LSC tells committee NMED has funding but will prioritize emergency responses over routine inspections

Austin, an analyst with the Legislative Service Committee, told the Legislative Finance Committee on April 1 that preliminary LSC analysis shows the New Mexico Environment Department's Environmental Health Bureau has recurring general‑fund support for FY26 and an internal Environmental Health Revenue Fund the agency has used to cover shortfalls. He said LSC will deliver a formal memo to the committee today or tomorrow summarizing the analysis.

Multiple legislators raised concerns that NMED recently announced it will send investigators only to specific "flare ups" and suspend routine inspections. Representative Dow asked whether inspections are statutorily required; Austin said the statute requires inspections but contains no explicit language tying the duty to the availability of funding. He added that NMED, LFC and DFA are working together to reconcile discrepancies in reported numbers and to trace recent BARs (budget adjustment requests) drawn from the internal revenue fund.

Senator Stefanik asked how federal funds and their program restrictions affect the agency's flexibility. Austin said some federal funds are earmarked for specific purposes and therefore not transferable, but the bureau also receives roughly $8.1 million in recurring general funds and has statutory authority to use internal inspection revenues for bureau operations, which provides some discretionary capacity. He said the agency recently requested a BAR from the environmental health revenue fund to cover an operating shortfall.

Senator Trujillo and others asked whether the FY27 appropriations would prevent future shortfalls. Austin said the agency requested $13.9 million for the bureau for FY27 and the legislature approved that amount; the primary discrepancy arises from an unapproved GROW-style appropriation request for additional, long‑term funding. He said LSC would provide follow-up details in writing.

The committee did not take formal action on the inspection policy at the meeting; staff committed to producing a memo with more detailed funding calculations and statutory citations for members' review.