New Mexico to award $800K for recycling, illegal dumpsite and scrap tire cleanup

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) is accepting applications for the fiscal year 2024 Recycling and Illegal Dumping (RAID) Fund grants for scrap tire management, illegal dumpsite abatement, recycling and composting projects.

According to NMED, 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 while one-third will be awarded for recycling projects and illegal dumpsite abatement. Matching funds and in-kind contributions are not required but encouraged.

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The RAID grant is a reimbursement grant program that 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 also may be used to develop educational outreach and marketing campaigns. A list of previously funded projects is available here under Solid Waste Bureau, RAID grants.

“RAID grants provide vital funding to assist communities in addressing illegal dumping and the proper disposal of scrap tires in New Mexico,” Solid Waste Bureau Chief Joan Snider says. “This program funds projects that keep neighborhoods healthy, safe and pollution free. Eligible entities should submit applications to take advantage of this opportunity.”

From fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2023, NMED awarded more than $11.9 million for 370 projects and helped to abate more than 181 illegal dumpsites throughout the state.

For example, in fiscal year 2022, the government also awarded Bernalillo County $113,636 to run an educational outreach campaign to prevent illegal dumping. In Socorro, New Mexico, government officials used $240,151 to shred scrap tires into rubber mulch as an alternative daily cover for the local landfill.

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 sectors to improve air quality, ensure safe and healthy drinking water, and cleanup solid and hazardous wastes. The RAID grant program will further the department’s goal of investing $65 million in communities this fiscal year, one of the economic performance measures as discussed in NMED’s Quarterly Performance Assessment Report.

Applications for FY24 are due by 5 p.m., March 31. Applicants may submit their completed application by email, mail or fax. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis for the state fiscal year starting on or about July 1 and ending on or about June 30, 2024. Funded projects must be completed within the fiscal year.