HIPAA for New Mexico Covered Entity Employers: Avoiding Penalties
The complexity of the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA) makes it difficult for well-intentioned employers to ensure compliance with its provisions. We often field calls from New Mexico employers asking if HIPAA applies in certain situations and what steps they…
The FAST Act Seeks to Expedite Multi-Agency NEPA Compliance for Large Infrastructure Projects
A new law offers the prospect of faster Federal approvals and limitations on judicial challenges for certain large infrastructure projects that must comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). In December 2015, Congress enacted and President Obama signed into law the…
Are New Mexico Employers Required to Accommodate Obesity Under the ADA?
Between 25% and 30% of all adults in New Mexico are obese.[1. United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] With such a significant percentage of New Mexicans being affected by obesity, employers are increasingly faced with issues regarding whether or not…
Reservation Diminishment: Implications for Tribal Taxing Powers over Non-Members
Introduction: Writing another chapter in its long-running book regarding whether boundaries of Indian Reservations across the country have been diminished or reduced by Congressional action, on March 22, 2016, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in[1. Nebraska v. Parker.[1.Nebraska v….
Professor Kevin Washburn: Reflections on Service as Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, the State of Indian Law in 2016, and Returning Home to New Mexico
Kevin Washburn recently returned to his position as a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law after serving more than three years as the Department of the Interior’s Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs. A member of the Chickasaw Nation and a…
Scientific Opinions: Differences Between Federal and New Mexico Law
In a recent opinion, Acosta v. Shell Western Exploration & Production, Inc., No. S-1-SC-33884, slip op. (N.M. Sup. Ct. March 3, 2016), the New Mexico Supreme Court reversed a decision by a state district court to exclude expert opinion testimony in a toxic…
New Mexico’s Whistleblower Statute 101: A Crash Course
In 2010, New Mexico’s Legislature enacted the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). Generally, the purpose of a whistleblower protection act is to protect employees who risk job security for the good of the public by disclosing unlawful and improper actions of public officials. …
Indemnification Clauses after Safeway
On February 18, 2016, the New Mexico Supreme Court held in Safeway Inc. v. Rooter 2000 Plumbing & Drain SSS, 2016-NMSC-___ (No. 33,969, Feb. 18, 2016) that indemnification agreements in construction contracts are void and unenforceable under the state’s anti-indemnity statute to the…
Four Changes to BIA’s Right-Of-Way Regulations That Grantees and Applicants Should Know
On November 3, 2015, Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs signed a final rule revising the Bureau of Indian Affair’s (BIA) regulations[1. Available here.] governing grants of right-of-way (ROW) on Indian lands compiled at 25 C.F.R. Part 169 (Final Rule). The Final Rule was published in…
Wind Energy: Challenged Under Federal Regulations, but More Native American Nations Appear to Be Embracing Its Development
Wind farms offer a source of low-carbon energy and are being developed around the world as governments and private entities seek new sources of energy to power our world. Development of wind farms is not a simple task, though, and developers are…