WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today reported that the U.S. Senate gave final approval to a spending bill that contains funding for New Mexico’s labs and other key initiatives in the state.

The FY 2009 Omnibus Spending Bill would fund the work of most federal agencies through September. Bingaman reported that the bill contains guarantees a total of $6.38 billion will be spend this year maintaining the nuclear stockpile to ensure it is safe and reliable and $1.48 billion for nuclear nonproliferation to find and secure loose nuclear materials. Much of that funding will support work at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories. The bill also contains $222.74 million for cleanup at LANL and $231.67 million for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. 

“This bill will fund the extremely important work performed at our national laboratories, while supporting a variety of key transportation, public lands and water projects in our state,” Bingaman said. “It’s a good bill for New Mexico.”

Bingaman worked to set aside funding for New Mexico projects. They include:

LAW ENFORCEMENT
$5 million to Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to fund an initiative to prevent the illegal trafficking of weapons into Mexico

$500,000 New Mexico Attorney General, Anti-Methamphetamine Campaign: Funding would be used by the Office of the Attorney General to implement a state-wide campaign to combat meth, including public education efforts, media messaging, and community and law enforcement participation. The initiative would be focused on preventing meth use by mid and high school students, and in addressing use in Native American communities where the problem is particularly severe 

$300,000 New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD), Pilot Juvenile Crime Prevention Program: Funding would be used for CYFD to implement a pilot program aimed at preventing juvenile crime through a collaborative effort of courts, probation offices, schools, local governments, support groups, and community volunteers 

$375,000 Luna County Sheriff’s Department, Southwest New Mexico Border Law Enforcement Alliance: Funding is requested on behalf of the Southwest Border Law Enforcement Alliance to assist border law enforcement agencies situated along the New Mexico-Mexico border with border-related criminal activity, such as human smuggling, narcotics trafficking, vehicle thefts, and destruction of private property. The Alliance is composed of the sheriff departments of Dona Ana County, Hidalgo County, Grant County, Luna County, Otero County, and the police departments of Deming, Sunland Park, Lordsburg, and Las Cruces. Funds would be used to purchase needed equipment to improve communication capabilities, surveillance, and enhance officer protection. The Luna County Sheriff’s Department, located in Deming, is the lead grant applicant 

$400,000 New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts, Drug Court Program: As part of a 5-year plan to place a drug court in every county, the State has established over 35 drug courts in 24 of New Mexico’s 33 counties. Drug courts have been very effective in New Mexico—the average drug court recidivism rate is 13.4 percent, compared with 27.5 percent nationwide 

$180,000 Dona Ana County, Jail Diversion Program: Funding would be used to enhance the existing jail diversion project by assisting misdemeanor offenders who are found to be mentally ill in obtaining services to help them with their rehabilitation and recovery 

$350,000 McKinley County, Juvenile Alternatives to Detention Program: Funding would be used to continue operations at the NM Juvenile Services Center, a one-stop facility for comprehensive juvenile services, including substance abuse treatment, shelter, day reporting, community service, and other alternatives to detention efforts. The Center serves about 420 juveniles each year

$250,000 City of Albuquerque Police Department (APD), Family Advocacy Center: The APD recently opened the Family Advocacy Center, which co-locates law enforcement, domestic violence and child abuse advocates, and basic medical facilities, in order to provide comprehensive investigative, prosecutorial, and support services to victims of violence and sexual assault

$100,000 Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center, Statewide Stress Reduction Training for Law Enforcement and First Responders: Funding would be used for clinical staff to conduct training and outreach programs throughout the State for law enforcement and first responders to ameliorate the impact of stress and trauma that is experienced as a result of law enforcement work

$1 million New Mexico Department of Public Safety (DPS), Meth Enforcement Activities: Funding would be used to enhance the DPS Narcotic Section’s ability to conduct proactive undercover operations and reduce the supply of meth in New Mexico 

$500,000 City of Albuquerque Police Department (APD), Comprehensive Information Project: Funding would be used for APD to design, implement, and support a state-of-the-art information system

COLLEGES/UNIVERSITIES
$250,000 Eastern New Mexico University, Flight Research Training Center: Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU-R) would use funding for the Flight Research Training Center, located in Roswell for a program to detect, mitigate and recover from loss of control accidents in aircraft 

$1.65 million for New Mexico State University’s (NMSU) Agricultural Products Food Safety Lab: This funding would be used to continue operation of the Agricultural Products Food Safety Laboratory for the FDA’s food safety program. The lab is developing and evaluating rapid-screening methods to detect contamination in food products and counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Bingaman secured $2.15 million to operate the lab in FY 2005, $2.35 million in FY 2006, and $1.7 in FY 2008

$2 million for NMSU for research activities at the Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo

$200,000 New Mexico State University, Southern New Mexico Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Aerospace Academy: New Mexico State University (NMSU) College of Education, located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, would use the funding to continue the development of a unique model focused on space education for meeting the mathematics and science learning needs of under-represented K-12 students

$2 million for Navajo Technical College

$95,000 New Mexico State University to increase the number of trainees in counseling psychology, social work, and family medicine 

$951,000 for Energy Technologies Research and Education Initiative at NMSU for R&D on modern grid that incorporates renewable energy

WATER/WASTEWATER/FLOOD CONTROL
$25 million for Water and Wastewater Projects in Colonias along the U.S.-Mexico border; New Mexico is expected to get about $7.9 million of this funding

$13 million for levee improvement in Dona Ana County. This funding is in addition to the roughly $70 million set aside for the levees in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was recently signed into law.

$800,000 for USDA to contract with the Albuquerque-based National Tribal Environmental Council to continue a Native American circuit rider program to provide technical assistance for rural water systems

$1.1 million to Bernalillo County for the North and South Valley Utilities water and wastewater project. Since 2000, Bingaman has helped secure over $25 million for this project.

$700,000 to the City of Espanola for drinking water treatment to remove arsenic from well #1

$500,000 to the City of Aztec for upgrades to Aztec’s wastewater treatment plant. The treatment plant is undersized for the city’s current waste stream and must be expanded to handle existing flows and increased future flows. Upgrades and improvement to the facility will also have the added benefit of substantially reducing overall operating costs, thus providing additional benefit to this low-to-moderate income area. Bingaman secured an earmark of $490,000 for this project in FY2008.

$300,000 to the City of Bloomfield for drinking water system improvements 

$4 million to continue construction of a flood control project in Alamogordo. The project consists of two concrete and rip-rap lined diversion channels with 100-year flow capacity and a flood detention structure which will intercept flood flows from the Sacramento Mountains east of the city.

$3.8 million to begin construction of the Southwest Valley flood reduction project in Bernalillo County. The area is subject to flooding from west mesa runoff. Storm waters flood developed areas in the southwest valley because the valley property is lower than the river. The main existing drainage facility in the southwest valley is the Isleta Drain, an agricultural drain constructed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. The project was authorized for construction in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.

$3.374 million for the New Mexico Environment Department to finance improvements in wastewater treatment systems

$8.146 million for the New Mexico Finance Authority to finance improvements in drinking water systems

$1.1 million to continue construction of arsenic treatment systems for drinking water in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County

$3 million for the Jicarilla Apache Rural Water System. This funding will be used to repair and replace the drinking water delivery and wastewater system on the reservation. The system has serious deficiencies, and continued wastewater spillage and a corroded distribution system threatens the health and welfare of the Jicarilla Nation and other New Mexico communities.

$242,000 to the Bureau of Reclamation to finalize studies on the feasibility of constructing the Ute Pipeline to serve portions of eastern New Mexico. Bingaman is the author of legislation that would authorize the construction of the pipeline. That measure has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is ready for full Senate action.

$700,000 to the Bureau of Reclamation to finalize studies about the feasibility of constructing a pipeline to serve the Navajo Nation and Gallup. Bingaman is the author of legislation ready for full Senate action that would authorize such a project. That measure has cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and is ready for full Senate action.

$3 million to continue environmental restoration work to address endangered species issues in the Middle Rio Grande pursuant to the 2003 ESA Biological Opinion and the Program’s long-term plan. Activities to be supported with the funding include (1) species management (2) water acquisition; (3) habitat restoration; (4) water management improvements; and (5) scientific studies.

PUBLIC LANDS
$4 million for operations and capital improvements at the Valles Caldera National Preserve

$3.178 million for construction and renovation of the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center

$2.6 million for land acquisition of private inholdings in the Cibola National Forest

$500,000 to begin implementation of the Galisteo Basin Archaeological Sites Protection Act of 2004

$500,000 to continue implementation of the US-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act

$150,000 for land acquisition of private inholdings within El Malpais National Monument

Bingaman helped negotiate a proposal that was signed into law last year, which fully funds the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program for the next five years. PILT pays counties for federal lands within their borders that cannot be made part of their tax base. The bill sets the funding level at $376 million in fiscal year 2009. 

TRANSPORTATION
$1.9 million for I-10 Reconstruction from Las Cruces to milepost 165       

$617,500 for the Northwest Loop Access Road in Sandoval County

$950,000 for the City of Albuquerque to purchases buses   

$950,000 for design and construction of an Intermodal Transportation Center for Los Lunas

$950,000 for US 491: Navajo 9 to Shiprock, for a four-lane upgrade

$617,500 for the Transit Maintenance and Operations Facility in City of Las Cruces

$522,500 for Phase II of Las Cruces Main Street Revitalization project

$475,000 for the North Central Regional Intermodal Transit Facilities in Alcalde

$313,500 for the City of Rio Rancho’s Transit Program

$308,750 for East Aztec Arterial Route       

$216,125 for the Plaza del Sol Project in the Village of Angel Fire

$92,625 for the Albuquerque Transit Facility Rehabilitation           

$95,000 for the East Bypass in Hobbs

$95,000 for the extension of Sunport Blvd in Albuquerque to Broadway.

AGRICULTURE
$168,000 to restore and maintain riparian areas along the Rio Grande, Pecos and Canadian Rivers where the state is working to treat and kill the noxious salt cedar. The funding would be used to restore native vegetation to riparian areas in order to stabilize soils; to maintain replanted areas; and for management to prevent invasive species from returning to treated areas. Bingaman secured 4th-year funding of $175,000 in FY 2008.

$235,000 for the Southern Great Plains Dairy Consortium. Funding would help New Mexico State University’s Agriculture Science Center in Clovis continue its work to support the state’s dairy industry. The consortium will enhance the dairy industry's competitiveness and its impact on the economy, and will also focus on the environmental impact of dairy production, including converting biomass waste to energy. 

HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
$190,000 for the City of Carlsbad to continue construction of a youth sports complex in Carlsbad

$475,000 for the Grant County Food Bank in Silver City for the rehabilitation or construction of a facility to serve as a food pantry and thrift store to serve the needs of Grant County          

$118,750 for Luna County to renovate an unused school to house Victory Outreach Residential Services, a faith-based residential drug treatment program   

$950,000 for Southwest Indian Foundation in Gallup for the Operation Footprint program to construct and place new homes for needy Navajo families         

$950,000 for the Village of Columbus to renovate the former Columbus Elementary school building to house a multi-purpose community facility  

OTHER DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FUNDING:
$1.90 million Navajo Electrification Project

$2.3 million for the Pecos Valley Biomass cooperative in Roswell. This venture will integrate a cooperative manure management system for the collection, storage, and the bioconversion of cow manure and other agriculture waste products into bio-methane gas. This renewable gas can be utilized through the national natural-gas pipeline system or for transportation bio-fuels. The integrated “bio-refinery” center includes anaerobic digestion and gasification for production of bio-methane and fertilizer granules. With the ample nearby supply of dairy waste biomass, the system can provide cost effective bio-methane.

$6.6 million for advanced analysis of “Matter-Radiation Interactions in Extremes” at Los Alamos to understand how materials behave under intense conditions of pressure and radiation

$3.80 million to store WIPP records

$12 million for facilities at Los Alamos to perform R&D on nuclear energy and medical isotopes

$15 million to support operations at Sandia’s Z machine to continue stockpile stewardship

$15 million to develop the new Zia supercomputer at Los Alamos

$19.3 million for rebuilding the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center accelerator so the lab can use it to diversify into new science missions

$6.1 million for the Sandia Ion Beam Laboratory

$7.6 million for upgrades to the LANL TA-55 radiological materials facility to make it safe and secure

$19.7 million for the radioactive LANL liquid waste facility to continue its modernization

$97.2 million Chemistry and Metallurgy Replacement Facility at LANL

$15.3 million for upgrades to the Sandia heating and cooling system

$44.6 million for upgrades to security system at Los Alamos to secure nuclear materials