NMED details water‑reuse rulemaking, PFAS efforts and presses DOE on WIPP and Los Alamos cleanup

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary presented a sweeping update to the Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee covering water reuse (including produced water), PFAS response and oversight of DOE and NNSA activity at Los Alamos and WIPP.

Lede: Secretary Kinney told legislators that NMED is advancing phased water‑reuse rulemaking while testing and community outreach on PFAS continues. He also warned that WIPP is a limited‑capacity repository and said New Mexico must ensure federal partners prioritize cleanup of in‑state legacy waste.

Nut graf: Kinney framed his presentation around three statewide priorities: (1) water reuse and produced‑water policy, where phase‑1 rules are in effect and phase‑2 rulemaking is planned for 2026; (2) emerging contaminants and PFAS response including blood testing and private well assistance; and (3) oversight of DOE/NNSA operations, noting concerns about shipments to WIPP and the pace of Los Alamos cleanup.

Water reuse and produced water: Kinney said New Mexico implemented phase‑1 water reuse rules (rules took effect 2025‑07‑12) and that phase‑2 rulemaking — to elaborate pathways for treated produced water, surface water and groundwater discharges — is planned for 2026. He cited the 2019 Produced Water Act (House Bill 546) as the statutory basis for the department’s rulemaking and emphasized the technical complexity of produced water treatment, noting three broad types (coal‑bed methane, conventional oil and gas, and unconventional/fracked returns).

On federal coordination, Kinney reviewed EPA history for produced water: earlier effluent guidelines and a 2016 EPA modification that prohibits unconventional produced water discharges to publicly owned treatment works. He said EPA had indicated plans to revisit federal standards with a notice of proposed rulemaking on a 2025–2026 timeline but added the agency shutdown made the schedule uncertain.

PFAS and emerging contaminants: Kinney told the committee NMED released PFAS implementation rules and was launching a Lake Holloman public health survey and community blood‑testing outreach. He said the department is distributing legislative funds (cited about $2,000,000) for private well testing and infiltration projects in impacted counties and noted early monitoring in La Cienega has identified localized "hot spots" of PFAS that are under investigation.

WIPP capacity and DOE/NNSA oversight: Kinney emphasized WIPP emplacement limits under the Land Withdrawal Act and supplied capacity figures: "The limit for emplacing waste in WIPP is 175,565 cubic meters," he said, and reported that WIPP holds roughly 111,386 cubic meters as of October — about 38% of the statutory limit — prompting the department to press for prioritizing New Mexico legacy waste shipments.

Kinney also criticized the federal prioritization of pit‑production funding elsewhere, citing large federal investments to accelerate Savannah River production and arguing that delays there increase pressure on Los Alamos operations and reduce attention to legacy cleanup. He described recent handling of legacy tritium drums at LANL (no pressurized tritium found; drums depressurized and shipped to a commercial disposal site in Texas) and said NMED is reviewing compliance history and exploring dispute‑resolution options under a renegotiated consent order with LANL (August 2024) and the 2023 WIPP permit.

Committee concerns and next steps: Committee members pressed NMED on the science from the produced water consortium at NMSU, jurisdictional implications if produced water were routed to Texas for treatment and the merits of requiring disclosure of trade‑secret well chemicals. Chair Steinborn said past legislation (House Bill 222) sought disclosure of chemicals used in downhole operations and suggested reviving similar proposals so regulators know which analytes and treatment trains are needed.

Attribution: Direct quotes and technical assertions are attributed to Secretary Kinney and to committee members who spoke during the question period; the transcript record shows multiple exchanges on rule timing, federal coordination and the need for more disclosure around produced water constituents.

Ending: Kinney told the committee NMED will continue working with academic partners and the WQCC, pursue additional rulemakings tied to new science, and evaluate legal and administrative steps to better prioritize New Mexico legacy cleanup at federal facilities.