2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 70 - Oil and Gas › Article 5 - Liquefied and Compressed Gases › Section 70-5-6 - License; exceptions.

A. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in this state in the manufacturing, assembling, repairing, selling or installing of containers or appliances or of equipment for CNG attached or to be attached to motor vehicles to be used with LP gases as a fuel, nor shall any person, firm or corporation engage in the manufacture, sale, transportation, dispensing or storage of LP gases within this state, except where stored by the ultimate consumer for consumption only, without having first obtained from the bureau a license to do so for each main and branch office or business operated within the state pursuant to the LPG and CNG Act [this article]. No license shall be issued until the bureau has determined that the applicant meets all safety requirements provided for in that act and required by the rules and regulations of the commission and the bureau finds that the applicant is fit and able to perform the work for which a license is requested. Provided that household appliances and any other appliance, container or equipment being fed from a reservoir less than five pounds shall not be subject to the LPG and CNG Act. Provided, further, that retail sale of LP gas appliances, including factory installed LP gas appliances and equipment on campers, mobile homes and recreational vehicles, shall be exempt from this section.
B. When LP gas or CNG is to be the source of fuel, the installation of piping, appliances and equipment shall be made by installers qualified by the bureau. Property-owner installed systems, when certified by qualified installers or inspectors of the bureau, are exempt from the provisions of this subsection.
History:
1941 Comp., § 71-808, enacted by Laws 1947, ch. 214, § 5; 1949, ch. 122, § 1; 1953 Comp., § 65-7-5; Laws 1955, ch. 97, § 3; 1973, ch. 362, § 6; 1977, ch. 245, § 128; 1989, ch. 6, § 54; 1993, ch. 186, § 6.
ANNOTATIONS
The 1993 amendment,
effective July 1, 1993, in Subsection A, inserted "or of equipment for CNG attached or to be attached to motor vehicles" and "and CNG" in the first sentence, and "and CNG" in the third sentence; and inserted "or CNG" in the first sentence of Subsection B.
The 1989 amendment,
effective July 1, 1989, in Subsection A, made minor stylistic changes in the first and second sentences and substituted "commission" for "committee" in the second sentence.
Licensing requirements.
— Any dealer who sells motor vehicles equipped with liquefied petroleum fuel tanks and carburetion assemblies for purpose of utilizing liquefied petroleum gas as a motor fuel is subject to licensing by liquefied petroleum commission (now liquefied petroleum gas bureau). 1957 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 57-157.
Legislature intended that all licensees were to file evidence of financial responsibility with the commission (now liquefied petroleum gas bureau) irrespective of whether they were old or new licensees. Therefore, there is no reason why licensees who have secured their license under the old act should not be required to immediately comply with the new act. 1955 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 55-6260.
Since the purpose of this section is to place close supervision over places where LP gas is handled, a corporation which with its principal office in Clovis, maintains an employee at Vaughn for purpose of distributing LP gas in Vaughn area from gas stored there, must obtain license for Vaughn office. 1949 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 49-5246.
Regulation by public service commission.
— Public service commission has authority to require licensees to inspect liquefied gas systems as a condition to their servicing and to require licensees to report unsafe conditions found to the end that such systems may be tagged and not used until made safe. 1951 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 51-5384 (rendered under prior law).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 38A C.J.S. Gas § 20.