James Kenney

For years ozone levels monitored by the New Mexico Environment Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Permian Basin have exceeded national standards. EPA told state an ozone nonattainment zone was imminent for the Permian Basin, which would have brought over oversight of oilfield operations. Now that may not happen with the election of Donald Trump.

In a meeting lasting just 30 minutes, the Senate Conservation Committee resuscitated a tabled bill prioritized by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and passed it along Wednesday morning to the Senate Finance Committee on a 5-3 “no recommendation” vote.

Earlier this year, New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said the Environmental Protection Agency would declare parts of the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas an Ozone Nonattainment Area by the end of the year. However, as 2023 comes to a close, the EPA still hasn’t made its move.

Environment Secretary James Kenney presented his agency’s budget request to a panel of lawmakers this week, which asks for an additional $9 million dollars. It would be the fifth straight budget increase for the agency. But members of the Legislative Finance Committee questioned whether the department should get more to work with when it didn’t spend down all of this year’s budget.

State agencies are proposing new budgets to lawmakers ahead of next month’s legislative session. Environment Secretary James Kenney is seeking a more than $9 million increase in recurring funds. He told KUNM about the request and the risks he sees to lawmakers not meeting it.

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) will be holding a rapid hiring event next Saturday September 23, 2023 hoping to fill over 40 positions. This comes after the department has rallied for months for more money to hire staff and now has a new mandate to test wastewater at schools.

The database tracks violations and department enforcement, and is open to the public.

New Mexico’s top environment official says the federal government is going to move forward with addressing high levels of ozone in parts of the Permian Basin by the end of this year, ramping up air quality regulations in the highly productive and profitable oil and gas region. The state is ill-equipped to take on the additional work, according to State Environment Secretary James Kenney, which could mean losing its permitting power to the U.S. government.

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 is asking the Legislature to help change that.

The state of New Mexico and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have launched a new task force to investigate and prosecute environmental crimes in the state. These can range from dumping oil and hazardous waste to falsifying records.