The Mimbres River that feeds the Perralt ditch association. Pictured on Feb. 21, 2023. (Photo by Megan Gleason / Source NM)
The New Mexico Senate this week signed off on legislation to provide New Mexico with greater control over pollution in its waters.
Senate Bill 21, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), allows New Mexico to control its resources by installing a program at the New Mexico Environment Department to take over pollution permitting the federal government currently does. The Senate approved the bill Wednesday on a party line vote of 25-16.
“We’re one of very few states in the United States, and the only state in the West, that still relies on the federal government to decide who should be allowed to discharge into our surface waters,” Wirth said on the Senate floor.
SB21 also amends current state water laws to protect New Mexico waters that lost federal water protections after the U.S. Supreme Court 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA removed federal safeguards for intermittent streams, which particularly impacts New Mexico.
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The proposal also would amend laws to strengthen NMED’s enforcement against groundwater pollution that occurs but isn’t serious enough to trigger federal intervention — such as old dry cleaning pollution plumes and abandoned uranium mines —and would allow the state the power to clean them up.
The vote fell along party lines, with Republicans voicing concerns during debate that the bills constituted overreach.
“Economically, I want to make sure that we’re not going above and beyond,” sSen. Steve Lanier (R-Aztec) said.
Jonas Armstrong, the Water Protection Division director for NMED, said the bill aims to restore protections lost to state waters.
“This is status quo, it’s been done for the past 50 years, there wasn’t a record of extreme enforcement,” Armstrong said. “What we’re trying to do here is protect water in New Mexico from potential pollution.”
The passage of the law is only the first step. New Mexico would still need to develop the program’s rules — such as how much permits cost — and hire staff, Armstrong said. All of that is expected to take several years.
House Speaker Javier Martínez (D-Albuquerque) assigned the bill to two committees, House Energy and Natural Resources and House Judiciary on Thursday.
“We’re confident and hopefully that we will have plenty of time to make our way through,” Armstrong said.
Co-sponsor Rep. Kristina Ortez (D-Taos) will carry the bill forward in the House.
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