Environmental Improvement Board considering anti-restaurant cash grab (here’s how you can help fight it)

The Environmental Improvement Board (appointed in their entirety by the Gov.) have become a useful tool for Gov. Lujan Grisham as she finishes out her time in office the same way she started: by attacking businesses. You can provide your own comment to the EIB in opposition to harmful fee increases here. The deadline for comments is April 24, 2026. 

State statute 8-303.15 clearly outlines permit fees, late fees, penalty fees, and expiration dates. It explicitly provides that permit fees shall be: $200 for food establishments, mobile food establishments, servicing areas, and food processing plants; $100 for home-based food processing operations; and $25 for temporary food establishments for each event or celebration. The statute reflects the Legislature’s clear intent regarding the fee structure for these operations. Administrative rulemaking cannot supersede established state law or the intent of the legislature.

The Food Safety Program was instituted to protect public health; it was never intended to function as a revenue-generating enterprise.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s Food Program exercises direct enforcement authority primarily in rural areas and jurisdictions outside of Bernalillo County. As a result, the proposed fee increases would fall most heavily on rural and small‑community operators, who often have fewer resources, lower sales volumes, and less access to capital than their urban counterparts. The proposed amendments in the draft document represent significant fee increases well beyond that statutory framework. For example, the late fee is proposed to be raised from $25 to $175, an increase that is excessively punitive and disproportionate to the underlying violation. Likewise, the reinspection penalty fee is proposed to increase from $100 to $500. In addition, new plan review application fees are proposed at $300 (0–1,000 sq. ft.), $600 (1,001–2,000 sq. ft.), and $ 900.00 (2,001+ sq. ft.). In practice, very few restaurants in New Mexico operate in facilities under 2,000 square feet, meaning most new or expanding establishments will be subject to the highest fee simply for the opportunity to build and operate a business in our state.

The regulatory agency does not have the authority to alter the clear intent of the Legislature. The statute is unambiguous about the fee structure, and any substantial deviation from that structure through rulemaking undermines the legislative process and the rule of law. These proposed fee increases will have a direct and harmful impact on
our members, the majority of whom are small, locally owned businesses operating on very thin margins in a challenging economic environment.

Take just a minute by clicking here to urge the New Mexico Environment Improvement Board and the New Mexico Environment Department to reject or substantially revise these proposed fee increases and to adhere to the fee structure established in state statute.