The New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board last week unanimously adopted regulations officially establishing the Clean Transportation Fuel Program, setting April 1 as the opening date for the Southwest’s first clean fuel market.

Signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2024, the Clean Transportation Fuel Program is a market-based initiative that incentivizes and expands access to lower-carbon transportation fuels, including ethanol, biofuels, renewable diesel, renewable natural gas, electricity, and supporting infrastructure.

New Mexico is the first state in the Southwest to adopt a Clean Transportation Fuel Program and only the fourth state in the United States to do so. “Our state is officially open for clean fuel business investments – from cleaner renewable diesel and hydrogen for long-haul trucking to more charging infrastructure to accommodate our increasing battery-electric passenger vehicles,” said Environment Secretary James Kenney.

Clean Fuels Alliance America served on the advisory committee that developed the program’s regulations, working in collaboration with the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition to pass the enabling legislation.

“From a market perspective, New Mexico represents an almost 800-million-gallon opportunity for the biomass-based diesel industry,” said Cory-Ann Wind, Director of State Regulatory Affairs for Clean Fuels. “Since it sits along a key corridor for both feedstocks and finished fuels produced in the Gulf Coast and Midwest, New Mexico’s entry into the market not only expands the demand for clean fuels but further strengthens the supply chain”.

“As the first non–West Coast state to implement a clean fuel standard, New Mexico proves that states with strong energy economies can also lead on clean fuel deployment and market certainty,” said Jeff Earl, Director of State Governmental Affairs for Clean Fuels. “This program adds real momentum to clean fuel standard adoption nationwide.”