The New Mexico Environment Department told legislators on May 20 that it has $20 million ready to spend on neglected contaminated‑site work and abandoned uranium mine cleanup and that the agency has arranged contractors and staff to begin work as soon as funds clear the state account.

The department provided a breakdown of the initial allocation: $12 million identified for uranium mining cleanup, and approximately $8 million and $2 million cited in the briefing for two neglected sites (Tucumcari truck stop and a refinery in Bloomfield) and for 24 state‑lead petroleum leaking storage tank sites. "We have $20,000,000 that we're ready to rock and roll on as soon as it hits our account," the secretary told the committee.

Lawmakers pressed the secretary about a larger federal pot commonly referenced in public testimony. The secretary said about $1 billion from a Tronox settlement remains in federal coffers and has not been deployed to New Mexico. "There is a billion dollars sitting in Tronox money that has yet to be spent. A billion. We need to get that money," the secretary said and urged legislators to help press federal agencies, DOJ and White House offices to move the funds.

The department said it has hired outside counsel and is preparing legal and technical work to identify responsible parties and to prepare scopes of work for prioritized sites. The agency also emphasized coordination: it hired a uranium mining coordinator, Miori Harms, to work with counterpart states, federal agencies and stakeholders and to synchronize access agreements needed to implement cleanup work.

Legislators discussed the need for additional funding in future sessions and asked the department to present clear milestones and spending reports to the Legislative Finance Committee once the money is in the account. The department said it will prepare scopes of work and timelines and can report back at 50% and near‑complete spending milestones.

The briefing flagged several practical constraints: federal approvals and permits (including NRC and other agencies) can delay removal and shipment, and interagency coordination historically has added years to projects. The department said it will start on sites where it already has access agreements or where work can be carried out on state or private land without additional federal approvals.

The department invited lawmakers to help apply pressure in Washington, D.C., to release and deploy federal settlement funds and to join in requests to the Department of Justice and relevant federal agencies to prioritize deployment and to reduce administrative barriers.