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Without more funds, NM Environment Department must pick ‘winners and losers,' says top official

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney is asking the New Mexico Legislature to better fund his department for the next fiscal year in order to accomplish all it's charged with, including air quality regulation of the oil and gas industry. He says if NMED is funded at the level proposed by the Legislative Finance Committee, which is significantly lower than the executive budget request, NMED will continue to operate under capacity, picking "winners and losers" among New Mexico communities.
New Mexico PBS
New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney is asking the New Mexico Legislature to better fund his department for the next fiscal year in order to accomplish all it's charged with, including air quality regulation of the oil and gas industry. He says if NMED is funded at the level proposed by the Legislative Finance Committee, which is significantly lower than the executive budget request, NMED will continue to operate under capacity, picking "winners and losers" among New Mexico communities.

As a top oil and gas producer, New Mexico has some of the strictest emissions rules in the country. That includes a state Environment Department rule that went into effect last year that aims to reduce ozone-causing air pollution by 260 million pounds a year. However, Environment Secretary James Kenney says the agency is falling short on enforcing the rules and needs adequate funding to accomplish all its charged with doing.

JAMES KENNEY: With no disrespect to the people we have, who are the most mission-oriented people, and want to do well — not only by their professional standards, but by the mission of the department to protect public health and the environment — our staffing isn't where it needs to be. And that means that we may find a lot of problems in the field when we go out and do inspections, and we don't have the technical or legal staff to adjudicate those issues. So, that means polluters go unchecked. That means permits go unchecked. And I'll be the first to tell you that passing nationally-leading oil and gas rules — or any other rule for that matter — without the staff to implement them, falls short of our ability to say, "We're doing a good job." Passing rules is not the destination. Passing them and ensuring compliance is.

KUNM: The legislature is in session. They're debating budgets for state agencies like yours. Does the environment department have the funds it needs to adequately accomplish what you are charged to do?

KENNEY: No, the Environment Department does not have the funds it needs. And the way I would say that back to you is that we don't have the funds to protect communities around the state at the same time. So, if there is an environmental spill in Silver City at the same time that there is releases of pollutants to the air in Carlsbad, while Chama is running out of drinking water, we have to pick winners and losers. That is not fair to New Mexicans. It's also pretty unfair to our department to be put in that position.

KUNM: How do you pick those winners and losers?

KENNEY: It's a tough decision, and we do the best we can. And sometimes we throttle back in one area that we really want to spend more time on simply so that we can pivot to another area. How do you pick between, 'Do we want uranium products on our road and properly disposed of, or do we want people to have safe drinking water free of PFAS?' It's a no-win situation when you have to make those choices.

KUNM: So, lawmakers are hearing your budget on Tuesday and Wednesday. What are you asking for?

KENNEY: Additional recurring money in the amount of $2.6 million, and we're asking for another roughly $32 million in one-time money. The Legislative Finance Committee, their counter is relatively flat. Meaning, none of that $2.6 million. And when we look at the $32 million that the Governor's Office is requesting, Legislative Finance cut that to $7 million — that's their suggestion. They're zeroing-out things like safety with cannabis, film and oil and gas. They're zeroing-out water reuse projects, Water Task Force recommendations, our water utility operator certification. And they're zeroing-out the operations of our department. And I get it, the Legislature wants to fund those programs that directly impact the lives of New Mexicans. As do I. But nobody really wants to do a repair in the wall. When you're building a house, you want to spend your money on the fixtures and the interior, but you really don't have a well-built home unless you spend some money on the foundation. And we're asking for foundation-level funding.

KUNM: The state is rolling in cash like it's never seen. But a good chunk of it is from record oil and gas production. That's not going to be around forever. If the department's recurring funds are raised as much as you would like them to be — over $2.5 million — will the state be able to sustain that when its revenue inevitably declines?

KENNEY: We're about 20%, maybe a little less, in state recurring funding. So you may ask yourself, 'Where's the other 80% of your budget coming from?' And that's from federal grant and permit fees. I see a destination where the Environment Department could actually be off general funds altogether. Where federal funding as well as our permit fees cover our operations. So, you may say, 'Well, then why are you asking for more money?' Well, we're not there yet. And the Legislature would have to authorize to raise some of our permit fees. And that hasn't happened either. So, you can't say, 'Let's have a functioning Environment Department,' if you're unwilling to increase our permit fees and unwilling to give us base recurring general fund money.

Nash Jones (they/them) is a general assignment reporter in the KUNM newsroom and the local host of NPR's All Things Considered (weekdays on KUNM, 5-7 p.m. MT). You can reach them at nashjones@kunm.org or on Twitter @nashjonesradio.
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