenges stemming from the pandemic,”a press release announcing the waiver read. “The department is also reevaluating other overpayment waivers, as well as collaborating with the Office of the Inspector General in the ongoing pursuit of fraudsters who proliferated during the pandemic.”
U.S. Senate confirms new federal judge for New Mexico - Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
The U.S. Senate Thursday confirmed a new federal judge for New Mexico.
The Albuquerque Journal reports Sarah Davenport will serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico after the Senate voted 52-45 to approve her nomination. President Biden had put her name forward in August.
Davenport is set to replace the state’s Chief United States District Judge William P. Johnson, who announced earlier this year his plan to retire next month. Former President George W. Bush appointed Johnson to the court in 2001.
While Johnson is based in Albuquerque, Davenport will be based in her home town of Las Cruces, according to a joint statement from Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján.
The Senators said they were “proud to have secured” Davenport’s confirmation, adding that she has, “Built an impressive legal career as a federal prosecutor in New Mexico.”
Davenport has served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the district for the last 15 years.
Her confirmation comes amid a rush among Senate Democrats to confirm judicial vacancies before President-elect Trump takes office. The senate confirmed Davenport largely along party lines. Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins broke with their party to approve the judge.
Substantial progress on Mesa Del Sol sports complex expected in 2025 - Rodd Cayton, City Desk ABQ
The Mesa Del Sol Regional Outdoor Sports Complex will get a lot nicer in the coming months,Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Planning Manager John Barney said Thursday.
Barney updated the county Youth Sports Commission on the progress being made on the project, south of Albuquerque International Sunport.
He said a new parking area will be finished by springtime, providing more spaces for sports tournaments as well as events at the nearby Isleta Amphitheater.
Barney said crews are adding sod to two of the six fields at the complex, two are already turfed and work on the last two is done, and noted that he expects to have a design contract signed this month and all six fields and the parking should be done by July.
He said construction will start on two new synthetic turf fields, and more parking will begin in the second half of 2025.
Ruben Trujillo, a county events coordinator, said lights on two existing synthetic turf fields at the complex were activated last week and the lighting system is programmable and can illuminate the field without staff present or making renters responsible for shutting the lights off.
Barney said other parts of the project include a field house building and access roads connecting fields at the south end of the complex to Bobby Foster Road.
He said the timeline for constructing the various parts of the project will depend on the pace of funding.
County officials have estimated the total cost of the project at $48 million, most of which has already been secured. Voters in November approved $2.2 million in fields and infrastructure for the sports complex.
County leaders plan to ask the New Mexico Legislature for another $4.1 million or so in the upcoming session. If successful, that would mean more than $42 million in total acquired for the project.
“We want (to build) the field house next, or do we want four more fields?” Barney said. “That’s up to you guys. You’re going to be doing the legwork to get the money. We’ll build what we get money for.”
Kathy Korte, the county’s chief of government affairs, said the completed complex will have 31 sports fields and will draw regional and national tournaments to Albuquerque.
Man convicted of killing and dismembering 3 people in Texas is sentenced to death - Associated Press
A Texas jury on Wednesday sentenced a man to death for killing and dismembering three people whose bodies were found in a burning dumpster in Fort Worth in 2021.
The Tarrant County jury found Jason Thornburg, 44, guilty of capital murder last month in the deaths of David Lueras, 42, Lauren Phillips, 34, and Maricruz Mathis, 33. According to his arrest warrant, Thornburg confessed to police about the killings.
"He is evil," prosecutor Amy Allin told jurors.
According to Thornburg's arrest warrant, he also told police he had killed his roommate and girlfriend.
The roommate, Mark Jewell, 61, was found dead in a house fire earlier that year. Thornburg's girlfriend, Tanya Begay, a Navajo woman from Gallup, New Mexico, went missing after taking a trip to Arizona with Thornburg in 2017.
He told officers he had in-depth knowledge of the Bible and believed he was being called to "commit sacrifices," according to the arrest warrant.
Thornburg's attorneys had argued that he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity.
New Mexico Bishops pen letter calling on Trump to rethink mass deportations - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
All three of New Mexico’s bishops have joined together to ask President-elect Donald Trump to reconsider his plans to carry out one of the largest deportation schemes in U.S. history.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Bishop Peter Baldacchino of the Diocese of Las Cruces and Bishop James Wall of the Diocese of Gallup penned a letter this week calling for Trump to instead focus on bipartisan immigration reform.
In the open letter, the bishops said a “mass deportation policy” would create, “Chaos, family separation, and the traumatization of children.”
On the campaign trail, Trump consistently highlighted his border and immigration policy ambitions – including at his last-minute rally stop in Albuquerque.
Although he called New Mexico policies “Trump-proof,” state House Speaker Javier Martínez plans to introduce a slew of legislative proposals in the upcoming legislative session to protect immigrants.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has told KUNM she would go “right to court” to stop Trump’s deportations in their tracks.
Controversial Santa Fe solar project draws heat at public hearing - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
Community members from Eldorado gathered this week at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center to voice their opposition to a proposed solar power and battery storage development that would provide a significant renewable energy boost to the city and state.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the Virginia-based AES Corporation’s proposed Rancho Viejo Solar project has taken the limelight recently as residents worry the lithium battery storage facility and array could be a potential fire risk and decrease property values.
Though, according to senior management officials for the project, their plan would be a “moonshot” for New Mexico – providing a much needed push towards its renewable energy goals.
For now, a hearing officer will make a written recommendation to the county’s Planning Commission on whether to move forward. The panel could then make a decision as early as February.
If approved, the project aims to generate 96 megawatts of power and 45 megawatts of battery storage. In all, it would span around 680 acres – including a solar facility, substation, battery storage system and a generation line.