NMED: $800k available for recycling, illegal dumpsite, and scrap tire cleanup
State Agency Press Release – From The New Mexico Environmental Department
SANTA FE — The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is now accepting applications for fiscal year 2025 Recycling and Illegal Dumping (RAID) Fund grants for scrap tire management, illegal dumpsite abatement, recycling, and composting projects. Municipalities, counties, pueblos, nations, tribes, solid waste authorities, cooperative associations (as defined in the RAID Act), and land grant communities are eligible for funding.
A total of $800,000 will be available in the upcoming fiscal year. Two-thirds of the RAID fund will be awarded for scrap tire management and abatement projects, and one-third of the fund will be awarded for recycling projects and illegal dumpsite abatement. Matching funds and in-kind contributions are not required but are encouraged.
The RAID grant is a reimbursement grant program which provides funding for the prevention and abatement of illegal dumpsites, scrap tire abatement and management, and the development of recycling programs and infrastructure. Grant funding may also be used to develop educational outreach and marketing campaigns. A list of previously funded projects is available on the NMED website at https://www.env.nm.gov/funding-opportunities under Solid Waste Bureau, RAID Grants.
From fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2024, NMED awarded over $12.6 million dollars for 377 projects and helped to abate over 181 illegal dumpsites throughout the state. The RAID Alliance recommended funding of 13 projects totaling approximately $751,000 in FY24.
In FY23, the Village of Los Ranchos received a $30,357 grant to assist in constructing and maintaining community compost sites in designated urban areas. These sites serve as community drop off locations for food scraps and yard waste. Each partnering site constructed a 3-bin composting system that produces compost which is used in the local community.
“Composting transforms food scraps and yard waste into a valuable soil amendment—and it extends municipal landfill life by diverting organic materials and saving space in landfills. 50% of our waste is compostable but on average only 8.5% is currently composted,” said Isabelle Jenniches, Co-Founder NM Healthy Soil Working Group. “The Recycling and Illegal Dumping grant program offers a great opportunity for municipalities, tribes and other eligible entities to start reaping the benefits of composting.”
RAID grants benefit New Mexicans more broadly by raising awareness of the importance of proper solid waste management. The New Mexico Environment Department provides financing in the forms of grants and loans to the public and private sector to improve air quality, ensure safe and healthy drinking water, and clean-up solid and hazardous wastes.
The RAID grant program will further the department’s goal of investing in $65M in communities this fiscal year, one of the economic performance measures as discussed in NMED’s Quarterly Performance Assessment Report.
Applications for FY25 are available at https://www.env.nm.gov/forms and are due by 5:00 p.m. on April 12, 2024. Applicants may submit their completed application by e-mail (preferred), mail, or fax. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for the state fiscal year starting on or about July 1, 2024, and ending on or about June 30, 2025.
Funded projects must be completed within the fiscal year.
For more information about RAID grants and eligibility requirements, or to discuss project ideas, contact
the Solid Waste Bureau, Outreach Section at [email protected] or (505) 827-0197.