New Mexico environment officials propose another delay on heat safety protections for workers – Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Environment Department has proposed delaying the process to create and adopt rules aimed at protecting workers from heat-related illness and injuries to early 2027.
In a recent filing with the state’s Environmental Improvement Board, NMED lawyers wrote that it hasn’t been able to reach consensus on the proposed heat protection standards with the many stakeholders on this issue — including labor organizations, employers and public health advocates — ahead of the current rulemaking hearing, which had been scheduled to begin Sept. 21.
State environment officials first proposed the rulemaking in early 2025 and floated the possibility of requiring employers to provide rest periods, shaded areas and drinking water in hot conditions. Within months, however, the rulemaking was postponed.
Groups representing a number of industries — including livestock, oil and gas and utilities — have pushed back on some of the proposed rule’s requirements.
The latest delay is the fourth since the rulemaking was announced.
Environmental advocates lamented NMED’s latest filing and pointed to the region’s recent bout of triple-digit temperatures as evidence that workers need heat-related protections as soon as possible.
“Regardless of whether a job is in the field or the classroom, heat has the same impacts on the human body. All workers need protections,” Healthy Climate New Mexico Senior Program Consultant Shelley Mann-Lev said in a statement.
The state Environmental Improvement Board is made up of seven members who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. If the rulemaking advances in March, as NMED requested, New Mexico’s next governor will have a chance to install the board overseeing the proceedings.
“As the state moves forward under a new administration, we hope we will see new standards forworker protections adopted,” Conservation Voters New Mexico Chief Operating Officer Molly Taylor wrote in a statement. “Federal worker heat safety standards stalled under Trump. We believe this is an opportunity for New Mexico to lead the nation and show that we can protect our people in the wake of climate change.”
Bernalillo County agrees to pay $2 million to families of first responders killed in helicopter crash – Nakayla McClelland, Albuquerque Journal
Bernalillo County has agreed to pay $2 million to settle two lawsuits filed in state district court by the families of three men who died in a 2022 helicopter crash in northern New Mexico.
The settlement, reached on June 19, according to court records, came nearly four years after the crash that killed Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Undersheriff Larry Koren, deputy Michael Levison, Lt. Fred Beers and Bernalillo County Fire Rescue Specialist Capt. Matthew King.
The county agreed to pay a lump sum to settle both cases, and the money will be split equally among the plaintiffs.
“I want to go on with my life, so I’m OK with it, but to be honest with you, I wish it was $200 million because maybe they would have changed some of their policies,” said Daniel Levison, father of Michael Levison. “Maybe it would open their eyes to safety issues.”
The lawsuits — one filed by the Levison family and the other by the Beers and King families — alleged that the July 16, 2022, helicopter crash was “entirely preventable” and was the result of poor maintenance.
Additionally, one of the suits states that the county and sheriff’s office knew the Vietnam-era “death trap” Bell UH-1H had numerous engine fatigue cracks before the crash.
“For two years, the Levison family has fought to hold the County accountable for the preventable tragedy that took Michael’s life,” said Elizabeth Harrison, one of the attorneys for the Levison family. “Nothing can ever ease the pain of his loss, but this settlement marks a step toward making the future safer for deputies like him.”
The Beers and King families could not be reached for comment.
Brian Egolf, attorney for the families, said the crash was a serious and tragic accident.
“They perished in a horrible crash,” he said.
In a statement posted on Facebook on the anniversary of the crash, BCSO said July 16 was a date that forever changed the sheriff’s office.
“Today, we remember not only how they died but also how they lived,” BCSO wrote. “Their service, their laughter, their leadership, their friendships, and the impact they left behind still carry through the people who knew them and the agencies they helped shape.”
The crash
The four men were returning home from providing bucket drops on the 75-acre East Mesa Fire when the helicopter crashed 25 miles south of Las Vegas. The helicopter’s engine suddenly lost power roughly 500 to 600 feet in the air and plummeted to the ground.
A report from the National Transportation Safety Board stated that an engine failure ultimately cost the four men their lives. It was later learned that the main generator had been removed.
The low altitude, along with flying into a setting sun, “may have contributed to the unsuccessful autorotation following the total loss of engine power,” according to the report.
Where does the unit stand today?
BCSO’s Metro Air Support Unit — which provided aid in search and rescue operations, helped fight fires and assisted BCSO in arrests — has since gone through drastic changes.
The program initially halted because Koren was the agency’s sole helicopter pilot. BCSO later purchased a new helicopter and relaunched the program in December 2023.
In December 2025, Sheriff John Allen removed Bernalillo County Fire and Rescue from the unit due to a policy that allowed firefighters to smoke marijuana while off-duty.
Allen cited the crash as his main reason to oust the firefighters, stating BCSO “owed it to the families we lost … to rebuild MASU the right way,” according to previous Journal reporting.
The lawsuits filed after the crash made no mention of marijuana usage or impaired flying. Levison’s father said he believed the decision was made due to ongoing issues within the program and not due to the marijuana policy.
“There is so much that they knew on that program that is being swept under the table,” Daniel Levison said. “They had to have a way out to save face, so they blame it on the fire department.”
Federal plan spares New Mexico from mandatory Colorado River water cuts — Karmine Conde, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico will avoid mandatory water cuts from the Colorado River under a proposal released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the proposal exempts New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming – the four Upper Basin states — from mandatory reductions for the time being.
the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada — could face cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet through 2036. That’s enough water to serve more than 25 million people annually.
The Bureau of Reclamation released its environmental study Friday.
Under the proposed 10-year federal framework, water management decisions would be made every two years to adapt to changing climate conditions.
The Colorado River supplies water to northwestern New Mexico, recharges the aquifer beneath Albuquerque and provides San Juan-Chama Project water imported from the Colorado River Basin into the Rio Grande Basin.
Hearing for Project Jupiter data center’s air quality permit application rescheduled to September 14 — Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
A public hearing over whether the New Mexico Environment Department should issue an air quality permit for the controversial Project Jupiter data center is being rescheduled to September 14.
Source New Mexico reports the hearing officer presiding over the matter had previously scheduled the hearing to begin in October. At a scheduling meeting this week, attorneys representing Project Jupiter’s developers requested that the hearing begin earlier.
They argued that the October hearing date would risk giving New Mexico Environment Department staff too little time to make a final decision on whether to issue the permit before their Nov. 23 deadline.
Max Shepherd, the hearing officer, told attorneys gathered at the scheduling hearing that he was not going to reschedule it. He said he would keep the October hearing date and examine his options to push ahead the Nov. 23 deadline.
However, two days later when the state environment department published his written scheduling order on its website, it showed he rescheduled the hearing by more than a month. It is now set to begin Sept. 14 and “continue as necessary” at the Sunland Park Multi-Generational Center.
Feds reinstate $15.4M for Northern NM microgrid projects — Taos News
Kit Carson Electric Co-op has successfully persuaded the federal government to reinstate nearly $16 million in green energy infrastructure and wildfire mitigation grants canceled last year by the U.S. Department of Energy under President Donald Trump.
The Taos News reports the federal government pulled nearly $8 billion in funding from 16 states, including New Mexico, that voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
The grants include funding for what’s called microgrid development. That would allow some areas served by Kit Carson Electric Co-op to keep their electrical service even as the electricity is shut off to other areas to mitigate fire risk during events such as wind storms.
The grant money will also assist utilities that partner with Kit Carson, including those serving Picuris Pueblo, Peñasco, El Rito, and Taos Ski Valley.
