The Rio Grande near Mesilla in 2014.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation Wednesday that will make it easier for the public to access environmental data.
HB 51, the Environmental Database Act, will lead to the creation of a map-based database hosted and managed by Natural Heritage New Mexico, which is a division of the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico.
The information that will be included in the database is already available through seven New Mexico agencies. However, the database will put all the information in a single user-friendly location.
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This includes information about waterways, the location of oil and gas wells and rates of childhood asthma.
Credit NMFO Commentary: Community leaders and nonprofit organizations are applauding New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham for signing House Bill 200 into law today. The legislation,which was co-sponsored by Reps. Matthew McQueen and Nathan Small and Senate President Pro Tempore Mimi Stewart and Sen. Siah Correa Hemphill, ends the proposed Gila diversion project and fast-tracks the spending of the remaining approximately $80 million in the NM Unit Fund for priority water projects, creating long-term water security and jobs in southwest New Mexico (Catron, Grant, Hidalgo and Luna Counties).
“House Bill 200 is a fiscal responsibility bill. It will create jobs, stimulate the economy, and improve lives,”
Opponents contended the bill would create regulatory uncertainty by causing federal and state laws to contradict.
Senate Bill 8 sponsored by a group of Democrat senators and representatives was intended to alter language in state statutes that require any state environmental regulations by “no more’ stringent than federal requirements.
SB 8 was passed by the House Judiciary Committee on an 8-4 vote and could be heard next on the House Floor.
It would amend both the state’s Air Quality and Hazardous Waste acts to allow the state or local agencies to adopt stricter requirements under the laws for air or hazardous waste pollution.
The New Mexico Wildlife Heritage Act,
SB312, introduced by Sen. Jeff Steinborn and Rep. Nathan Small, both Las Cruces Democrats, would change the name of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish to the Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The bill would expand the wildlife department’s mission to do more to address the needs of non-game species and update several provisions implementing better wildlife management practices. While a majority of states have structured their wildlife management under ‘wildlife departments’, New Mexico is one of only 11 states that still manages wildlife within a ‘game and fish’ structure.
“It’s been a century since the New Mexico Legislature created the first game commission in 1921,” Sen. Steinborn said. “Our state has grown significantly since then, and with the fourth highest biodiversity of any state in the country, New Mexico needs a more comprehensive approach to wildlife management. We need to update our laws to provide fo