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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR HJC

DATE TYPED 3/18/05

HB 1046/HJCS

SHORT TITLE Solid Waste Facility Permit Requirements

SB

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION

(in $000s)

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

New Mexico Department of Environment (NMED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HJC Substitute

The House Judiciary Committee substitute for HB1046 would amend the Solid Waste Act as fol-

lows:

1.

Change definitions of:

a.

“commercial hauler” to eliminate include persons who transport solid waste for

purposes other than disposing of the waste in a solid waste facility.

b.

“densified-refuse-derived fuel” to include only a product in pellet form.

c.

“director” would mean the Department of Environment (NMED) cabinet secre-

tary rather than the director of the Environmental Improvement Division (EID) of

that agency under current statute.

d.

“division” would mean NMED rather than the EID under current statute.

2.

Add definitions of:

a.

“dispose” or “disposal” to mean “causing, allowing or maintaining the abandon-

ment, discharge, deposit, placement, injection, dumping, spilling or leaking of any

solid waste into or on any land or water.”

b.

“large solid waste facility” would mean a solid waste facility not defined as a

House Bill 1046/HJCS -- Page 2

small solid waste facility.

c.

“permit” would mean an authorization to own, operate, construct or close a solid

waste facility, including but not limited to specified forms.

d.

“small solid waste facility” would include:

i.

an animal crematorium that is a multi-chambered unit with a total charging

capacity of less than five tons per day and is designed for the purpose of cre-

mating dead animals and animal parts.

ii.

a composting facility on less than five acres with a design capacity of 25 tons

or less per day on a dry weight basis and that only utilizes less than five dry

tons per day of sewage sludge, yard refuse or other types of feedstock.

iii.

a recycling facility with a design capacity of twenty-five tons or less per day.

iv.

a transfer station with a total operational rate of 120 cubic yards or less per

day of solid waste, which does not include separated recyclable material.

v.

an incineration facility used for burning yard refuse that operates by force-

fully projecting a curtain of air across an open chamber or pit in which com-

bustion occurs, controls emission of the combustion products and is not de-

signed to process more than ten tons of yard refuse per hour.

e.

“transfer station” would mean a facility used to receive and temporarily store

solid wastes or to transfer solid wastes directly from smaller to larger vehicles for

transport to a solid waste facility, excluding the operations premises of a duly li-

censed commercial hauler who receives, temporarily stores or transfers solid

waste in accordance with regulations adopted by the Environmental Improvement

Board (EIB).

3.

Differentiate permitting requirements for large and small solid waste facilities, such that

existing statutes would apply to large solid waste facilities and additional language would

be added to streamline the permitting and closure process for small solid waste facilities,

including giving the director discretion to determine if there is significant public interest

to merit a public hearing on a permit application for a small solid waste facility and re-

quiring prior hearings for adjudicatory actions.

4.

Public notice of permit applications for both large and small solid waste facilities would

include, in addition to certified mail, public posting and publication in a newspaper of

general circulation under current statute, providing the notice to residents of each com-

munity significantly affected by the proposed facility through at least one other medium

such as radio, television or newsletter distributed to the community.

Significant Issues

According to DFA, the original bill would streamline the permitting process and closure-post

closure plans for small solid waste facilities. The comments appear relevant to the HJC substi-

tute as well. These features would support the efforts of communities to:

- Provide solid waste facilities through small transfer stations

- Provide facilities for composting, recycling and yard waste burning that would otherwise go

to a landfill

- Provide for safe and convenient operation small solid waste facilities

DFA further noted that the registration process for small solid waste facilities would allow

NMED to document the operations and closure-post closure plans of these facilities while mini-

mizing registration costs to communities.

House Bill 1046/HJCS -- Page 3

NMED concurred about the benefits above and added that the bill requires public hearings for

small solid waste facilities only if significant public interest exists, which reduces the current re-

quirement for a public hearing for all solid waste facilities. This change is a significant reduction

in requirements on local governments in their efforts to provide solid waste services to their

communities and rural areas.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

NMED indicated there would be no fiscal impact on that agency from the bill.

DH/lg:yr