A. No regulation or water quality standard or amendment or repeal thereof shall be adopted until after a public hearing.
B. Any person may petition in writing to have the commission adopt, amend or repeal a regulation or water quality standard. The commission shall determine whether to hold a hearing within ninety days of submission of the petition. The denial of such a petition shall not be subject to judicial review.
C. Hearings on regulations or water quality standards of statewide application shall be held in Santa Fe. Hearings on regulations or standards that are not of statewide application may be held within the area that is substantially affected by the regulation or standard. At least thirty days prior to the hearing date, notice of the hearing shall be published in the New Mexico register and a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected and mailed to all persons who have made a written request to the commission for advance notice of hearings and who have provided the commission with a mailing address. The notice shall state the subject, the time and the place of the hearing and the manner in which interested persons may present their views. The notice shall also state where interested persons may secure copies of any proposed regulation or water quality standard.
D. At the hearing, the commission shall allow all interested persons reasonable opportunity to submit data, views or arguments orally or in writing and to examine witnesses testifying at the hearing. The commission may designate a hearing officer to take evidence in the hearing. Any person heard or represented at the hearing shall be given written notice of the action of the commission.
E. No regulation or water quality standard or amendment or repeal thereof adopted by the commission shall become effective until thirty days after its filing in accordance with the provisions of the State Rules Act [Chapter 14, Article 4 NMSA 1978].
History: 1953 Comp., § 75-39-5, enacted by Laws 1967, ch. 190, § 5; 1982, ch. 73, § 26; 1993, ch. 291, § 6.
ANNOTATIONSCross references. — For filing with the supreme court law librarian, see 14-4-9 NMSA 1978.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, inserted "and standards" in the catchline; inserted the subsection designations; in Subsection A, deleted "within the area of the state concerned; provided that the commission may adopt water quality standards on the basis of the record of hearings held by the New Mexico department of public health prior to the effective date of the Water Quality Act if those hearings were held in general conformance with the provisions of this section" from the end; in Subsection B, substituted the language following "Any person may" for "recommend or propose regulations to the commission for promulgation"; in Subsection C, in the first sentence, inserted "or water quality standards" and made a minor stylistic change, added the second sentence, in the third sentence, added "At least thirty days prior to the hearing date" and substituted the language following "hearing shall be" for "given at least thirty days prior to the hearing date and", inserted "The notice" at the beginning of the fourth sentence and deleted the last two sentences, which read "The notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected. Reasonable effort shall be made to give notice to all persons who have made a written request to the commission for advance notice of its hearings"; and deleted the former second sentence of Subsection E, which read "The commission shall determine whether or not to hold a hearing within sixty days of submission of a proposed regulation."
This section sets forth notice and hearing requirements, which are the same for standards or regulations. Univ. of Cal. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 2004-NMCA-073, 136 N.M. 45, 94 P.3d 788.
Subsection D of this section requires commission to consider, among other things, the technical practicability and economic reasonableness of a regulation before adopting it. Univ. of Cal. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 2004-NMCA-073, 136 N.M. 45, 94 P.3d 788.
Distinction of standard and regulation. — A standard defines the amount of contaminant in the ambient water and a regulation defines the conduct necessary for an entity that discharges pollutants to comply with the standard. Univ. of Cal. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 2004-NMCA-073, 136 N.M. 45, 94 P.3d 788.
Statement of reasons for adopting regulations need not state why the commission adopted each individual provision of the standards or need not respond to all concerns raised in testimony as such a requirement would be unduly onerous for the commission and unnecessary for the purposes of appellate review. Univ. of Cal. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 2004-NMCA-073, 136 N.M. 45, 94 P.3d 788.
Authority of division to propose regulations and act as interested party at hearings. — In light of the fact that the legislature had seen fit to have the director of the environmental improvement division sit as a member of the commission, the division could propose regulations to the commission and then act as an interested party at the hearings. Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corp. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 1982-NMCA-015, 98 N.M. 240, 647 P.2d 873 (decided under prior law).
Adequacy of hearing. — Given the extensive nature of the public meetings and public hearing on the matter, with an opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses and with the prehearing disclosure of six references, the allegation of the concealment of the basic data on which standards for organic compounds in ground-water were based, was without merit. Tenneco Oil Co. v. N.M. Water Quality Control Comm'n, 1987-NMCA-153, 107 N.M. 469, 760 P.2d 161.
Law reviews. — For comment, "Control of Industrial Water Pollution in New Mexico," see 9 Nat. Resources J. 653 (1969).
For annual survey of New Mexico law relating to administrative law, see 13 N.M.L. Rev. 235 (1983).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 61A Am. Jur. 2d Pollution Control § 4.
39A C.J.S. Health and Environment §§ 138, 142.