The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board is set to meet at 5:30pm Wednesday for the first time since last year. The air quality board was established to regulate air pollution in Bernalillo County including Albuquerque. 

Happenings in a Nutshell

The air quality board first came under the microscope back in November 2022, after the Mountain View Coalition drafted the Health, Environment and Equity rule. This rule is intended to protect overburdened communities, those that already have high levels of pollution, from adding more industrial pollution.

In the fall of 2023, the board intended to vote on the Health, Environment and Equity regulation which would take into account the cumulative impact of industry emissions but it did not get it done before the City Council approved the ordinances to abolish the board. 

Then, in November 2023 the Albuquerque City Council unilaterally abolished the air quality board, removed city-appointed members and suspended the board from meeting until February. The city council did not include Bernalillo County in that decision. The measure was vetoed by Mayor Tim Keller but the Council overrode that veto. The air quality board then filed a lawsuit against the city asking for an injunction against the changes made by the City Council. 

On Jan. 25, First Judicial District Judge Francis Mathew granted the air quality board a preliminary injunction which allows the board to return and continue to operate as they had before. Judge Mathew said that the air board would likely prevail on the matter and that he had concerns about allowing a situation to proceed that may be unlawful. The judge’s ruling did not decide whether the city’s actions were legal or not. Those arguments will be heard at a future hearing which has not been scheduled yet.

Attorney Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, who represents the Air Quality Board, said the scheduled meeting is a good sign. “The Feb. 14 meeting occurs with the continued service of the duly appointed Board members and pursuant to the ordinances that existed prior to the attempt to disband the Board,” she said to the City Desk Monday.  “I hope that Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque are able to work together on a joint powers agreement and mirror ordinances that comply with state and federal law so the case can be resolved without litigation.” 

Who?

The air quality board is made up of seven voting members, appointed to three-year terms and two non-voting members. Four of the voting members are appointed by the City and three by the County. The County representatives are Kitty Richards, Judy Calman and Dr. Johnnye Lewis. City representatives are Maxine Paul, Dennis Armijo, Sr., Dr. Elis Eberlein and Dr. Joseph Galewsky.

Meet Up

The air quality board’s Feb. 14 agenda includes: 

  • A motion for a stay filed by the New Mexico Automotive Dealers Association over the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations. The group says that if passed, the sweeping changes beginning in 2026 that would move towards 82% percent of cars and light duty vehicles delivered to New Mexico will have zero emissions by 2032.
  • A Regional Haze Update with a 2202 regional sulfur dioxide emissions report. The report says there were 99 tons of sulfur dioxide emissions spewed into the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County air shed. New Mexico had a total of 2,232 tons overall, far less than Utah which racked up 8,952 tons of sulfur dioxide and Wyoming which dumped 38,739 tons of sulfur dioxide into the air.
  • A discussion and possible action is set for  a motion for correction of adopted rules. Albuquerque Asphalt, Inc., Black Rock Services, LLC, Vital Consulting Group LLC and Mountain States Constructors, Inc are requesting that the air quality board change the provisions in the adopted regulations that require industry to use the Best Available Control Technology (BACT) in any area in Bernalillo County. The motion says that after reviewing the transcripts “it is clear that the Board intended that the BACT requirements would only apply to the areas identified as overburdened and to within one mile from overburdened areas.” For instance, the Mountain View neighborhood, which is located along Broadway and Second Streets, south of Rio Bravo where the bulk of heavy industry is located within the County.

The Air Quality Board meeting will be held in person in the Basement Hearing Room, Plaza del Sol Building 600 Second Street NW Albuquerque, NM 87102 or virtually by clicking the link here: https://www.cabq.gov/airquality/air-quality-control-board/events/february-14-2024