NM Stat § 74-4-4.4 (2021)
2021 New Mexico Statutes|Chapter 74 - Environmental Improvement|Article 4 - Hazardous Wastes|Section 74-4-4.4 - Storage tanks; registration; installer certification; tester certification; fees.

A. By rule, the board shall require an owner of a storage tank to register the tank with the department and impose reasonable conditions for registration, including the submission of plans, specifications and other relevant information relating to the tank. For purposes of this subsection only, the term "owner" means: in the case of a storage tank in use on November 8, 1984 or brought into use after that date, any person who owns the storage tank; and in the case of a storage tank in use before November 8, 1984 but no longer in use on that date, any person who owned the tank immediately before the discontinuation of its use. The owner of a tank taken out of operation on or before January 1, 1974 shall not be required to notify under this subsection. The owner of a tank taken out of operation after January 1, 1974 and removed from the ground prior to November 8, 1984 shall not be required to notify under this subsection. Evidence of current registration pursuant to this subsection shall be available for inspection at the site of the storage tank. B. By rule, the board shall require any person who, beginning thirty days after the United States environmental protection agency administrator prescribes the form of notice pursuant to Section 9002(a)(5) of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and for eighteen months thereafter, deposits a regulated substance into a storage tank to give notice of the registration requirements of Subsection A of this section to the owner and operator of the tank. C. By rule, the board may require tank installers and tank testers to obtain certification from the department and develop procedures for certification that will ensure that storage tanks are installed, repaired and tested in a manner that will not encourage or facilitate leaking. If the board requires certification, it is unlawful for a person to install, repair or test a storage tank unless the person is a certified tank installer or certified tank tester. In accordance with the Uniform Licensing Act [61-1-1 to 61-1-31 NMSA 1978], the department may suspend or revoke the certification for a tank installer or tank tester upon grounds that the person: (1) exercised fraud, misrepresentation or deception in obtaining certification; (2) exhibited gross incompetence in the installation, repair or testing of a storage tank; or (3) was derelict in the performance of a duty as a certified tank installer or certified tank tester. D. By rule, the board shall provide a schedule of fees sufficient to defray the reasonable and necessary costs of: (1) reviewing and acting upon applications for the registration of storage tanks; (2) reviewing and acting upon applications for the certification of tank installers and certification of tank testers; and (3) implementing and enforcing any provision of the Hazardous Waste Act applicable to storage tanks, tank installers and tank testers, including standards for the installation, operation and maintenance of storage tanks and for the certification of tank installers and tank testers. History: 1978 Comp., § 74-4-4.4, enacted by Laws 1987, ch. 179, § 6; 1989, ch. 322, § 6; 2001, ch. 325, § 5; 2018, ch. 11, § 2. ANNOTATIONSCross references. — For hazardous waste emergency fund, see 74-4-8 NMSA 1978. For Section 9002(a)(5) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 6991a(a)(5). The 2018 amendment, effective May 16, 2018, authorized the environmental improvement board to require tank testers to obtain certification from the department of environment and develop procedures for certification that will ensure that storage tanks are tested in a manner that will not encourage or facilitate leaking, and, if such certification is required, made it unlawful to test a storage tank unless the tester is a certified tank tester, established grounds upon which a certified tank tester could lose his or her certification, and authorized the environmental improvement board to set fees sufficient to defray the costs of reviewing and acting upon applications for the certification of tank testers and the costs of implementing and enforcing provisions of the Hazardous Waste Act applicable to tank testers; in the catchline, added "tester certification"; in Subsection B, after "Section 9002(a)(5) of the", added "federal"; in Subsection C, in the introductory paragraph, after "tank installers", added "and tank testers", after "repaired", added "and tested", after "install", deleted "or", after "repair", added "or test", after "certified tank installer", added "or certified tank tester", and after "certification for a tank installer", added "or tank tester", in Paragraph C(2), after "installation", deleted "or", and after "repair", added "or testing", and in Paragraph C(3), after "installer", added "or certified tank tester"; in Subsection D, Paragraph D(2), after "tank installers", added "and certification of tank testers", and in Paragraph D(3), after "to storage tanks", deleted "and", after each occurrence of "tank installers", added "and tank testers". The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, deleted "underground" preceding "storage tank" and "storage tanks" throughout the section; substituted "department" for "division" throughout the section; deleted "used for storage, use, or dispensing of regulated substances" preceding "and in the case of" in the second sentence of Subsection A; and made stylistic changes.