OPINION:Joint air board is highly qualified and acting lawfully

I am writing to correct misconceptions about the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board that have resulted from two measures recently discussed at City Council, O-23-88 and R-176.

The air board is already vetted and accountable, acting faithfully and lawfully, and board members are qualified experts. These new measures have been promoted as addressing problems that do not exist.

First, members are appointed by the duly-elected City Council and mayor, or the Bernalillo County Commission, to represent the people of Albuquerque as well as the people of Bernalillo County.

Board members submit resumes when they are nominated and confirmed by City Council or County Commission. All board members are accountable to the state Air Quality Control Act to regulate, control, prevent, and abate air pollution. And the air board is not the final say: Air board rule-making and permitting decisions are appealable directly to the Court of Appeals.

Second, this board is acting faithfully, transparently, and lawfully. Air board members are fully aware of and compliant with impartiality requirements, conflict of interest laws, Open Meetings Act requirements, and the Inspection of Public Records Act. Those laws include methods to hold violators accountable via the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office has received no allegations of any OMA or IPRA violations by this board.

Third, current board members are highly qualified to make decisions about air quality and represent a broad set of expertise. Two of the board members that would be removed by the legislation passed last week were confirmed by the same council months ago. Members that will be removed by this legislation include a professor of atmospheric science, an intellectual property attorney with an engineering degree, a Ph.D. permit writer for a regulated industry, and me. I work for a small business, have brought millions of dollars to our state creating local jobs, and built an air quality program for a local tribal nation. Board member biographies are published on the city’s website.

Ordinance O-23-88 and Resolution R-23-176 were passed right before two rule-making hearings before the board: Advanced Clean Cars II, submitted by the state Environment Department and the city’s Environmental Health Department, and the Health, Equity, and Environmental Impacts proposed rule submitted by a citizen group.

O-23-88 and R-23-176 would delay an already extensive, fair, transparent, and inclusive process.