New Mexico Environment Department operates under a variety of state statutes, rules and federal regulations.
Laws and statutes are enforceable legal standards passed by New Mexico Legislature and sign by the governor, or passed by the United States Congress and signed by the President of the United States.
Rules are adopted by state agencies or governing boards which prescribe additional legal standards.
New Mexico Environment Department also operates under policies and guidance documents. These are not enforceable, but lay the foundation for how our programs carry out their responsibilities.
State Rules
Rules are a category of law written by state agencies to support, clarify, or implement statutes enacted by the Legislature. They are subordinate to statutes and must work within the framework established by statute. They originate within federal and state agencies rather than a legislative body. These rules help place the law into effect; laws may provide a framework, and rules fill in the necessary details.
State law allows the New Mexico Environment Department, the Environmental Improvement Board, and/or the Water Quality Control Commission to create detailed standards of environmental protection. Rules proposed are reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary, the Environmental Improvement Board, or the Water Quality Control Commission.
Rules are compiled in New Mexico Administrative Code and actions contrary to them are illegal.
The rules that govern the New Mexico Environment Department are:
New Mexico Administrative Code
- Air Quality
- Air Quality (Statewide): 20.2.1-20.2.350
- Drinking Water
- Food Safety
- Food Service and Food Processing: 7.6.2
- Groundwater
- Ground and Surface Water Protection: 20.6.2
- Voluntary Remediation Program: 20.6.3
- Supplemental Permitting Requirements for Dairy Facilities: 20.6.6
- Supplemental Permitting Requirements for Copper Mine Facilities: 20.6.7
- Hazardous Waste
- Hazardous Waste Management: 20.4.1
- Hazardous Waste Fees: 20.4.2
- Annual Hazardous Waste Fees: 20.4.3
- Clandestine Drug Laboratory Remediation: 20.4.5
- Nuisance Abatement
- Mosquito Abatement and Control: 20.8.2
- Petroleum Storage Tanks
- Petroleum Storage Tank Regulations: 20.5.101-20.5.125
- Procedures
- Rulemaking Procedures – Environmental Improvement Board: 20.1.1
- Adjudicatory Procedures – Environmental Improvement Board: 20.1.2
- Adjudicatory Procedures – Water Quality Control Commission: 20.1.3
- Permit Procedures: 20.1.4
- Adjudicatory Procedures: 20.1.5
- Parental Responsibility Act Compliance: 20.1.7
- Regulatory Change Procedures: 20.1.9
- Public Swimming Pools
- Public Swimming Pools and Public Baths: 7.18.1
- Radiation Protection
- Radiation Licensing: 20.3.3
- Radiologic Technology Certification: 20.3.20
- Sanitary Projects
- Board of Director Training Requirements: 20.12.2
- Septic Tanks: See Wastewater
- Solid Waste (Landfills)
- 2007 Solid Waste Rules: 20.9.2-20.9.10
- Tire Recycling: 20.9.2
- Facility Grant Fund: 20.9.3
- Solid Waste Plan: 20.9.4
- Surface Water
- Ground and Surface Water Protection: 20.6.2
- Standards for Interstate and Intrastate Streams: 20.6.4
- Utility Operator Certification: 20.7.4
- Wastewater
- Liquid Waste Disposal: 20.7.3
- Liquid Waste Treatment and Disposal Fees: 20.7.11
- Worker Safety
- General Provisions: 11.5.1
- General Industry: 11.5.2
- Construction Industry: 11.5.3
- Agriculture: 11.5.4
- Review Commission Procedures: 11.5.5
- Convenience Stores: 11.5.6
State Civil Penalty Policies
State Statutes
Laws become statutes when entered into the New Mexico Statutes Annotated publications.
The state statutes relating to the department’s responsibilities are found in the following Chapters:
- 1978, §9-7A-6: Executive Department, Department of Environment
- 1978, §§ 25-1-1 to -15: Food Service Sanitation Act
- 1978, §§ 25-2-1 to -20: Adulterated or Misbranded Food Act
- 1978, §50-9-19: Occupational Health and Safety Act
- 1978, §§61-14E-1 to 12: Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy, Health and Safety Act
- 1978, §§ 61-33-1 to -10: Utility Operators Act
- 1978, §74-1-1 to -17: Environmental Improvement Act
- 1978, §74-1-6: Department Powers
- 1978, §74-1-13: Water Conservation Fee; Imposition; Definitions
- 1978, §§74-3-1 to 16: Radiation Protection Act
- 1978, §74-4-1 to -14: Hazardous Waste Act
- 1978, §74-4A-1 to -16: Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Act
- 1978, §74-4B-1 to -14: Emergency Management Act
- 1978, §74-4C-1 to -4: Hazardous Waste Feasibility Study Act
- 1978, §74-4E-1 to -9: Hazardous Chemicals Information Act
- 1978, §74-6-1 to -17: Water Quality Act
- 1978, §74-6A-1 to -15: Wastewater Facility Construction Loan Act
- 1978, §74-6B-1 to -14: Ground Water Protection Act
- 1978, §74-6-2 to -17: Environmental Improvement Act
- 1978, §74-7-1 to -8: Environmental Compliance Act
- 1978, §74-8-1 to -3: Solid Waste Incineration
- 1978, §74-9-1 to -43: Solid Waste Act
- 1978, §74-10-1 to -100: Solid Waste Authority Act
- 1978, §74-13-1 to -20: Recycling and Illegal Dumping Act
- 1978, §74-13A-1: Petroleum Products Loading Fee Act
- 1978, §75-1-1 to -6: Rural Infrastructure Act
- 1978, §§ 70-13-1 to-5: Produced Water Act
- 1978, §§ 76, Article 24: Hemp Manufacturing Act
- 1978, §§ 76-24-1 to -10: Emergency Hemp Rule
Federal Regulations and Statutes
New Mexico is also governed by some federal regulations, which may be administered by the state or by federal entities:
- Code of Federal Regulations Title 40: Protection of the Environment
- Primary Drinking Water Regulations – 40 CFR 141
- Secondary Drinking Water Regulations – 40 CFR 143
- Solid Waste Regulations – 40 CFR 239-299
- Code of Federal Regulations Title 10: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- United States Code
- Clean Water Act – 33 USC 1251
- Clean Air Act – 42 USC 7401
- Oil Pollution Act – 33 USC 2701
- Resource Conservation & Recovery Act – 42 USC 6901
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund) – 42 USC 9601
- Safe Drinking Water Act – 42 USC 300
- Wild and Scenic Rivers Act – 16 USC 1271
Federal Primacy / Federal Delegation Agreements
- Air Quality Programs
- 1996 – 61 Federal Register 60032 – Final Title V Approval
- 2004 – 69 Federal Register 54244 – Update Title V Approval
- 2020 – 08518 Federal Register State Implementation Plan Approval
- 2018 – 19801 Federal Register New Source Performance Standards National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants Delegation Update
- Construction Programs
- Drinking Water Programs
- Hazardous Waste Programs
- Petroleum Storage Tank Programs
- Radiation Control Programs
- Superfunds
