NMED News:

SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is celebrating the two-year anniversary of its Enforcement Watch initiative — a program designed to provide the public with transparency of the Department’s enforcement efforts across environmental, public health, and worker-safety programs.

Launched in May 2023, Enforcement Watch shares monthly updates on enforcement actions and their resolutions.

These updates are broadly divided into two categories:

• Active Matters: Alleged violations of state regulations, rules, permits, or licenses that are currently under investigation or pending resolution.
• Resolved Matters: Cases that have been adjudicated in court or administratively resolved, including the full payment of any civil penalties.

This month, the spotlight is on NMED’s Food Safety Program under the Environmental Health Bureau. The Food Safety Program permits brick and mortar restaurants, food trucks, school cafeterias, food manufacturing businesses, food service at temporary events like festivals, and other such businesses where food is prepared or manufactured for public consumption.

Over the last two years, the Food Safety Program saw growth in the number of such establishments in New Mexico from 7537 to 7882.  In FY25 so far (July 1, 2024, to Mar. 30, 2025), approximately 85% or 4010 permitted facilities inspected complied with health-based standards. 

Enforcement Watch is contributing to that decline in violations. Food Safety Program staff say many businesses cite the program as a motivating factor in proactively preventing violations or correcting them quickly.

“I am proud of our 55 Food Safety Program staff, who dramatically increased the number of inspections performed per year since 2023,” William Chavez said, Environmental Health Bureau Chief. “Enforcement Watch bolstered our proactive approach to identifying and addressing potential risks, ensuring that food served in our community is safe and responsibly prepared.”

“Food service inspections help to protect the health of New Mexicans of all ages, as well as visitors to our state,” Bruce Baizel said, NMED Compliance and Enforcement Director. “After a large increase in violations in 2024 related to expired permits, or failure to obtain a permit, we are seeing signs that food service operators are operating in a manner that protects their customers’ health seriously.”

In 2023, NMED staff conducted 9,270 compliance inspections across the state. In 2024, that number rose to 9,802 inspections, representing an increase of 532 inspections or 5.7% over the previous year. The department remains committed to transparency, accountability, and data-driven decision-making to guide its environmental protection efforts into 2025 and beyond.

NMED continues to enhance the Enforcement Watch platform, with plans to improve data accessibility and expand historic records. The department encourages the public to report suspected violations through the platform, contributing to a cleaner and safer New Mexico.

In April, 184 new entries were added to the Active Matters listing and 88 were moved to the Resolved Matters listing.

New additions to the report included:

• 149 notices of violation issued by the Drinking Water Bureau  
• 13 notices of violation issued by the Food Safety Program to retail food establishments that failed to timely pay their permit fee, resulting in a $25 late fee
• 12 notices of violation issued by the Occupational Health & Safety Bureau
• 5 notices of violation in the Public Pools/Spas Bureau
• 3 notices of violation in the Air Quality Bureau
• 2 notices of violation issued by the Solid Waste Bureau

 The following enforcement cases were resolved in April:   

• 57 cases in the Food Safety Program
• 16 cases in the Drinking Water Bureau
• 12 cases in the Hazardous Waste Bureau
• 1 case in the Solid Waste Bureau
• 1 case in the Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau
• 1 case in the Radiation Control Bureau

Highlights of alleged violations and resolved cases in April include:

• The Food Safety Program issued a Notice of Violation to Taste of Vegas LLC in Silver City, the Alzheimer’s Specialty Care Institution in Rio Rancho, and twenty-five other establishments throughout the state for operating without a valid food establishment permit.
• The Air Quality Bureau issued a Administrative Compliance Order to DCP Operating Company, of Houston for 17 violations of their permit or New Mexico Air Regulations at seven compressor facilities in Eddy and Lea counties.  
• The Drinking Water Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to Dollar General in Veguita for not providing public notice of a violation issued to the water system in February 2025.
• The Solid Waste Bureau issued a Notice of Violation to Deming Luna County Transfer Station in Deming for failure to maintain daily logs and failure to provide records, in violation of New Mexico solid waste regulations.
• The Occupational Health and Safety Bureau issued a Citation and Notification of Penalty to Tesuque Stucco Company LLC in Santa Fe for failing to have trained staff to recognize hazards while working erecting and working with scaffolds, in violation of 29 CFR 1926.454(a).
• NMED had a resolved matter with the White Sands Missile Range for an undated container of universal waste aerosols during the most recent inspection, which was corrected during the inspection. NMED and White Sands Missile Range remain in discussions of the FY24 inspection findings.

Enforcement Watch provides the public, the business community, environmental nongovernment organizations, and municipal governments with easy access to see which organizations NMED has alleged are in violation of regulations, permits, and/or licenses administered by the Department. It is updated when violations are alleged or resolved. Retrospective enforcement matters are added as staffing resources allow. Organizations remain on Enforcement Watch until the alleged violations are corrected to the satisfaction of the Department.

The easiest way for an organization to avoid appearing on the Enforcement Watch is to stay off it in the first place by remaining in full compliance with applicable regulations. NMED encourages organizations that are unclear of their regulatory responsibilities to contact a consultant and conduct a third-party compliance audit and disclose potential violations.

NMED provides detailed compliance and enforcement metrics in the Compliance Measures section of the Quarterly Performance Report.

The full Enforcement Watch can be viewed at https://www.env.nm.gov/enforcement-watch.