ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is criticizing the Trump administration's move to roll back rules intended to reduce methane leaks from oil and gas operations.

Balderas, a Democrat, issued a statement Tuesday after the Environmental Protection Agency released a proposed substitute for the Obama-era methane regulations.

Balderas has been a vocal critic. He and the attorney general of California sued the Trump administration last summer for delaying rules to reduce methane leaks on federal lands.

He contends the proposal would have environmental effects and w...