New Mexico’s Capacity to Effectively Manage Clean Water Infrastructure Funds Faces Challenges

Why We Did This ReportThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General conducted this evaluation to determine the financial capacity of the New Mexico Environment Department to manage its Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program. Summary of FindingsThe New Mexico Environment Department, or NMED, is sufficiently meeting the financial and organizational dimensions of capacity to manage and use its infrastructure funds for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, or CWSRF, Program. However, the NMED faces stakeholder- and human-capital-related challenges that limit its capacity to effectively manage and use its CWSRF Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, or IIJA, funding. These challenges are compounded by the fact that the NMED is not fully staffed and has difficulty filling its vacancies. Should program participation increase, NMED staff may have difficulty managing the corresponding increase in the CWSRF workload.