HB 269

Page 1

AN ACT

RELATING TO THE CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; ENACTING

THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TESTING SITE ACT; PROVIDING FOR

THE APPROVAL OF AREAS TO BE USED FOR NONINDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

AND TESTING DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE CONSUMPTION OF AND

DEPENDENCE ON NATURAL RESOURCES BY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT;

PROVIDING THAT SPECIFIED COUNTY CODES, ORDINANCES, RULES AND

PERMITS ARE NOT APPLICABLE TO CERTAIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

WITHIN AN APPROVED AREA.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. SHORT TITLE.--This act may be cited as the

"Sustainable Development Testing Site Act".

Section 2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Sustainable

Development Testing Site Act:

A. "permittee" means a person who holds a testing

site permit;

B. "planning commission" means a county planning

commission appointed pursuant to Section 4-57-1 NMSA 1978;

provided that, if no county planning commission has been

appointed pursuant to that section, "planning commission"

means the board of county commissioners;

C. "sustainable development" means a live-in

environment composed of structures and systems that inherently

produce utilities and life-support systems free of existing

HB 269

Page 2

conventional grids and disposal systems. "Sustainable

development" includes:

(1) the inherent provision of on-site energy

needs via renewable resources;

(2) the inherent provision of water needs

while minimizing the withdrawals from ground water and surface

water systems in accordance with state water law and the rules

and policies of the state engineer;

(3) the inherent provision of sewage

treatment needs with zero discharge;

(4) the reuse of materials discarded by

modern society; and

(5) the development of organic foods and

fuel;

D. "sustainable development research" means

activities conducted at a sustainable development testing site

that test ideas, concepts or inventions designed to lead

ultimately to sustainable development;

E. "sustainable development testing site" means an

area that is:

(1) two acres or less in size;

(2) situated wholly outside the planning and

platting jurisdiction of a municipality; and

(3) subject to a testing site permit and

existing federal laws and regulations; and

HB 269

Page 3

F. "testing site permit" means a permit, issued by

a planning commission, that designates an area as a

sustainable development testing site and specifies:

(1) the sustainable development research

that can be conducted within the site by the permittee; and

(2) the county codes, ordinances, rules or

permits that are not applicable to the permittee and the

research.

Section 3. APPLICATION FOR TESTING SITE PERMIT--

EVALUATION--NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING.--

A. A person desiring a testing site permit shall

submit an application to the planning commission for the

county in which the proposed sustainable development testing

site is located. The application shall include:

(1) a detailed description of the

sustainable development research that will be conducted on the

sustainable development testing site, including an explanation

of the ideas, concepts and inventions that will be tested;

(2) a schematic layout of the sustainable

development testing site;

(3) the number of inhabitants and employees

that are expected to occupy the sustainable development

testing site;

(4) a water budget detailing the anticipated

indoor and outdoor water use for the sustainable development

HB 269

Page 4

testing site;

(5) an assessment of the county codes,

ordinances, rules or permits relating to construction or

building requirements, occupancy, zoning or subdivisions that

are not practicable for the specific sustainable development

testing site and that may inhibit the proposed sustainable

development research and an explanation of how the sustainable

development testing site will not be damaged if the proposed

sustainable development research at the site is allowed;

(6) an application fee, set by the planning

commission, equal to the estimated costs of evaluating the

application, holding the public hearing and administering the

permit;

(7) other information as may be required by

rules adopted pursuant to Section 8 of the Sustainable

Development Testing Site Act or by rule of the planning

commission or ordinance of the county; and

(8) copies of all required state permits,

including the approval of the wastewater treatment and

disposal technology on an experimental basis.

B. Upon receipt of a complete application, the

planning commission shall:

(1) forward a copy of the application to the

office of the state engineer and to the department of

environment;

HB 269

Page 5

(2) set a date for a public hearing on the

application; and

(3) publish in a newspaper of general

circulation in the county an announcement of its receipt of

the application, a notice of the public hearing and

information concerning where an interested person can obtain a

copy of the application.

C. The department of environment and the office of

the state engineer shall, prior to the hearing, evaluate the

application and the proposed sustainable development research

to be performed at the proposed sustainable development

testing site and submit comments to the planning commission.

Section 4. APPLICATION FOR TESTING SITE PERMIT--PUBLIC

HEARING--DECISION.--

A. At the public hearing for a testing site permit

application pursuant to Section 3 of the Sustainable

Development Testing Site Act, the planning commission shall

hear comments from all interested persons, federal, state or

local agencies and, if appropriate, responses from the

applicant.

B. Following the hearing, the planning commission

shall, in writing, make its decision. The planning commission

may issue a testing site permit if:

(1) the state engineer and the department of

environment have determined that the sustainable development

HB 269

Page 6

testing site or sustainable development research proposed to

be conducted at the site will not damage land, water or air

adjacent to the site or will not permanently damage the area

of the site;

(2) no existing county codes, ordinances,

rules or permits, other than those identified in the permit,

will be violated by the proposed sustainable development

research at the sustainable development testing site;

(3) the applicant has complied with rules

adopted pursuant to Section 8 of the Sustainable Development

Testing Site Act;

(4) the proposed sustainable development

research at the sustainable development testing site is

beneficial to sustainable development;

(5) the sustainable development testing site

and proposed sustainable development research are otherwise

beneficial to the county and to the state; and

(6) the applicant has provided a cash bond,

an irrevocable letter of credit or any other surety, including

insurance, satisfactory to the planning commission, in the

amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), to secure

payment for damage caused by the sustainable development

testing site.

C. A testing site permit shall include:

(1) the specific sustainable development

HB 269

Page 7

research that may be conducted at the sustainable development

testing site;

(2) the maximum number of structures that

may be constructed;

(3) the maximum number of individuals that

may inhabit the sustainable development testing site;

(4) the specific county codes, ordinances,

rules and permits relating to construction or building

requirements, occupancy, zoning or subdivisions otherwise

applicable to the permittee and the permittee's sustainable

development research on the sustainable development testing

site but that do not apply to the permittee and research

conducted pursuant to the permit; and

(5) other restrictions on the sustainable

development testing site and the permittee's activities as

required by rules adopted pursuant to Section 8 of the

Sustainable Development Testing Site Act or as determined by

the planning commission.

D. For each testing site permit issued, the board

of county commissioners shall designate a nonelected member of

the planning commission or a member of the planning

commission's staff to monitor the activities conducted

pursuant to the permit, share information with appropriate

state agencies and represent the county in interpreting the

terms and conditions of the permit. The designee or a

HB 269

Page 8

successor shall serve during the life of the permit and any

renewal thereof.

E. The permit shall be filed and recorded in the

records of the county clerk for the county in which the

sustainable development testing site is located in the same

manner as deeds of real estate are filed and recorded.

F. A testing site permit shall be issued for a

term specified by the planning commission, not to exceed five

years, subject to renewal for a second five-year period with

no renewal after the second five-year period.

Section 5. TESTING SITE PERMIT--EFFECT.--As long as a

testing site permit is in effect:

A. the permittee, when conducting sustainable

development research that is specified in the testing site

permit, shall comply with all applicable laws and rules except

those county codes, ordinances, rules or permits specified in

the permit as inapplicable to the permittee and the research;

B. nothing in the Sustainable Development Testing

Site Act or the testing site permit shall be deemed to allow

the permittee to appropriate or otherwise use underground or

surface water without first obtaining a water rights permit or

approval from the state engineer. New appropriations of water

and water rights transfers shall in no event be exempted from

state water law and the rules of the state engineer;

C. employees and agents of the state or the county

HB 269

Page 9

may, at all reasonable times, enter the sustainable

development testing site for the purpose of inspecting the

site and activities conducted on the site to ensure that

conditions specified in the testing site permit are being met;

D. the permittee shall annually, no later than the

anniversary date of the testing site permit, submit a report

to the planning commission, the department of environment, the

state engineer, the energy, minerals and natural resources

department and the construction industries division of the

regulation and licensing department describing the sustainable

development research conducted during the preceding twelve

months and summarizing the results. The report shall also

include all required monitoring data for soil, water,

including water quality and quantity, and air. All

information contained in the report and all other information

learned from activities pursuant to the testing site permit

shall be made available to the public;

E. the planning commission may revoke the testing

site permit if it finds, after a public hearing, that:

(1) the permittee has violated a testing

site permit provision, a provision of the Sustainable

Development Testing Site Act or a rule adopted pursuant to

Section 8 of that act; or

(2) the sustainable development testing site

has not complied with a permit provision, ordinance, rule,

HB 269

Page 10

regulatory policy or other associated administrative action of

the state engineer, the department of environment or another

state or federal agency; and

F. a permittee may apply to have a testing site

permit amended by submitting a new application pursuant to

Section 3 of the Sustainable Development Testing Site Act;

provided that, if the planning commission determines that the

proposed amendment will not substantially alter the

sustainable development research or other activities conducted

at the sustainable development testing site, it may waive the

requirements of that section for notice and public hearing.

Section 6. EXPIRATION OF TESTING SITE PERMITS.--Upon

the expiration of the term of a testing site permit or any

renewal thereof:

A. all activities within the area of the

sustainable development testing site shall comply with all

applicable laws, ordinances or rules, including permitting

requirements; and

B. the permittee may provide the wastewater

treatment and disposal technologies to the wastewater

technical advisory committee for review and, if appropriate,

for listing by the department of environment as approved for

use.

Section 7. SALE OF LAND WITHIN A SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT TESTING SITE.--Land within a sustainable

development testing site shall not be sold in whole or in part

unless:

A. the subsequent owner obtains a testing site

permit pursuant to the provisions of the Sustainable

Development Testing Site Act; or

B. the owner or subsequent owner enters into an

agreement with the planning commission to bring the land and

improvements within the sustainable development testing site

into compliance with all county codes, ordinances, rules or

permits that would be applicable to the site in the absence of

a testing site permit.

Section 8. PROMULGATION OF RULES.--A county or planning

commission may define a new category of rules applicable to

sustainable development testing sites and promulgate rules for

the category. A county or a planning commission may also

promulgate rules or permit conditions applicable to a specific

sustainable development testing site.

Section 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the

provisions of this act is July 1, 2007.

HB 269

Page 11