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

SPONSOR Martinez

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1-24-08

HB

SHORT TITLE Rio Arriba Youth Environmental Conservation

SB 271

Program

ANALYST Aubel

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$150.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09 FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

$0.1

$0.1 See narrative General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Office of the State Engineer (OSE)

New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)

Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)

Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 271 appropriates $150.0 thousand from the general fund to the New Mexico

Environment Department for the purpose of supporting a youth environmental conservation

program in Rio Arriba County, including acequia restoration, cultural preservation and

conservation activities.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

Senate Bill 271 – Page

2

fund to establish a youth program. If the intention of the legislation is to provide a one-time

grant, then the appropriation would be non-recurring. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance

remaining at the end of FY09 shall revert to the general fund.

NMED notes that it does not currently have infrastructure to support youth conservation program

activities. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department has a Youth Conservation

Corps (YCC) program coordinator and several staff that support its YCC funding efforts. If SB

262 is not amended to place the program under YCC, then NMED would incur additional

operating expense to oversee this program under the Surface Water Bureau. Past estimates total

$130 thousand and 2 FTE.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has identified “alternative

activities,’ notably including summer and after-school employment opportunities for older youth,

as a key strategy for preventing and dissociating gang involvement and for reducing youth-

involved property crime.

PED notes that participation in service learning projects provides students the opportunity to

learn about their community needs and engages youth in civic responsibility, academic

curriculum and social action. Research shows that high-quality service-learning programs benefit

students, schools, and communities (New Mexico Forum for Youth in Community, 2008).

The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) has awarded approximately $289,798.99 in grants to

several Rio Arriba County youth programs for projects that will be completed in FY09. Work

projects to be implemented include fence construction, trail building, campground

improvements, noxious weed removal, forest monitoring, riparian improvements, acequia

restoration, cultural preservation, wildlife habitat and watershed improvements. YCC suggests

that the $150,000 appropriation contained in SB 271 for a youth environmental conservation

program may be used to leverage existing funding to expand existing programs or to implement

new programs to benefit local youth and communities.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The appropriate agency to administer the program is the Youth Conservation Corps under the

Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

AMENDMENT

Replace “New Mexico Environment Department" with the “Youth Conservation Corps within

the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department."

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

The environmental conservation programs for Rio Arriba County youth would be curtailed.

MA/nt