Haaland and Heinrich both eye run for NM governor — Albuquerque Journal, KUNM News
As the Biden administration comes to a close, Interior Sec. Deb Haaland is considering running for New Mexico governor. But, she’s not the only New Mexican in Washington D.C. eyeing the state’s executive branch.
The Albuquerque Journal reports a senior Democratic strategist confirmed Haaland has been planning a run for governor. Before becoming the first Native American cabinet secretary in U.S. history, Haaland represented New Mexico in the U.S. House and chaired the state Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, senior Democratic sources tell the Journal that U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is also interested in the role. That’s despite winning reelection to another 6-year Senate term last month.
Neither Democrat has formally announced their campaigns. It’s unclear whether Haaland and Heinrich will decide to run against each other in the primary election.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is termed out. Her successor will be elected in November 2026.
No Republicans have yet signaled an interest in running for the job.
Stansbury withdraws from ranking member bid, Heinrich secures his - Santa Fe New Mexican, KUNM News
New Mexico U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury has stepped aside in her bid to be the top-ranked Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the move comes after the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee put more support behind California Rep. Jared Huffman for the role. After Stansbury stood down, Democrats unanimously elected Huffman to the post.
Stansbury had boasted several key endorsements, including from the committee’s last ranking member, Democratic U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, who had stepped down for health reasons.
Meanwhile, New Mexico U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich has secured the top Democratic spot on a committee in that chamber, according to an announcement from his office. He’ll serve as ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Biden signs law to clean up abandoned mines across the western U.S - By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A new federal law may speed up local government, tribal and nonprofit efforts to clean up abandoned mining projects threatening waters across the West, including in New Mexico.
The law establishes a pilot program in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to permit the decontamination of 15 low-risk, abandoned mines established before 1980, and give out waivers from federal laws that had been blocking cleanups.
It would also allow federal regulators to certify a nonprofit, state agency or tribal government to do the work. Under the law, these entities designated as “Good Samaritans” would also not have to assume legal responsibility for that work.
Any company with ownership of the mine or a hand in pollution would be barred from qualifying, according to the new law.
“For more than 25 years, Good Samaritans have tried to clean up abandoned mines but have faced significant hurdles and liability rules that hold them responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine — despite having no involvement with the mines before their cleanup efforts,” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said in a written statement.
Heinrich sponsored the bill – whose full title is the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act – with Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho). They had numerous bipartisan cosponsors in the House and Senate. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law Tuesday.
Hardrock mining refers to digging out minerals outside of coal. Abandoned mines have left a legacy of pollution spills and disasters which cost taxpayers nearly $3 billion to clean up in the last decade – just a scratch on the estimated $50 billion price tag to clean all contamination. Leftover pools with sludges and toxic wastes like heavy metals can seep into soils and be washed into nearby rivers and streams during floods or snowmelt.
A government watchdog puts the number of abandoned mines at 390,000 on federal land in 13 states in 2020.
THE STAKES
About 40% of Western headwaters for rivers and streams have been contaminated after mining, according to EPA estimates, but laws around legal responsibility would have required groups volunteering to do the cleanup to assume legal risk under federal laws for the pollution they didn’t create.
Projects that would be excluded include highly contaminated mines where federal agencies are supervising the cleanup, or projects that require digging.
The law opens up more mine cleanup projects that couldn’t be attempted before, said Jason Willis, an environmental engineer with Trout Unlimited who leads a program to clean up mining contamination around the West.
Local and tribal governments, states and nonprofits can already clean up certain types of pollution, like runoff from mine waste piles or tailing piles, which would pollute streams during snowmelt or flooding.
But remediating pollution coming from a single place, like a pipe or outfall, placed too many legal obstacles on a third-party cleanup, said Wills. Federal requirements meant to hold polluters accountable, also applied to volunteer third parties trying to clean up. These requirements included assuming legal responsibility and to continue tracking and potentially cleaning the water for the foreseeable future.
The hope is that these pilot projects, which received waivers on federal laws for polluter punishments, can show the proof of concept for future permanent program.
“Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good,” said Willis. “We can potentially do like a 70% improvement in water quality that would then support aquatic life, as opposed to 100% water quality that would be unachievable both financially and long term.”
Finding the right projects across the West will take careful consideration, Willis said, but shrinking water resources from climate change and development make the cleanup all the more important.
“I think these projects are going to be more important in the future to ensure that we have some of those water resources available,” he said.
Federal judge orders FEMA to pay northern NM fire victims for emotional harm — Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a federal regulation that limited compensation for the Hermits Peak-Calf Canyon Fire only to economic losses, opening the door to several hundred million dollars paid to victims for the emotional distress they suffered in the 2022 fire.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency in late August 2023 issued final regulations that announced the office would not be awarding so-called “noneconomic damages” to victims of the federally caused wildfire. That meant nearly $4 billion Congress awarded for victims could be spent only on things with a price tag: A destroyed home, lost business revenue, smoke damage, lost cattle.
But several law firms sued FEMA, saying it was ignoring both New Mexico law and the law Congress passed to create a compensation program. They argued state law provides victims of nuisance and trespass, which they said the fire amounted to, to recover noneconomic damages in addition to financial damages.
Attorneys representing thousands of clients filed a lawsuit in October, setting off a legal battle over what the government owed to those who lost property, livelihoods or more in the biggest wildfire in New Mexico history.
The 99-page ruling by Judge James O. Browning was expected. He suggested in mid-October that he took a dim view of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s justification for limiting the payments.
But his ruling Tuesday gave plaintiffs everything they were asking for and even took an extra step: Declaring that FEMA “unlawfully withheld” money that was owed to victims and compelling FEMA to establish a way to pay these losses to those who claimed them.
He could have simply nixed the rule and sent it back to FEMA to revise, potentially beginning a rule-making process that could take months or longer.
“The Court sees no sound reason to remand the Plaintiffs’ claims to FEMA for further determination after concluding that the Hermit’s Peak Act allows recovery of noneconomic damages,” he wrote, “and that FEMA’s Hermit’s Peak Regulation precluding recovery of noneconomic damages is unlawful.”
That forceful ruling was “a little surprising,” said Antonia Roybal-Mack, an attorney for the plaintiffs.
“It’s very telling, a little surprising. It really shows that the federal court was aware that FEMA has been stalling, is not as efficient as it needs to be,” she told Source New Mexico.
Gerald Singleton, another lawyer representing fire victims, previously estimated that the noneconomic losses suffered by thousands in the burn scar amounted to $400 million. He and other firms have filed narratives about the annoyance, inconvenience and emotional distress suffered by clients during the fire, along with their other losses, in advance of the ruling.
It’s not clear what happens next. FEMA and the United States Attorney’s Office could appeal the ruling to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, or they could comply with the order.
“We are reviewing Judge Browning’s 99-page ruling and will discuss next steps with FEMA and our colleagues in the Department of Justice,” said Tessa DuBerry, a spokesperson for the United State’s Attorney’s Office in New Mexico.
A FEMA spokesperson offered a similar response: “The Claims Office remains committed to compensating New Mexicans who were impacted by the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire and subsequent cascading events in a fair and equitable manner to the maximum extent permissible by law,” according to an emailed statement. “We are currently reviewing the court’s decision and will work with the Department of Justice on an appropriate legal response. ”
The ruling also comes just three days before the deadline for people to file notices of loss, and as Congress is considering an additional $1.5 billion for victims. That would bring the total amount of compensation to $5.45 billion, though FEMA has so far paid out a little more than $1.6 billion.
The deadline is Friday to apply for compensation.
City Council tightens the screws on encampments — Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
The Albuquerque City Council voted to approve two ordinances late Monday night — in the name of public safety and quality of life — that will make it more difficult for homeless encampments to be located on public property. The measures, sponsored by City Councilor Renée Grout, addressed concerns with homeless activity at public playgrounds and encampments on city property in general.
The votes come at the end of a year when officials say they have tried to strike a balance between helping the homeless community and responding to the concerns of many constituents and business owners.
During public comment at City Council meetings on such measures — including Monday — attendees leaned heavily on the side of those who think those experiencing homelessness are being criminalized and the consequences of encampment sweeps ignored.
The “park maintenance and playground safety” ordinance makes sleeping, erecting tents or storing personal items illegal in and near playgrounds at city parks. Grout said the measure was critical to address the safety concerns of those who say they don’t feel safe, especially families with young children.
Enforcement of the ordinance would set out to further curb illegal camping, littering, vandalism, drug use and human waste.
“There are people who reach out to us on a daily basis, a weekly basis, they send us emails, and they love going to our city parks, and they are scared to go,” Grout said before the vote. “They matter, too. We need to listen to them as well.”
The measure passed 6-3. Those in favor were Grout, Councilors Dan Lewis, Joaquín Baca, Brook Bassan, Dan Champine and Louie Sanchez. Those opposed were Tammy Fiebelkorn, Klarissa Peña and Nichole Rogers.
ENCAMPMENT CLAMPDOWN
In addition, the “public camping regulations” ordinance prohibits public camping in unauthorized areas and on any city property — such as parks, streets and sidewalks.
The bill’s aim, Grout said, was to clarify current existing laws regarding illegal public camping, which typically carry a misdemeanor offense. City Attorney Lauren Keefe, who authored the measure, said there was a need for a legal clarity-enforcement balance.
For more: Proposed changes to city’s encampment policy questioned
“This bill would certainly give some clarity to our current laws and ordinances, without a lot of loopholes or checkerboarding applications to it,” Lewis said in an interaction with Keefe.
The measure passed 5-4. Those in favor were Grout, Lewis, Bassan, Champine and Sanchez. Those opposed were Baca, Fiebelkorn, Peña and Rogers.
A third encampment-related ordinance that sought to address abandoned shopping carts — which Grout, the bill’s sponsor, said can pose safety hazards and contribute to neighborhood blight — was withdrawn from consideration.
Council updates housing code to require cooling systems — Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
All households in Albuquerque may now be required to have cooling systems.
Councilors Monday night approved a bill to ensure residents have cooling systems installed in their households.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn introduced the legislation because the city’s housing code requires households to have heating but not cooling, which she says is a “basic human right,” especially with increasing temperatures.
The bill originally proposed requiring cooling systems only in residential rental properties, but a City Council committee changed the requirement to all housing units.
Fiebelkorn attempted to propose an original version of the bill Monday to require cooling systems only for rental properties, but the council kept the requirement for all housing units.
“While I am fine with it being for everyone, I just want to have the conversation here at full council, because I am only really concerned on tenants,” Fiebelkorn said. “I think if you can afford to buy a house in this day and age, you can afford to put in your own cooling unit, but if that is the will of the Council, I’m fine.”
Councilors also ensured that portable cooling systems can only be used temporarily while permanent systems are being repaired or replaced.
Read more about the bill here.
Haaland announces new National Historic Landmark in New Mexico - By Susan Morée, New Mexico Political Report
The U.S. Department of Interior announced the designation of the Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth House and Studios in San Patricio as a National Historic Landmark.
Wyeth and Hurd were painters who built artist studios in the 1930s on a ranch outside San Patricio, where they continued to work until their deaths in the late 20th century, according to the site’s website. Hurd was originally from Roswell. Wyeth was an accomplished portrait painter originally from Pennsylvania.
The announcement was a part of President Joe Biden’s executive order to provide greater recognition to women’s history in national parks and historic landmarks across the U.S. to honor the legacy and contributions of women and girls to the nation, according to the news release.
Biden signed the executive order in Newcastle, Maine at a signing ceremony establishing the Frances Perkins National Monument to honor the first woman U.S. cabinet secretary. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Perkins to be the U.S. Secretary of Labor in 1933, according to the Frances Perkins Center.
U.S. Secretary Deb Haaland, who’s from Laguna Pueblo, attended the signing ceremony with Biden.
“I am grateful to President Biden for taking this step to ensure that current and future generations will learn about [Frances Perkins’] body of work,” Haaland said in a statement.
Haaland also announced four additional new National Historic Landmarks recognizing women’s history on Monday. They are The Charleston Cigar Factory in Charleston, South Carolina, The Furies Collective and Lucy Diggs Stowe and Mary Burrill House, both in Washington, D.C. and the Azurest South in Petersburg, Virginia.