A top official with the state Environment Department resigned Tuesday morning, a day after the bureau overseeing Los Alamos National Laboratory's compliance with hazardous-waste regulations was moved from his division.

It was one more shake-up in a department that's seen more than a few in the last six months.

Jim Davis, who had been with the department more than 15 years, resigned as director of the Resource Protection Division, according to department officials. Until Monday's restructuring, the division included the Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau, the Department of Energy Oversight Bureau, the Groundwater Quality Bureau and the Surface Water Quality Bureau — in addition to the Hazardous Waste Bureau.

Davis had retired a year ago. He was hired back by the Martinez administration to direct the Resource Protection Division.

After 5 p.m. Monday, an administrative memo sent to employees noted that the Hazardous Waste Bureau was being moved to the Environmental Protection Division headed by Butch Tongate. The Hazardous Waste Bureau regulates the treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous materials at facilities, including Los Alamos National Laboratory, under a court-approved consent decree.

The decision to move the bureau was made by Environment Department Secretary F. David Martin and Deputy Secretary Raj Solomon. They did not respond to questions regarding Davis' departure.

People familiar with the situation, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, said the decision to yank the bureau from Davis' division was the final straw in a string of disagreements he had with the new administration. They believe the change was prompted by a recent notice of violation that Davis' division was pursuing against LANL for failing to meet some terms of the consent decree. A LANL spokesman confirmed there was a notice of violation, with fines proposed, but the spokesman referred questions to the Environment Department.

Gov. Susana Martinez made it clear in the first week of her administration that she intended to do away with any policies she deemed unfriendly to business. The Environment Department rapidly became a focus of her attention. The administration set out to undo or overturn new rules and regulations, from green-building codes to greenhouse-gas emissions, which officials said were detrimental to industry.

Solomon, an engineer, was acting director of the Environment Department during the Martinez administration transition earlier this year. Previously, he worked as the swimming pool program director for the department and also had worked for the Air Quality Bureau in the Environmental Protection Division.

As acting director of the department, he filed a request with the New Mexico Register to stop publication of a greenhouse-gas emissions rule in January, effectively halting its implementation. Three weeks later, the New Mexico Supreme Court overruled the administration and ordered the rule published.

Solomon is now the Environment Department's deputy secretary, as well as director of both the Operations and Infrastructure Division and the Information Technology Division.

Solomon also was the administration's representative on the Martinez-appointed Small Business Friendly Task Force, which recommended overhauling many of the environmental policies put in place the last few years. In its brief report to the governor, the task force offered no specifics on how various policies had affected New Mexico businesses.

In May, staff members at the Environment Department were moved around in a way that some observers noted did not make use of their expertise. The Martinez administration said it wasn't unusual for a new governor to make major changes in departments.

According to The Associated Press, the following changes were made:

• James Bearzi, head of the Hazardous Waste Bureau for 12 years, was moved to the Surface Water Quality Bureau. 
• Steve Zappe, an expert on the federal government's radioactive waste disposal site near Carlsbad since before the facility opened in 1999, was transferred to the food inspection office. Zappe was considered the "go-to" guy for information regarding the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant that houses radioactive waste in Southern New Mexico. 
• Mary Uhl was moved from chief of the Air Quality Bureau, which oversaw the air-quality permits required by many industries, to the department's occupational health and safety office. 
• Marcy Leavitt, chief of the Water and Waste Management Division (now called the Resource Protection Division), with almost 20 years of experience in water-quality programs, was transferred to the Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau, where she was previously a staff scientist. 

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.