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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Garcia, M.P.
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
3-13-07
3-23-07 HB HM 97/aHFl#1
SHORT TITLE Study Dept. ff Environment Decisions
SB
ANALYST Aubel
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$0.01*
Non-
Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
*See Fiscal Impact
Relates to HB 888/HENRCS and SB 880
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Response Received From
New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)
No Responses Received From
Department of Finance and Administration (Local Government Division)
New Mexico Municipal League
New Mexico Association of Counties
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Floor Amendment
The House Floor amendments add two primary changes:
1.
“Cumulative and social impacts" are broadened and clarified throughout the bill to mean
"cumulative impacts, economic impacts and social impacts";
2.
NMED is now directed that the study regarding the legality and feasibility of adopting
rules requiring NMED to consider these impacts include input from all stakeholders.
NMED notes the department routinely convenes stakeholder groups and this additional group
should have minimal fiscal impact, primarily due to the use of a facilitator and staff time
pg_0002
House Memorial 97/aHFl#1 – Page
2
involved in the meetings. However, the agency asserts that this requirement duplicates a process
already established under Executive order 2005-056 regarding the Environmental Justice Task
Force and Policy Committee, whose mission is to make recommendations regarding
environmental justice issues to NMED.
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Memorial 97 directs the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to study how to
effectively address the cumulative and social impacts of its decisions and to take into account the
impacts of its decisions on the quality of life of residents in New Mexico communities. In
studying these issues, NMED is directed to look at the legality and feasibility of adopting rules
that require it to consider those impacts.
HM 97 requests that the study be submitted to the appropriate interim subcommittee no later than
December 15, 2007.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
No appropriation is included in this bill, although NMED will incur a minimal fiscal impact for
the FTE hours spent on producing the report. NMED suggests that
if the department were to
form an additional task force outside of the environmental justice task force already considering
these issues, additional resources will be required.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Currently, NMED’s role is to evaluate regulated facilities for compliance with quantifiable
public health and environmental protection standards. Under HM 97, the department will be
required to study how it can address the wider issues of cumulative and social impacts on the
community as part of the permitting process for a facility. NMED suggests that such
considerations, including the citing impacts of a facility, would most appropriately be part of
local government zoning and planning process prior to a facility spending money on attempting
to obtain a permit.
HM 97 follows the decision of the New Mexico Supreme Court in the Rhino landfill case
(Colonias Development Council v. Rhino Environmental Services, Inc., 138 N.M. 133, 117 P.3d
939 (2005)). In Rhino, the Environment Department was forced to reevaluate a decision because
it failed to consider evidence on community impacts and cumulative impacts.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
No FTE or other resources are dedicated to producing the study, which will require current staff
members to produce the report in addition to their regular duties.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
HM 97 relates to HB 888/HENRCS and the original duplicate SB 880, which establish a protocol
for a community impact assessment report for certain facilities to be generated and included in
NMED’s decision-making process.
pg_0003
House Memorial 97/aHFl#1 – Page
3
ALTERNATIVES
The Environment Improvement Board could review the memorial’s request and submit a
stakeholder report.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
A report that looks how NMED’s decisions on permitting facilities impact quality of life for
residents of New Mexico communities will not be produced. However, the Environment
Department will continue to integrate consideration of community impacts into its decision-
making process, as required by regulation and the 2005 NM Supreme Court decision Colonias
Development Counsel v. Rhino Environmental Services, Inc.
MA/nt:csd