HOUSE BILL 548
49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009
INTRODUCED BY
Jeff Steinborn
AN ACT
RELATING TO RECYCLING; ENACTING THE RECYCLING DEVELOPMENT ACT; ESTABLISHING A RECYCLING FEE; ESTABLISHING A RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPPORTUNITY FUND TO ESTABLISH OR ENHANCE RECYCLING PROGRAMS AND PROVIDE RECYCLING FEE DISTRIBUTIONS TO PERSONS OPERATING LANDFILL DISPOSAL FACILITIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1 through 5 of this act may be cited as the "Recycling Development Act".
Section 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Recycling Development Act:
A. "alliance" means the recycling and illegal dumping alliance;
B. "bureau" means the solid waste bureau of the department;
C. "department" means the department of environment;
D. "eligible persons" means those entities that may receive recycling infrastructure and opportunity funds, limited to counties, municipalities, the Indian affairs department, land grant communities, cooperative associations, post-secondary educational institutions, school districts, solid waste authorities or districts or other political subdivisions;
E. "grant coordinator" means an individual employed by the bureau pursuant to the Recycling Development Act to:
(1) coordinate with recycling outreach coordinators and the recycled markets coordinator on the promotion of recycling throughout the state; and
(2) conduct outreach on and assist persons in applying for grants pursuant to the recycling infrastructure and opportunity grant program;
F. "landfill disposal facility" means an area of land or an excavation in which wastes are placed for permanent disposal;
G. "recyclable material" means a solid waste that can be collected, separated or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products after its initial use;
H. "recycled markets coordinator" means an individual employed by the bureau pursuant to the Recycling Development Act to conduct ongoing research and document opportunities to sell or use recyclable materials throughout the state;
I. "recycling" means any process by which recyclable materials are collected, separated or processed and reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products;
J. "recycling outreach coordinator" means an individual employed by the bureau pursuant to the provisions of the Recycling Development Act to conduct outreach to communities statewide to start or enhance their recycling programs and assist applicants for recycling infrastructure grants to establish and strengthen recycling and waste diversion programs throughout the state;
K. "secretary" means the secretary of environment;
L. "solid waste" means refuse and refuse-derived fuel collected from the general public and from residential, commercial, institutional and industrial sources consisting of paper, wood, yard wastes, food wastes, plastics, leather, rubber and other combustible materials and non-combustible materials such as metal, glass and rock and excludes industrial process wastes or medical wastes that are segregated from other wastes; and
M. "solid waste facility" means any public or private system, facility, location, improvements on the land, structures or other appurtenances or methods used for processing, transformation, recycling or disposal of solid waste, including landfill disposal facilities, transfer stations, resource recovery facilities, incinerators and other similar facilities not specified, but does not include equipment specifically approved by order of the director of the environmental improvement division of the department to render medical waste non-infectious or a facility that is permitted pursuant to the provisions of the Hazardous Waste Act and does not apply to a facility fueled by a densified-refuse-derived fuel that accepts no other solid waste.
Section 3. [NEW MATERIAL] RECYCLING FEE--AMOUNT--COLLECTION--DISTRIBUTION.--
A. A recycling fee of sixty cents ($.60) per ton shall be imposed on a person that disposes of solid waste at a landfill disposal facility upon the disposal of solid waste at the facility, unless the waste has previously been assessed a fee at another solid waste facility.
B. The fee imposed by this section shall be in addition to all other fees and taxes levied by law.
C. The fee imposed by this section shall be paid by the person that disposes of the solid waste at the landfill disposal facility. It shall be collected by the person operating the landfill disposal facility, held in trust in a separate account for the benefit of the state and remitted to the taxation and revenue department. The fee accrues at the time the solid waste is disposed of in a landfill disposal facility. The fee imposed by this section shall be administered as if it were a tax in accordance with the provisions of the Tax Administration Act and shall be remitted within twenty-five days from the end of the month in which the fee is collected.
D. Distributions pursuant to the Tax Administration Act of the net proceeds of the fees collected pursuant to this section shall be made as follows:
(1) fifteen percent shall go to the bureau for creation of at least four full-time positions:
(a) at least two full-time positions for recycling outreach coordinators, who shall conduct outreach and serve as a point of contact to New Mexico communities and assist applicants for recycling infrastructure and opportunity grants to establish and strengthen recycling and waste diversion programs throughout the state;
(b) at least one full-time position for a recycled markets coordinator, who shall research and document recyclable market opportunities relevant to eligible persons throughout the state. This market research shall encompass a broad spectrum of recyclable materials. These recyclable market opportunities shall be communicated to existing and developing recycling programs. The recycled markets coordinator shall also work to build collaborative market approaches involving multiple recycling programs; and
(c) one full-time position for a grant coordinator, who shall assist prospective applicants for grants pursuant to the recycling infrastructure and opportunity grant program, conduct outreach to applicant sites and coordinate with recycling outreach coordinators and the recycled markets coordinator;
(2) seven percent shall go to the bureau, which shall use the funds to develop and implement a statewide waste diversion and recycling public outreach program to educate the public of the importance of recycling and waste diversion; and
(3) seventy-eight percent shall go to the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund.
Section 4. [NEW MATERIAL] RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPPORTUNITY GRANT PROGRAM--RECYCLING FEE DISTRIBUTIONS--DUTIES OF BUREAU--APPLICATION PROCESS--ELIGIBILITY.--
A. In consultation with the alliance, the bureau shall:
(1) establish a recycling infrastructure and opportunity grant program to make grants to eligible persons, individually or jointly, for the establishment or modification of infrastructure for:
(a) the recycling, marketing and sale of recyclable materials;
(b) public education by local communities throughout the state on the importance of recycling and waste diversion conducted; and
(c) end-use research into innovative uses for recyclable materials;
(2) prepare an annual report to the governor and the legislature on the recycling infrastructure and opportunity grant program; and
(3) award grants only to eligible persons that meet the criteria established pursuant to Subsection C of this section and by the bureau.
B. The secretary of Indian affairs, or the secretary's designee, shall apply for grants on behalf of recycling programs located on Indian nations, pueblos or land belonging to tribes and shall distribute any grant that it receives pursuant to the Recycling Development Act to those programs.
C. The secretary shall promulgate rules regarding the applications, including funding priorities and criteria for awarding of grants pursuant to this section, provided that priority shall be given to applications involving multiple jurisdictions or regional collaborative approaches.
D. The alliance shall make recommendations to the secretary as to which eligible persons shall be awarded grants. All grants shall be allocated for recycling programs.
E. In consultation with the alliance, the secretary shall promulgate rules and develop a formula for paying the recycling fee distributions to persons operating landfill disposal facilities that have remitted recycling fees paid by persons disposing of solid waste pursuant to Section 3 of the Recycling Development Act. The distribution shall be paid, as the availability of funds permits, from the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund according to the recycling fee distribution formula in proportion to the solid waste the facility demonstrates it has received and from which it demonstrates it has produced recyclable materials at the site where the recycling fee was collected for disposal of that waste. The distribution shall be calculated in accordance with the formula developed by the secretary on a per-ton basis with differential rates for different recycled commodities and paid in accordance with the availability of funds in accordance with rules promulgated by the secretary.
F. A person shall not receive a distribution that exceeds the amount the person has paid in recycling fees.
Section 5. [NEW MATERIAL] RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPPORTUNITY FUND CREATED--ADMINISTRATION.--
A. The "recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund" is created as a nonreverting fund in the state treasury. Seventy-eight percent of fees collected pursuant to Section 3 of the Recycling Development Act shall be deposited into the fund. The bureau shall administer the fund. Money is appropriated to the bureau to make grants and recycling fee distributions from the fund pursuant to the Recycling Development Act. Money from the fund shall be expended on warrants drawn by the secretary of finance and administration pursuant to vouchers signed by the secretary of environment.
B. State money appropriated to the bureau to carry out the provisions of this section may be used to match any eligible federal funds allocated to the state for the purpose of making grants to eligible persons to implement recycling incentive programs pursuant to the Recycling Development Act and rules the bureau has promulgated.
C. Eighty-seven percent of the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund shall be distributed in grants for the purchase of equipment to be used in recycling solid waste.
D. Four percent of the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund shall be distributed to eligible persons that apply for grants to fund public education regarding the importance of recycling and waste diversion in their local communities.
E. Six percent of the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund shall be distributed in the form of recycling fee distributions to landfill disposal facilities pursuant to Section 4 of the Recycling Development Act.
F. Three percent of the recycling infrastructure ans opportunity fund shall be distributed to eligible persons in grants for end-use research, which is research into innovative uses for recyclable materials.
Section 6. Section 7-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965, Chapter 248, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:
"7-1-2. APPLICABILITY.--The Tax Administration Act applies to and governs:
A. the administration and enforcement of the following taxes or tax acts as they now exist or may hereafter be amended:
(1) Income Tax Act;
(2) Withholding Tax Act;
(3) Venture Capital Investment Act;
(4) Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act and any state gross receipts tax;
(5) Liquor Excise Tax Act;
(6) Local Liquor Excise Tax Act;
(7) any municipal local option gross receipts tax;
(8) any county local option gross receipts tax;
(9) Special Fuels Supplier Tax Act;
(10) Gasoline Tax Act;
(11) petroleum products loading fee, which fee shall be considered a tax for the purpose of the Tax Administration Act;
(12) Alternative Fuel Tax Act;
(13) Cigarette Tax Act;
(14) Estate Tax Act;
(15) Railroad Car Company Tax Act;
(16) Investment Credit Act, rural job tax credit, Laboratory Partnership with Small Business Tax Credit Act, Technology Jobs Tax Credit Act, film production tax credit, New Mexico filmmaker tax credit, Affordable Housing Tax Credit Act, high-wage jobs tax credit and Research and Development Small Business Tax Credit Act;
(17) Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Act;
(18) Uniform Division of Income for Tax Purposes Act;
(19) Multistate Tax Compact;
(20) Tobacco Products Tax Act; and
(21) the telecommunications relay service surcharge imposed by Section 63-9F-11 NMSA 1978, which surcharge shall be considered a tax for the purposes of the Tax Administration Act;
B. the administration and enforcement of the following taxes, surtaxes, advanced payments or tax acts as they now exist or may hereafter be amended:
(1) Resources Excise Tax Act;
(2) Severance Tax Act;
(3) any severance surtax;
(4) Oil and Gas Severance Tax Act;
(5) Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act;
(6) Oil and Gas Emergency School Tax Act;
(7) Oil and Gas Ad Valorem Production Tax Act;
(8) Natural Gas Processors Tax Act;
(9) Oil and Gas Production Equipment Ad Valorem Tax Act;
(10) Copper Production Ad Valorem Tax Act;
(11) any advance payment required to be made by any act specified in this subsection, which advance payment shall be considered a tax for the purposes of the Tax Administration Act;
(12) Enhanced Oil Recovery Act;
(13) Natural Gas and Crude Oil Production Incentive Act; and
(14) intergovernmental production tax credit and intergovernmental production equipment tax credit; C. the administration and enforcement of the following taxes, surcharges, fees or acts as they now exist or may hereafter be amended:
(1) Weight Distance Tax Act;
(2) the workers' compensation fee authorized by Section 52-5-19 NMSA 1978, which fee shall be considered a tax for purposes of the Tax Administration Act;
(3) Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995);
(4) 911 emergency surcharge and the network and database surcharge, which surcharges shall be considered taxes for purposes of the Tax Administration Act;
(5) the solid waste assessment fee authorized by the Solid Waste Act, which fee shall be considered a tax for purposes of the Tax Administration Act;
(6) the water conservation fee imposed by Section 74-1-13 NMSA 1978, which fee shall be considered a tax for the purposes of the Tax Administration Act; [and]
(7) the gaming tax imposed pursuant to the Gaming Control Act; and
(8) the recycling fee imposed pursuant to the Recycling Development Act; and
D. the administration and enforcement of all other laws, with respect to which the department is charged with responsibilities pursuant to the Tax Administration Act, but only to the extent that the other laws do not conflict with the Tax Administration Act."
Section 7. A new section of the Tax Administration Act is enacted to read:
"[NEW MATERIAL] DISTRIBUTION--RECYCLING FEES.--A distribution pursuant to Section 7-1-6.1 NMSA 1978 shall be made to the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund of the net receipts attributable to the recycling fee imposed pursuant to the Recycling Development Act."
Section 8. Section 74-13-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005, Chapter 171, Section 7) is amended to read:
"74-13-7. RECYCLING AND ILLEGAL DUMPING ALLIANCE.--
A. The "recycling and illegal dumping alliance" is created and is comprised of two recycling outreach coordinators pursuant to the Recycling Development Act and one member from each of the following:
(1) state government;
(2) local government;
(3) a solid waste authority;
(4) an industry waste generator;
(5) a tribal government;
(6) a nonprofit organization;
(7) a recycling company;
(8) a retailer;
(9) an agricultural producer;
(10) a soil and water conservation district;
(11) a waste management company; [and]
(12) the public at large;
(13) a state educational institution;
(14) an organization representing public schools;
(15) a recycling advocacy organization;
(16) a land grant community;
(17) a cooperative association;
(18) a solid waste authority or district;
(19) the Indian affairs department;
(20) a grant coordinator pursuant to the Recycling Development Act; and
(21) a recycled markets coordinator pursuant to the Recycling Development Act.
B. The secretary shall appoint members of the alliance to serve two-year terms as volunteers with no compensation from the state.
C. The alliance shall:
(1) develop strategies to increase recycling and decrease illegal dumping in New Mexico;
(2) create a state recycling plan, as a component of the New Mexico solid waste management plan, to establish programs and goals and update the plan every three years to measure progress and modify strategies; [and]
(3) review and make recommendations for funding grant applications from the recycling and illegal dumping fund;
(4) review and make recommendations to the secretary for rulemaking and funding for grant and loan applications from the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund pursuant to the Recycling Development Act; and
(5) review and make recommendations to the secretary for rulemaking for and the devising of a formula for making distributions from the recycling infrastructure and opportunity fund pursuant to the Recycling Development Act."
Section 9. Section 74-13-17 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005, Chapter 171, Section 17) is amended to read:
"74-13-17. GRANTS--ELIGIBILITY--APPLICATIONS.--
A. A municipality, county, Indian nation, pueblo or tribe, land grant community, cooperative association, [or] solid waste authority or district, state educational institution, public school district or other political subdivision or the Indian affairs department that meets eligibility requirements established by the board may apply for a grant for providing funds to public landfills to offset the cost of collecting or recycling of tires or submit a competitive bid for a loan or contract for development costs or operating costs to establish a recycling facility, purchase equipment, perform marketing, purchase products produced by a recycling facility, provide educational outreach, develop recycling infrastructure, abate illegal dumpsites or contract with vendors to promote recycling and to abate illegal dumpsites consistent with provisions of the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Act. The first priority for funding shall be abatement of illegal scrap tire dumpsites and the recycling of scrap tires.
B. A grant, loan or contract for processing shall not be awarded pursuant to the Recycling and Illegal Dumping Act to a person who receives less than ninety-five percent of recyclable materials from sources in New Mexico.
C. Nothing in this section prohibits a municipality, county, Indian nation, pueblo or tribe, land grant community, [or] cooperative association or other political subdivision from contracting for services to complete an abatement action.
D. At least two-thirds of budgeted grant money in each fiscal year shall be allocated to tire abatement and recycling programs, and one-third of budgeted grant money in each fiscal year shall be allocated to abatement of illegal dumping and recycling of other solid wastes."
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