The State of the States in Environmental Dispute Resolution:
NEW MEXICO










 

 
Current Projects: United States Postal Service Employment Arbitration Indiana Dept of Env. Management Indiana ADR Providers Shared Neutrals Pilot  U.S. Dept. of Justice
Completed Projects: U.S. Env. Protection Agency EDR State of States 

Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission

 National Institutes of Health Focus Groups Sessions  

Status:
The New Mexico Environment Department works to resolve conflicts through its regulatory processes. There is some EDR taking place informally on a voluntary basis.

Legal Authority:
N.M. CONST. art. XX, § 21 (prohibiting the despoilation of New Mexico’s natural environment); N.M. STAT. ANN. §§ 34-6-44 to -45 (Michie 1996) (authorizing local court collection of fees to fund ADR programs); N.M. STAT. ANN. §§ 44-7-1 to -22 (Michie 1978) (codifying the New Mexico Uniform Arbitration Act, which authorizes the use of arbitration agreements and establishes law governing the validity of and procedure used in arbitrations); N.M. STAT. ANN. §§ 74-1-1 to -14 (Michie 1993 & Supp. 1998) (establishing the Environmental Improvement Board and Environmental Improvement Department and outlining their respective responsibilities).

Contact Information:
     Robert J. Horwitz, Director, Administrative Services Division or
     Geoffrey Sloan, Assistant General Counsel.
     New Mexico Environment Department
     1190 St. Francis Dr.
     P.O. Box 26110
     Santa Fe, NM 87502
     Phone: (505) 827-2983
     Fax: (505) 827-1628

Program Summary

There are no New Mexico executive branch or judicial branch mandatory referrals to ADR for environmental issues. Instead, the New Mexico Environment Department (Department) works to resolve conflicts through its regulatory processes. There is some EDR taking place informally on a voluntary basis. The Department’s upper management and employees have been trained in EDR and are not opposed to formalizing the process.

Lessons Learned

  • Environmental claims in bankruptcy almost always work out best through negotiated settlement.
  • Environmental justice issues in the permitting context are extremely difficult to resolve. Siting and community opposition are the major challenges in these contexts.
  • The biggest barrier to EDR is the amount of effort involved to understand the "other side" and to get all interested affected parties up to speed.
  • Community opposition often arises out of local issues—e.g., zoning, traffic management, quality of life—which usually lend themselves to an "alternative resolution" approach.

Further Information

Publications

Further information about the New Mexico Environment Department is available at the following Website: http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us

Indiana Conflict Resolution Institute
Last updated: June 1999
Comments: ICRI Administrator
Copyright 1999 - Indiana University, Bloomington