A. An advisory committee to be known as the "storage tank committee" is created. It shall consist of seven members:
(1) the secretary or his designee; and
(2) six members to be appointed by and to serve at the pleasure of the governor and to be chosen from the following groups, with no more than one member from each group:
(a) fire protection districts;
(b) elected local government officials;
(c) wholesalers of motor fuels;
(d) independent retailers of motor fuels;
(e) individuals knowledgeable about corrective actions in connection with leaking storage tanks; and
(f) private citizens or interest groups.
B. Except for the initial terms of the members, the term of the appointed members shall be three years. For the purpose of staggering subsequent appointments, the initial terms of the six appointed members shall be: two for one year; two for two years; and two for three years. Members shall serve until their successors are appointed. Vacancies occurring in the membership of an appointed member shall be filled by the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term.
C. The committee may:
(1) recommend proposed rules to the board or the secretary;
(2) establish procedures, practices and policies governing the committee's activities;
(3) review corrective actions of the department and submit comments to the secretary; and
(4) review payments from the corrective action fund and submit its comments on the payments to the secretary, except payments made pursuant to Section 74-6B-13 NMSA 1978.
D. Members of the committee shall receive reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to the Per Diem and Mileage Act [10-8-1 to 10-8-8 NMSA 1978] and shall receive no other compensation, perquisite or allowance. Expenditures for this purpose shall be made from the storage tank fund.
History: Laws 1990, ch. 124, § 4; 1992, ch. 64, § 3; 2001, ch. 325, § 14.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, deleted "underground" preceding "storage tank" and "storage tanks" throughout the section; in Subsection C, substituted "may" for "shall and is authorized to" following "committee", deleted "proposed" preceding "corrective actions" in Paragraph C(3) and preceding "payments" twice in Paragraph C(4); and made stylistic changes.
The 1992 amendment, effective March 9, 1992, substituted "secretary" for "director of the division" in Subsection A(1); substituted "successors are" for "successor is" in the last sentence of Subsection B; substituted "board or the secretary" for "environmental improvement board" in Subsection C(1); substituted "department" for "division" and "secretary" for "director of the division" in Subsection C(3); and substituted "secretary except payments made pursuant to Section 74-6B-13 NMSA 1978" for "director of the division" in Subsection C(4).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — State and local government control of pollution from underground storage tanks, 11 A.L.R.5th 388.