As temperatures rise, New Mexico heat-rule champions push back against delay
Conservation Voters New Mexico Climate and Energy Advocate Justin Garoutte urged the New Mexico Environment Department to 'hold strong' on worker protections against heat, both indoors and outside, as the the department annouced a delay and revision of its proposed heat rule later this year. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
Environmental and labor advocates expressed concerns during a news conference Monday about the New Mexico environment department's decision to extend the timeline for a proposed rule to protect workers from heat-related illness and injury.
The delay comes as forecasts predict another warmer-than-average summer. NMED cited rising temperatures and increased heat-related injuries and deaths when it announced the proposed rule earlier this year. Under the original timeline, the rule could have taken effect as early as July. Its provisions include: required rest periods during hot temperatures; access to adequate shade, air-conditioning and water; and employer tracking of heat-related injuries.
Amid rising temperatures, NM officials propose workplace protections
NMED's revised schedule pushes hearings into the fall and 'leaves another summer where our workers are vulnerable to extreme heat in New Mexico,' Conservation Voters New Mexico Climate and Energy Advocate Justin Garoutte said.
A Friday state news release said the delay 'will allow for continued outreach and stakeholder engagement throughout the summer and fall, ensuring broader participation and input in the rulemaking process.'
More than 600 public comments have already been submitted on the proposed rule, according to Source NM's review. These include opposition from industry groups representing livestock, landscapers, oil and gas, restaurants, county governments and utilities.
The New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, for instance, asked for clarifications on how the rule would be applied across several industries and wrote: 'We urge regulators to reject this rule as there is not sufficient data to justify any of these rules. Good employers protect their employees, but mandating all industries to follow one blanket rule will not work.'
Eleven New Mexico Democratic senators, however, issued a letter supporting the new standards and noted that 'public comment opposed to the rule include a great deal of unscientific claims, compounded with echoes of the federal administration's ideological bent to oppose all government action.'
During Monday's news conference, Garoutte said advocates for the rule are 'committed to getting through a rule that's as strong as possible' and 'we are here today to push back on industry groups who are claiming it's too hard, too fast and too burdensome.'
In the meantime, 'we hope that our employers will use this time to put in place the commonsense protections detailed so well in the proposed rule,' he said. 'Every day that passes without this rule is another day that people across our state are exposed to dangerous and sometimes deadly working conditions.'
Six other states — Maryland, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington — have adopted statewide regulations to reduce heat stress in the workplace.
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