HOUSE BILL 12
52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015
INTRODUCED BY
Bill McCamley
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT ACT TO PROVIDE FOR WATER BUDGET RATE STRUCTURES AS A CONDITION FOR DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT FOR WATER SYSTEM FINANCING.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 74-1-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 317, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:
"74-1-12. COMPLIANCE WITH THE FEDERAL SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT--PURPOSE.--The purpose of this section and Section 74-1-13 NMSA 1978 is to provide:
A. an incentive for conservation of water, the state's most precious resource; [and]
B. funding for certain locations in the state to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in which the United States congress mandated that the United States environmental protection agency establish drinking water standards for contaminants, require filtration and disinfection for all public water supply systems, increase enforcement authority, establish public notification requirements, implement a lead ban and implement a capacity development program for existing and newly created water systems; and
C. a requirement of public water systems to adopt and maintain a water budget rate structure and to direct the department to adopt rules for implementing water budget rate structures no later than June 30, 2016. As used in this section, "water budget rate structure" means a personalized water budget each month designed to meet customer-specific indoor and outdoor water needs, regardless of household or yard size. Residential water budgets are calculated based on each customer's landscaped area of the customer's parcel, real-time localized weather data and the number of residents in each home, among other factors. Residential water budgets vary from month to month based upon the weather and the amount of billing days in each cycle. A water budget rate structure shall be calculated using:
(1) sixty-five gallons of water per person per day;
(2) the number of people in the household;
(3) the number of days in the billing cycle;
(4) the amount of irrigated acreage per parcel;
(5) the daily evapotranspiration; and
(6) plant factors."
SECTION 2. Section 74-1-13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 317, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"74-1-13. WATER CONSERVATION FEE--IMPOSITION--DEFINITIONS.--
A. There is imposed on every person who operates a public water supply system a water conservation fee in an amount equal to three cents ($.03) per thousand gallons of water produced on which the fee imposed by this subsection has not been paid.
B. The "water conservation fund" is created in the state treasury and shall be administered by the department. The fund shall consist of water conservation fees collected pursuant to this section. Balances in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall accrue to the credit of the fund. Earnings on the fund shall be credited to the fund.
C. Money in the water conservation fund is appropriated to the department for administration of a public water supply program to:
(1) test public water supplies for the contaminants required to be tested pursuant to the provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, as amended, and collect chemical compliance samples as required by those provisions of the federal act;
(2) perform vulnerability assessments that will be used to assess a public water supply's susceptibility to those contaminants; and
(3) implement new requirements of the Utility Operators Certification Act and provide training for all public water supply operators.
D. The taxation and revenue department shall provide by regulation for the manner and form of collection of the water conservation fee. All water conservation fees collected by the taxation and revenue department, less the administrative fee withheld pursuant to Section 7-1-6.41 NMSA 1978, shall be deposited in the water conservation fund.
E. The fee imposed by this section shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Administration Act and shall be paid to the taxation and revenue department by each person who operates a public water supply system in the manner required by the department on or before the twenty-fifth day of the month following the month in which the water is produced.
F. Each operator of a public water supply system shall register and comply with the provisions of Section 7-1-12 NMSA 1978 and furnish such information as may be required by the taxation and revenue department.
G. The department shall compile a list of the contaminants that require testing pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection C of this section. The list shall be compiled no less than once every twelve months and include the contaminants that will be tested in the subsequent twelve months. The department shall establish by rule procedures to compile the list and to determine which contaminants that require testing will be tested in the subsequent twelve months. The determination of which contaminants will be tested shall include consideration of the availability of funds in the water conservation fund, the needs of the public water supplies being tested for additional contaminants and public health and safety.
H. The department shall provide sampling and analysis service only to water systems that have a water budget rate structure approved by the department pursuant to Section 74-1-12 NMSA 1978.
[H.] I. As used in this section:
(1) "person" means any individual or legal entity and also means, to the extent permitted by law, any federal, state or other governmental unit or subdivision or an agency, department or instrumentality thereof; and
(2) "public water supply system" means a system that provides piped water to the public for human consumption and that has at least fifteen service connections or regularly services an average of at least twenty-five individuals at least sixty days per year."
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