SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico will gradually set aside up to $5 million to help repair damaged or polluted state trust lands, under legislation signed Wednesday by Gov. Susana Martinez.
The State Trust Lands Restoration and Remediation Fund can be tapped to clean up illegal dumping, restore watersheds from wildfire damage, deal with invasive plant species and address industrial pollution.
Republican State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn proposed the land restoration fund as his agency grappled with waste-water spills by a financially troubled oil-well company.
The new fund will receive 1 percent of revenues from the state’s land maintenance fund, or about $580,000 annually. The maintenance fund is the source of the State Land Office’s operating budget and receives money from activities ranging from cattle grazing to oil extraction.
Other bills signed by the governor Wednesday would provide new employment rights to military members and reservists who are called away from civilian jobs, and change pension payment procedures for nearly 3,000 people who depend on two major retirement funds at once.
The second-term Republican governor vetoed two other measures. One would have required school districts with Native American students to complete a needs assessment that the governor described as redundant and costly.
The other vetoed bill would have funded for two positions at the State Treasurer’s Office. Martinez said in a written veto message that the $178,000 expenditure was inappropriate in light of a state hiring freeze designed to conserve general fund dollars.
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