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SPONSOR: |
Lopez |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Air Quality Control Regulations |
SB |
515 |
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ANALYST: |
Valenzuela |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 782
Relates to House Bill 371 and Conflicts with
House Bill 372
-
Report of the Legislative Finance
Committee to the Forty-sixth Legislature, First Session,
January 2003 for Fiscal Year 2003 – 2004, pp. 591 – 592.
-
Emerging Issues in Air Quality and
Office of the Attorney General
Department of Environment
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 515 would
amend the Air Quality Control Act by deleting the requirement that state
regulations be no more stringent than federal regulations.
Significant
Issues
The federal Clean Air Act (CAA), as amended in
1990, directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify and
set national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for pollutants that cause
adverse effects to public health and the environment. The law allows individual
state to have stronger pollution controls, but states are not allowed to have
weaker pollution controls. The New Mexico Air Quality Control Act, however,
contains stringency language, eliminated in this bill, that prohibits state
ambient air quality standards from being more restrictive than federal
standards.
Senate Bill 515 requires that
regulations adopted by the state with respect to visibility protection in Class
I areas, prevention of significant deterioration, non-attainment areas, and
standards of performance be at least as stringent as federal requirements.
Class I areas are designated by Congress and include national parks and
wilderness areas. Prevention of
significant deterioration applies to sources that emit more than 250 tons per
year of any one criteria pollutant. A
non-attainment area is an area in which the concentration of pollutants exceeds
the federal health based standard for that pollutant. Standards of performance are technology-based
standards that apply to certain new facilities.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Senate Bill 515 does
not contain an appropriation. Its enactment would have an administrative and
fiscal impact on NMED, however, the department would be able to absorb the
impact with existing resources.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The Environmental
Improvement Board, staff by NMED, may need to revise its rules.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP,
RELATIONSHIP
Senate Bill 515
duplicates House Bill 782. Senate Bill 515 also conflicts with HB 372 which
would add stringency language for Title V regulations that could not be more
stringent than federal regulations.
MFV/njw