By ALAINA MENCINGER
The Santa Fe New Mexican

The chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee is firing back at the New Mexico Environment Department over a request for more funds, claiming its appeal to increase the Air Quality Bureau’s budget may violate state law. 

On Tuesday, the New Mexico Environment Department announced it would delay pending air quality permits due to a lack of funds and would potentially take emergency action to fully suspend deadlines for air quality permits. The department had requested a $4.9 million, or 31%, midyear increase for the Environmental Protection program, which includes the Air Quality Bureau. 

But in a Thursday letter obtained by The New Mexican, Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, wrote the request may run afoul of the General Appropriation Act, which allows most state agencies to only request up to a 5% increase. Muñoz wrote he would continue to “monitor this situation” and threatened to turn over any evidence of wrongdoing to the state Department of Justice.

“I also vehemently disagree with the Department’s unilateral announcement of [a] delay to the review and issuance of air quality permits,” Muñoz wrote. “… There is no apparent reason why the lack of additional funding should render the Department entirely incapable of issuing air quality permits in accordance with the law.”

Muñoz added, “Critically, the Department did not include the spending items sought by its BAR [budget adjustment request] in its base budget request for either this fiscal year or the next fiscal year, which shows that the lack of this additional funding is not so consequential as to render the Department incapable of complying with its statutory obligations.”

Drew Goretzka, a spokesperson for the Environment Department, said in a statement the agency is operating its air quality permitting process within the confines of the law and available budget. He directed questions to Legislative Finance Committee staff.

Last week LFC, which is also chaired by Muñoz, wrote an objection to the budget adjustment request, although it had already been approved by the Department of Finance and Administration. An objection typically triggers a public hearing process, but Muñoz wrote the proximity of the request to the start of the session would “effectively prevent” a public hearing. 

Last year, the Environment Department sought to increase air quality permit fees that have stagnated over the past two decades, in spite of an increasing workload. But in October, the Environmental Improvement Board rejected the petition due to a lack of necessary evidence, although several board members said it was clear the bureau was stretched thin. 

The department says the lack of funds is preventing the bureau from working with several key contractors, making it difficult to continue permit review services.

Staff writer Daniel J. Chacón contributed to this report.