City Council to vote on legislation that could remove Air Quality Control Board members, stop December hearing on environmental justice rule

The Albuquerque City Council is set to vote Wednesday on a pair of bills that would keep a joint city-county board, which works to prevent and reduce air pollution in Bernalillo County, from hearing a proposed environmental justice regulation.

The “health, environment and equity impacts” (HEEI) rule, proposed by residents of the Mountain View neighborhood, would require groups seeking air permits to take the cumulative impacts of air pollution into account before setting up shop near “overburdened communities” — neighborhoods that already have several polluting facilities in the area.

Air quality permits are required for a broad number of facilities. Businesses using strong chemicals, including dry cleaners, auto body paint shops and concrete plants, need them. So do schools and hospitals if they use machinery such as emergency generators or boilers.

Councilor Dan Lewis introduced a resolution that would keep the board from deliberating on the rule, which has a hearing scheduled for December, until February. He also introduced a proposed ordinance that he said would withdraw the Albuquerque members and replace them with new members with different expertise.

The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board is made up of four city-appointed and three county-appointed members.

Business and neighborhood interests collide

Terri Cole, president of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, calls the two bills a “last resort” for business interests and industry, which feel their concerns about the economic impact of the proposal have gone unheard by a board representing “special interests.”

“This board has gone rogue in so many ways,” Cole said. “And they need to be reined in.”

But for residents of the neighborhood and the nearby Pueblo of Isleta, the bills throw a “monkey wrench” into the hearing process. Lauro Silva, president of the Mountain View Coalition, the group that proposed the rule, said the South Valley and neighboring communities, which are largely Hispanic and low-income, have been disproportionately subjected to pollution for decades.

“They were handing (air quality permits) out like chocolate chip cookies, with very little opposition,” Silva said.

In an email to the Journal, Gov. Max Zuni said Isleta Pueblo is “downstream, downwind and downgradient” from several polluting industries in Albuquerque and the South Valley in particular, impacting the Pueblo’s air, water, wildlife, businesses and residents. Recently, the Pueblo has raised concerns about the impact of nearby asphalt plants.

“A lot of tribal communities, including the Pueblo of Isleta, are disproportionately impacted by the sources of pollution that are more often located near our lands than others’,” Zuni wrote.

Zuni said the Pueblo opposes Lewis’ legislation, given the role of the board in ensuring clean air for the county.

“We don’t want to see the Air Board dismantled,” Zuni wrote. “... If the Air Board were to be dismantled, who would ensure safe air quality for our community?”

The rule and its impact

Mike Puelle, chief government relations officer at the University of New Mexico, said the regulation could impact the school on several fronts. Several facilities at UNM require air quality permits.

“We are subject to these requirements,” Puelle said. “That’s why the current version under consideration would negatively impact our ability to meet our mission.”

Puelle said UNM isn’t taking a stance on the legislation to be heard but will continue to be involved in the process that, thus far, has not included much input from the university.

But Silva said the coalition has already made several compromises.

“We’ve done everything we could,” Silva said.

The proposed rule, which is based in part on similar rules in other states, has gone through several revisions through the prehearing process. If it’s accepted by the board without revision — which can happen throughout the upcoming hearing and appeal process — the Environmental Health Department will require applicants for an air permit to produce a health, environment and equity impact report.

The application should be denied if pollution from the facility will increase cancer or adverse health risks above the typical rates for Bernalillo County in already overburdened communities. If there’s evidence that the amount and duration of pollution could harm human health in the community, the department could either deny the application or require the facility to implement stricter-than-normal mitigation measures.

Council to vote on new board

The ordinance proposed by Lewis would require one board member to be a licensed engineer with experience in air pollution control, another to be a licensed physician with knowledge of the health impacts of air pollution and one to represent a college or university with a role in helping train in evaluating and controlling airborne contaminants.

It would also require one to be a member of a private industry — a provision that has raised eyebrows from supporters of the rule proposed by the Mountain View Coalition. Current city-appointed members have experience with sustainable economic development, engineering and law, environmental science and atmospheric sciences.

Lewis said he was concerned the board is “not accountable” to any state or city agencies. While the board works closely with the Environmental Health Department, it is not governed by the EHD or City Council.

“All Air Board members are accountable to the state Air Quality Control Act … to regulate, control, prevent, and abate air pollution,” said Maxine Paul, the chair of the AQCB, in an email to the Journal. “The Air Quality Control Act provides for Air Board autonomy and authority and requires the local authority to present a plan for the regulation, control, prevention, and abatement of air pollution to the Air Board. Air Board rulemaking and permitting decisions are appealable directly to the Court of Appeals.”

In a statement, Environmental Health Department spokesperson Maia Rodriguez said the board has the authority to make decisions on petitions, like the one made by the Mountain View Coalition. But she said the department recognizes the shared authority of City Council and County Commission to “make changes to the board’s composition and rulemaking through coordinated action.”

The board is set to hear another rule regarding clean cars in November. While Lewis said the moratorium would not apply to that hearing, Rodriguez said the department is still evaluating the implications.

County response

Lewis’ bills garnered controversy at a County Commission meeting last month, where commissioners voted 4-1 on a resolution asking the city to defer the Wednesday vote. Only Commissioner Walt Benson was in opposition.

Commission Chair Barbara Baca said she was worried about how the legislation could potentially affect compliance with state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air quality requirements, possibly affecting federal funding.

“If the development community feels that there is some concerns, we need to hear from them,” Baca said. “Not simply disband the group, because I don’t think that’s the route we want to take. I think the ramifications are great.”

Regardless of the vote on Wednesday, Silva said, the Mountain View Coalition isn’t giving up on the HEEI rule.

“We’re not going away,” Silva said. “We’re in here for the long haul. This needs to change.”