Mayor Keller and Environmental Health Director Ryan Mast Issue Statement on Passage of Senate Bill 8

Effective July 1, 2021, Senate Bill 8 amends the New Mexico Air Quality Control Act to allow for the Environmental Improvement Board and the Air Board to set minimum standards for air quality that are more stringent than the federal regulations. Mayor Tim Keller and City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Director Ryan Mast issued the following statements:

“On climate change, we’ve shown we aren’t willing to wait for the federal government to step up, we have to take our own action for Albuquerque. With the passage of this bill we can now do more to protect public health and keep our city cleaner and healthier for all our residents,” said Mayor Tim Keller.

“For many years now, our authority has had many imposed limitations that largely restrict local rulemaking to only meet, but not surpass, federal standards regarding most areas of stationary and mobile source air quality regulation. The amendments included in Senate Bill 8 removes many of these limitations and will allow us to pursue regulations that help us achieve our local air quality and climate action goals,” said Environmental Health Director Ryan Mast.