HOUSE BILL 138
55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2022
INTRODUCED BY
James R.J. Strickler and Anthony Allison and Rod Montoya
and T. Ryan Lane
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT; AMENDING THE AIR QUALITY CONTROL ACT; CHANGING THE DATE ON WHICH STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE THAT LIMIT CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS FROM CERTAIN ELECTRIC GENERATING FACILITY SOURCES WILL APPLY FROM JANUARY 1, 2023 TO JANUARY 1, 2026.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 74-2-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1967, Chapter 277, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"74-2-5. DUTIES AND POWERS--ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT BOARD--LOCAL BOARD.--
A. The environmental improvement board or the local board shall prevent or abate air pollution.
B. The environmental improvement board or the local board shall:
(1) adopt, promulgate, publish, amend and repeal rules and standards consistent with the Air Quality Control Act to attain and maintain national ambient air quality standards and prevent or abate air pollution, including:
(a) rules prescribing air standards within the geographic area of the environmental improvement board's jurisdiction or the local board's jurisdiction or any part thereof; and
(b) standards of performance that limit carbon dioxide emissions to no more than one thousand one hundred pounds per megawatt-hour on and after January 1, [2023] 2026 for a new or existing source that is an electric generating facility with an original installed capacity exceeding three hundred megawatts and that uses coal as a fuel source; and
(2) adopt a plan for the regulation, control, prevention or abatement of air pollution, recognizing the differences, needs, requirements and conditions within the geographic area of the environmental improvement board's jurisdiction or the local board's jurisdiction or any part thereof.
C. If the environmental improvement board or the local board determines that emissions from sources within the environmental improvement board's jurisdiction or the local board's jurisdiction cause or contribute to ozone concentrations in excess of ninety-five percent of the primary national ambient air quality standard for ozone promulgated pursuant to the federal act, the environmental improvement board or the local board shall adopt a plan, including rules, to control emissions of oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds to provide for attainment and maintenance of the standard. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be limited to sources of emissions within the area of the state where the ozone concentrations exceed ninety-five percent of the primary national ambient air quality standard.
D. Rules adopted by the environmental improvement board or the local board may:
(1) include rules to protect visibility in mandatory class I areas to prevent significant deterioration of air quality and to achieve national ambient air quality standards in nonattainment areas; provided that the rules shall be at least as stringent as required by the federal act and federal regulations pertaining to visibility protection in mandatory class I areas, pertaining to prevention of significant deterioration and pertaining to nonattainment areas;
(2) prescribe standards of performance for sources and emission standards for hazardous air pollutants that shall be at least as stringent as required by federal standards of performance;
(3) include rules governing emissions from solid waste incinerators that shall be at least as stringent as any applicable federal emission limitations;
(4) include rules requiring the installation of control technology for mercury emissions that removes the greater of what is achievable with best available control technology or ninety percent of the mercury from the input fuel for all coal-fired power plants, except for coal-fired power plants constructed and generating electric power and energy before July 1, 2007;
(5) require notice to the department or the local agency of the intent to introduce or permit the introduction of an air contaminant into the air within the geographical area of the environmental improvement board's jurisdiction or the local board's jurisdiction; and
(6) require any person emitting any air contaminant to:
(a) install, use and maintain emission monitoring devices;
(b) sample emissions in accordance with methods and at locations and intervals as may be prescribed by the environmental improvement board or the local board;
(c) establish and maintain records of the nature and amount of emissions;
(d) submit reports regarding the nature and amounts of emissions and the performance of emission control devices; and
(e) provide any other reasonable information relating to the emission of air contaminants.
E. Any rule adopted pursuant to this section shall be at least as stringent as federal law, if any, relating to control of motor vehicle emissions.
F. In making its rules, the environmental improvement board or the local board shall give weight it deems appropriate to all facts and circumstances, including:
(1) character and degree of injury to or interference with health, welfare, visibility and property;
(2) the public interest, including the social and economic value of the sources and subjects of air contaminants; and
(3) technical practicability and economic reasonableness of reducing or eliminating air contaminants from the sources involved and previous experience with equipment and methods available to control the air contaminants involved.
G. Before the environmental improvement board or local board adopts a rule that is more stringent than the federal act or federal regulations, or that applies to sources not subject to regulation pursuant to the federal act or regulations, the environmental improvement board or local board shall make a determination, based on substantial evidence and after notice and public hearing, that the proposed rule will be more protective of public health and the environment."
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