Cuts Anger Environmentalists, Governor
A Senate Finance Committee decision to cut funds and attorneys for the state Environment Department and the Oil Conservation Division prompted a flurry of concern and an angry post on the governor’s blog.
In one of dozens of amendments to a House appropriations bill, the Senate panel proposed slicing $500,000 and six attorneys from the two state agencies. The funds and lawyer positions would be shifted to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Gov. Bill Richardson’s blog Monday said the committee targeted agencies that hold oil and gas companies accountable for protecting New Mexico’s environment.
"The legislators on this committee are retaliating against the Environmental Improvement Board’s passage of clean car standards to reduce vehicle pollution, and the Oil Conservation Division’s proposed pit rules, which hold oil companies to stronger environmental standards for handling and disposing of oil field waste to prevent ground water contamination," Richardson’s blog declared.
But Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the amendment simply brings the funds and attorneys from some state agencies back under the control of the Attorney General’s Office. He said many agencies use their own or private contract attorneys, creating their own "miniattorney general offices" and some on the committee think that needs to change.
"I know there’s a perception out there with the pit rules and the clean car rule, that this was motivated from that perspective. But in reality, the Legislative Finance Committee and Department of Finance and Administration were looking across state agencies at this issue," Smith said, noting those agencies recommended the cuts. He said the idea was the attorneys would remain stationed at their current agencies, but under the direction of the Attorney General’s Office.
Phil Sisneros, the communications director with the Attorney General’s Office, said the committee is in discussions with the Richardson administration and the Legislative Finance Committee over proposed amendments. They continued the debate Tuesday evening and were likely to resume this morning, he said.
One of the committee’s amendments would take out $304,000 from the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and remove all four attorney positions in the department’s Oil Conservation Division, which oversees oil and gas operations, according to department Secretary Joanna Prukop.
"It’s a big hit to my agency," she said. "We simply can’t do this work without that money."
Prukop also noted the Oil Conservation Division’s budget is the only one in her department that doesn’t include increased funding for fixed costs such as fuel and utilities. "I can’t help but suppose this is aimed at reducing our regulatory and oversight capacity," she said.
But Smith said if agencies are unhappy with some of the cuts proposed by the committee, they are liable to be a lot unhappier with the governor’s proposed budget. "The governor’s proposed budget could cut things significantly more than what LFC or the House or we have proposed," Smith said. "I predict if we run with his budget, we will be in special session."
Some suspect the oil and gas industry of lobbying the committee to cut funds and move attorneys from the Environment Department and the Oil Conservation Division.
Bob Gallagher, executive director of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, denies it. "I believe their legal counsels need to be in-house," Gallagher said. "We’ve had our disagreements with both departments, but that’s part of the regulatory nature."
Conservation Voters New Mexico and other environmental organizations are calling for the reinstatement of the $500,000 in cuts and the full-time attorney positions.
Smith said the finance committee’s primary concern has to be producing a balanced budget, and that means, in part, protecting the state’s revenues. "Everybody damn sure wants to spend the money," Smith said.
Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.
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