Associated Press
SANTA FE — New Mexico, for the first time, is looking at the concept of environmental justice in its landfill regulations.
The state Environment Department wants to make sure poor and minority areas don't get more than their share of new landfills and has developed draft regulations that help address that. Federal law requires fair treatment of poor people and minorities in environmental decisions.
"It's the first time that the state has begun to take a look at the issue of what's generally called environmental justice,'' department spokesman Jon Goldstein said.
That idea is that "no subset of the population, no minority group, no economically disadvantaged group, should have to bear a disproportionate amount of the environmental burden,'' he said.
The proposed regulations would allow the environmental secretary turn down an application if a community impact report showed a proposed facility would have an adverse effect, Goldstein said.
The proposed rules also would waive most permit requirements for recycling and composting centers, since the state wants to encourage those, Goldstein said.
The Environment Department plans meetings around the state in July to get comment on its draft landfill regulations. The state Environmental Improvement Board will consider the proposals this fall, Goldstein said.
The rules would require landfill operators to prepare a community impact report, in English and Spanish, whenever they propose to build a new landfill or to expand an existing one.
The report must address current and future impacts of the landfill on the neighboring community, including traffic and possible air and water pollution, Goldstein said.
Operators also will have to discuss whether existing or proposed facilities are located within three miles of the proposed landfill that affect the quality of life — such as other solid waste facilities, hazardous waste sites, those that emit air pollution and anything on the federal Superfund cleanup list.
Between 150 to 200 such sites exist in New Mexico, Goldstein said.
The state could deny an application if three other facilities exist within three miles of a proposed landfill, he said. The provision would prevent an unreasonable concentration of such facilities in any particular place, he said.
Reports also must address the socio-economic status of residents near the proposed landfill.
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