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

SPONSOR Lopez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-6-06

HB

SHORT TITLE

PAJARITO MESA CONDITIONS

DOCUMENTARY

SB 641

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$10.0 Non-Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY06 FY07 FY08 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring or

Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$90.0

$90.0 Non-Recurring General Fund, grants or

private donations

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

New Mexico Department of Environment (NMED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 641 appropriates $10 thousand from the general fund to the Department of Environ-

ment in FY07 to prepare a documentary film in conjunction with the film technicians' training

program regarding conditions on the Pajarito Mesa.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The $10 thousand appropriation in this bill is a non-recurring expense to the general fund. Any

unexpended or unencumbered balance at the end of FY07 would revert to the general fund.

NMED indicated that, because NMED does not have the expertise in film, this project would

have to be contracted to an outside entity. Ten thousand dollars is not enough funding to com

Senate Bill 641 – Page 2

plete a documentary and provide adequate dollars to offset NMED costs for management, tech

nical assistance, and oversight during the creation of a film.

According to the University of California School of Journalism, the average cost of a one-hour

television documentary is about $500 thousand, though low-budget documentaries can be made

for as little as $100 thousand. It is possible that the film technicians’ training program would

hold down those costs further.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

NMED provided the following background:

•

The Pajarito Mesa is located west of Coors Boulevard SW in Albuquerque, Bernalillo

County, New Mexico. The area is relatively rural; residents are generally low-income;

and the NMED permitted-Southwest Landfill is located on the mesa and accepts only

construction and demolition debris.

•

The Pajarito Mesa area continues to suffer from chronic illegal dumping of solid waste,

including household waste, construction debris and scrap tires. The Bernalillo County

Office of Environmental Health (BCOEH) has primary jurisdiction for illegal dumping in

this area. BCOEH staff completes illegal dumping investigations and takes enforcement

actions in accordance with the county ordinances. NMED refers most cases received re-

garding this area to Bernalillo County for appropriate action.

•

Both NMED Solid Waste Enforcement and the BCOEH have addressed unpermitted tire

operations and illegal dumping of solid waste on numerous occasions during the last 5 -

10 years.

•

As BCOEH is currently addressing a widespread area of illegal dumping upon the mesa,

the NMED is not the appropriate agency to oversee the creation of a documentary regard-

ing conditions, problems, and possible solutions on the Pajarito mesa. Additionally,

NMED staff, while generally knowledgeable about the situation, does not have the depth

of experience and/or familiarity with the current conditions in this area to provide the

level of assistance needed to create a meaningful documentary.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

NMED indicated diverting staff time to this effort could jeopardize existing work timetables.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

NMED indicated that agency does not have film industry expertise and was concerned that the

purpose, goals and target audience of the documentary is unclear. The tasks, activities, and time

required of NMED staff are unclear. Significant time will be required to provide technical assis-

tance and develop a script that would meet the goals of the project.

ALTERNATIVES

NMED suggested that one alternative might be to provide funding in this amount or greater to

assist with clean-up, additional enforcement via more area patrols, and installation of physical

barriers to limit the amount of dumping in the Pajarito Mesa area.

DH/mt