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The Web / Organizations / NM Environment Department (NMED)
Dossier · Organization
NM Environment Department (NMED)
verification: unverified
The state agency deciding the air permit for the campus's fuel-cell power plant.
Conflicts of interest · 1
Flagged entanglements involving this party. Characterization on disclosed facts — see the full ledger and each party’s right of reply.
At a glance
- Kind
- Government agency
- Role in the project
- Regulator
- Jurisdiction
- State of New Mexico
- Key people
- James Kenney · John Rhoderick · Michelle Miano · Cindy Hollenberg
- Verification
- unverified
- In the record
- 4 sources · 17 connections · 20 dated entries
- Record id
- PJO10
Key facts
- 2025-09-12On September 12, 2025, amended its master agreement with its technical contractor, Eastern Research Group, to add a hearing-officer category.
- 2026-07-01Air Quality Bureau Chief Cindy Hollenberg recommended a public hearing on July 1, 2026, citing approximately 6,700 public comments; Cabinet Secretary James Kenney concurred.
- A July 16, 2026 scheduling order set the hearing for October 19; an amended order of July 29 reset it to September 14.[1],[2]
- 2026-09-17The New Mexico Supreme Court stayed the air proceeding on August 23, 2026, then denied the petitions and lifted the stay on September 17, 2026, without explanation.
- 2026-09-24As of September 24, 2026, after the hearing officer's August 22 recusal, the docket showed no hearing officer, no scheduling order and no hearing date.
- 2026-11-23The department's decision deadline on the permit is November 23, 2026.
The record
Air quality permit authority; decision due Nov 23 2026
Relationships · 17
Has as officer· 9
Staffed by· 4
Led by
Contracts· 2
Linked (relates to)
In the timeline · 20
Mar 1, 2024NMED penalizes CRRUA — $251,580 proposedSep 12, 2025The Environment Department makes its technical contractor the supplier of its judgesJun 16, 2026NMED's modeling review landsJul 1, 2026The hearing exists because roughly 6,700 people wrote inJul 6, 2026The public comment period closesJul 16, 2026The hearing is set for October 19Jul 29, 2026Two days later, the hearing moves five weeks earlier~Aug 6, 2026The motion to revert is deniedAug 12, 2026Discovery is denied — the hearing officer's third reversalAug 22, 2026The hearing officer steps asideAug 23, 2026The New Mexico Supreme Court stops both proceedings — the first time anything hasAug 24, 2026Technical testimony and prehearing motions were due — then stayedSep 2, 2026The Attorney General takes the petitioners’ side against two state agenciesSep 3, 2026Rebuttal and motion responses due — stayedSep 14, 2026The hearing was to begin — and did notSep 17, 2026The Supreme Court denies both petitions and lifts both staysSep 18, 2026NMED’s answer to the bias motion enters the recordSep 21, 2026The proceeding resumes into an empty chairSep 24, 2026The first new filing: a notice to testify at a hearing no one has setNov 23, 2026The NMED decision deadline
Dated entries in the record that involve this party. Appearing here is not an allegation — it means the graph draws an edge from this dossier to that event.
Claims involving them · 2
NMED's answer to the bias motion: no evidence, a presumption of integrity, and articles that are hearsayprimary-source
NMED's answer to the bias motion: no evidence, a presumption of integrity, and articles that are hearsayprimary-source
In the Watch · 9
documentBorderPlex–State of NM MOU (Feb 25 2025)
eventNMED 'all air permits delayed' budget notice (Jan 2025)
eventEIB denies NMED fee-increase petition (Oct 2024)
eventNMED incomplete-determination letters / PSD near-miss (Dec 2025)
eventRoper Concrete permit denied, EIB-reversed (2025)
eventNMED deems the Bloom fuel-cell application complete (Jun 3 2026)
eventNew Mexico awards $13 million in desalination contracts — none of it in the Mesilla basin (May 2026)
documentNMED–ERG master contract No. 25-667-4091-44019, and the 2024 procurement behind it
documentAmendment No. 01 — NMED adds a hearing-officer category to its technical contractor's agreement (Sept 12 2025)
Sources · 4
- 1.governmentNM Environment Department — scheduling order in the Project Jupiter air-permit docket, AQB 26-57(P) (Jul. 16, 2026) ↗
- 2.governmentNM Environment Department — amended scheduling order resetting the Project Jupiter air-permit hearing, AQB 26-57(P) (Jul. 29, 2026) ↗
- 3.newsOrgan Mountain News — Project Jupiter air-permit hearing approved, decision delayed ↗
- 4.primary-sourceNM Environmental Law Center — 16-organization letter to NMED demanding transparency on the Project Jupiter air permits (Jan. 2026) ↗
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