RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL LICENSES; AMENDING THE UTILITY OPERATORS CERTIFICATION ACT DEFINITION OF PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 61-33-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1992, Chapter 44, Section 2) is amended to read:

"61-33-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Utility Operators Certification Act:

A. "certified operator" means a person who is certified by the commission as being qualified to operate one of the classifications of water supply systems or wastewater facilities;

B. "certified supervisor" means a person who is certified as an operator by the commission as qualified to operate one of the classifications of water supply systems or wastewater facilities and who performs on-site coordinations, direction and inspection of the operation of a public wastewater facility or a public water supply facility;

C. "commission" means:

(1) the water quality control commission; or

(2) the department, when used in connection with any activity or function under the Utility Operators Certification Act, the administration and enforcement of which the commission has delegated to the department;

D. "department" means the department of environment;

E. "domestic liquid waste" means human excreta and water-carried waste from typical residential plumbing fixtures and activities, including waste from toilets, sinks, bath fixtures, clothes or dishwashing machines and floor drains;

F. "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" means a watertight unit designed, constructed and installed to stabilize only domestic liquid waste and to retain solids contained in such domestic liquid waste, including aerobic treatment units and septic tanks;

G. "person" means any agency, department or instrumentality of the United States and any of their officers, agents or employees, the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision thereof, any public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any political subdivision or public or private corporation;

H. "public wastewater facility" means a system of structures, equipment and processes designed to collect and treat domestic and industrial waste and dispose of the effluent, but does not include:

(1) any domestic liquid waste treatment unit; or

(2) any industrial facility subject to an industrial pretreatment program regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act of 1977; and

I. "public water supply system" means:

(1) a system for the provision through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public of water for human consumption or domestic purposes if the system:

(a) has at least fifteen service connections; or

(b) regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five individuals at least sixty days of the year; and

(2) includes any water supply source and any treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system."

HB 679

Page 3