Air Quality Bureau

Compliance & Enforcement Section

Our mission is to implement the Clean Air Act and preserve New Mexico's air quality through education and fair and timely resolution of compliance issues.

The Air Quality Bureau's Compliance & Enforcement Section develops prioritized lists of facilities to effectively return them to compliance, calculate penalties, and resolve compliance issues with sources that receive Notices of Violation (NOVs) from the Enforcement Section.

The Enforcement Section consists of engineers, scientists and specialists dedicated to the protection of air quality in New Mexico.  The section assesses facilities out of compliance and assures facilities return to compliance with permit conditions and State and Federal regulations.  The section develops cases and calculates penalties for violations.  The section conducts meetings with sources to negotiate settlements and oversees each facility's return to compliance.  Penalties not resolved by the Enforcement Section are delivered to the Office of General Counsel (OGC) for further negotiation.

The Compliance Section performs facility inspections and reviews reports required by State Implementation Plan (SIP) requirements, Federal regulations (NSPS, NESHAP, MACT), and permit conditions (Title V and NSR).  The section assists with draft permit review and regulation development.

The Compliance Section is also responsible for regulating the asbestos National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) during renovation and/or demolition of facilities or equipment that contains asbestos.  The asbestos NESHAP page has information concerning when an asbestos notice to the AQB is required, requirements for contractors who remediate and dispose of asbestos, and other topics of interest concerning asbestos.

Visible Emission Evaluation Training Dates (external website)

Available Enforcement Section Policies:

• Civil Penalty Policy (Revised 10/20/05; Adobe Acrobat format)

Downloadable Documents:

• AQB Reporting Forms
  • Reporting Submittal Form (MS Word Format)
  • Instructions for Reporting Submittal Form (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • TITLE V Report Certification Form (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • TITLE V ACC Instructions and Sample (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • TITLE V Semi-Annual Monitoring Report Instructions and Sample (Adobe Acrobat Format)
• Aggregate and Asphalt Batch Plant Production Forms
  • Record Keeping Requirements Examples  (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Production Log for Aggregate Plants  (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Production Log for Asphalt Batch Plants  (Adobe Acrobat Format
• Stack Testing
  • Standard Operating Procedure for Stack Testing Protocols
  • Standard Operating Procedure for Stack Testing Report
• SOP for Sulfur Recovery Unit Performance Test
• SOP for use of Portable Analyzer
• Title V Monitoring Protocols
• Revised 20.2.7 NMAC – Excess Emissions Effective August 1, 2008
  • Excess Emissions Reporting Form (MS Word Format)
  • Excess Emissions Reporting Form Example (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Excess Emissions Reporting Form Instructions (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Affirmative Defense Demonstration Form (MS Word Format)
  • Affirmative Defense Demonstration Form Instructions (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Root Cause Analysis Summary Form (MS Word Format)
  • Root Cause Analysis Summary Form Instructions (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Root Cause Analysis Worksheet (MS Word Format)
  • DOE Root Cause Analysis Guidance Manual (Adobe Acrobat Format)
  • Casual Factor Worksheet (MS Word Format)

Documents Regarding Intel Permit Compliance:

• Memorandum dated September 15, 2004, from Robert Samaniego, AQB Enforcement Section, to Eric Ames, NMED Office of General Counsel, with recommendations regarding former Intel employee allegations (Adobe Acrobat format)
• Documents provided to the AQB by Fred Marsh (Adobe Acrobat format - Large file - 14 MB)
• Documents provided to the AQB by Intel (Adobe Acrobat format - Large file - 15.5 MB)
• Intel Power Outage of July 19, 2006 (Adobe Acrobat format)