The development of a field-portable Raman instrument for environmental analyses is described. It is based on the use of a near-infrared frequency-stabilized diode laser for excitation, an acousto-optic tunable filter for wavelength selection, and an avalanche photodiode for detection. Evaluation of this instrument for the monitoring of environmentally important species will be discussed as well as its ability to be operated in room light without significantly increasing the background signal. In addition, we will also describe a baseline removal procedure based on second derivative approach that simplifies and increases the accuracy of the instrument's automated identification algorithm.