HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 21

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Paul C. Bandy

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT TO PURSUE STATE PRIMACY FOR NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION.

     WHEREAS, the federal Clean Water Act establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and for setting standards for surface water quality; and

     WHEREAS, one part of that act is the national pollutant discharge elimination system, which is a permitting process for point source discharges; and

     WHEREAS, this permitting system includes discharges of storm water runoff; and

     WHEREAS, in New Mexico, there are more than one hundred twenty facilities that operate under separate permits, including fifty-two municipal permits, twenty-six industrial permits and three federal facility permits; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico has more than two thousand facilities that operate under general permits that relate to specific industry sectors; and

     WHEREAS, in December 2015, the federal environmental protection agency issued the middle Rio Grande watershed based permit for twenty-one entities; and

     WHEREAS, although the department of environment

consults with the environmental protection agency on such issues, it only oversees the implementation portions of the federal Clean Water Act through periodic updates of water quality standards, monitoring and assessment, listing of impaired waters and development of total maximum daily load regulations, but it does not have the legal authority or primacy to regulate or issue national pollutant discharge elimination system permits; and

     WHEREAS, primacy would confer authority from the environmental protection agency to state implementation of the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program; and

     WHEREAS, the environmental protection agency encourages states to seek primacy, but New Mexico is one of only four states in the nation that do not have primacy under the federal Clean Water Act for issuing national pollutant discharge elimination system permits; and

     WHEREAS, on December 22, 2015, the environmental protection agency issued a watershed based permit for the middle Rio Grande, raising the specter that issuance of the permit was prompted at least in part because of the lack of state primacy in the matter; and

     WHEREAS, the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program is currently regulated and administered directly by the environmental protection agency, region 6, in Dallas, Texas; and

     WHEREAS, potential benefits of gaining primacy include the following:

          A. congress's preference for states to implement the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program;

          B. the constitution of New Mexico specifically states that the legislature shall provide for control of pollution and control of despoilment of the air, water and other natural resources of the state; 

          C. primacy represents regaining authoritative control of that process, and New Mexico is the only southwestern state not granted this authority by its legislature;

          D. the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program is the only federal environmental program for which state agencies do not have the authority to administer and manage a state's water resources; and

          E. a state program would place strong emphasis on compliance rather than enforcement and would foster better and more efficient consultation on program and permit issues than has occurred with the environmental protection agency;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the department of environment be requested to pursue primacy from the environmental protection agency for implementation and administration of the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the governor, the secretary of environment, the administrator of the environmental protection agency and the New Mexico congressional delegation.

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