New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 6 - WATER QUALITY › Part 4 - STANDARDS FOR INTERSTATE AND INTRASTATE SURFACE WATERS › Section 20.6.4.8 - ANTIDEGRADATION POLICY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
Antidegradation Policy:
This
				antidegradation policy applies to all surface waters of the state.
(1) Existing uses, as defined in Paragraph
				(4) of Subsection E of
				20.6.4.7
				NMAC, and the level of water quality necessary to protect the existing uses
				shall be maintained and protected in all surface waters of the state.
(2) Where the quality of a surface water of
				the state exceeds levels necessary to support the propagation of fish,
				shellfish, and wildlife, and recreation in and on the water, that quality shall
				be maintained and protected unless the commission finds, after full
				satisfaction of the intergovernmental coordination and public participation
				provisions of the state's continuing planning process, that allowing lower
				water quality is necessary to accommodate important economic and social
				development in the area in which the water is located. In allowing such
				degradation or lower water quality, the state shall assure water quality
				adequate to protect existing uses fully. Further, the state shall assure that
				there shall be achieved the highest statutory and regulatory requirements for
				all new and existing point sources and all cost-effective and reasonable BMPs
				for nonpoint source control. Additionally, the state shall encourage the use of
				watershed planning as a further means to protect surface waters of the
				state.
(3) No degradation shall be
				allowed in waters designated by the commission as outstanding national resource
				waters (ONRWs), except as provided in Subparagraphs (a) through (e) of this
				paragraph and in Paragraph (4) of this Subsection A.
(a) After providing a minimum 30-day public
				review and comment period, the commission determines that allowing temporary
				and short-term degradation of water quality is necessary to accommodate public
				health or safety activities in the area in which the ONRW is located. Examples
				of public health or safety activities include but are not limited to
				replacement or repair of a water or sewer pipeline or a roadway bridge. In
				making its decision, the commission shall consider whether the activity will
				interfere with activities implemented to restore or maintain the chemical,
				physical or biological integrity of the water. In approving the activity, the
				commission shall require that:
(i) the
				degradation shall be limited to the shortest possible time and shall not exceed
				six months;
(ii) the degradation
				shall be minimized and controlled by best management practices or in accordance
				with permit requirements as appropriate; all practical means of minimizing the
				duration, magnitude, frequency and cumulative effects of such degradation shall
				be utilized;
(iii) the degradation
				shall not result in water quality lower than necessary to protect any existing
				use in the ONRW; and
(iv) the
				degradation shall not alter the essential character or special use that makes
				the water an ONRW.
(b)
				Prior to the commission making a determination, the department or appropriate
				oversight agency shall provide a written recommendation to the commission. If
				the commission approves the activity, the department or appropriate oversight
				agency shall oversee implementation of the activity.
(c) Where an emergency response action that
				may result in temporary and short-term degradation to an ONRW is necessary to
				mitigate an immediate threat to public health or safety, the emergency response
				action may proceed prior to providing notification required by Subparagraph (a)
				of this paragraph in accordance with the following:
(i) only actions that mitigate an immediate
				threat to public health or safety may be undertaken pursuant to this provision;
				non-emergency portions of the action shall comply with the requirements of
				Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph;
(ii) the discharger shall make best efforts
				to comply with requirements (i) through (iv) of Subparagraph (a) of this
				paragraph;
(iii) the discharger
				shall notify the department of the emergency response action in writing within
				seven days of initiation of the action;
(iv) within 30 days of initiation of the
				emergency response action, the discharger shall provide a summary of the action
				taken, including all actions taken to comply with requirements (i) through (iv)
				of Subparagraph (a) of this paragraph.
(d) Preexisting land-use activities,
				including grazing, allowed by federal or state law prior to designation as an
				ONRW, and controlled by best management practices (BMPs), shall be allowed to
				continue so long as there are no new or increased discharges resulting from the
				activity after designation of the ONRW.
(e) Acequia operation, maintenance, and
				repairs are not subject to new requirements because of ONRW designation.
				However, the use of BMPs to minimize or eliminate the introduction of
				pollutants into receiving waters is strongly encouraged.
(4) This antidegradation policy does not
				prohibit activities that may result in degradation in surface waters of the
				state when such activities will result in restoration or maintenance of the
				chemical, physical or biological integrity of the water.
(a) For ONRWs, the department or appropriate
				oversight agency shall review on a case-by-case basis discharges that may
				result in degradation from restoration or maintenance activities, and may
				approve such activities in accordance with the following:
(i) the degradation shall be limited to the
				shortest possible time;
(ii) the
				degradation shall be minimized and controlled by best management practices or
				in accordance with permit requirements as appropriate, and all practical means
				of minimizing the duration, magnitude, frequency and cumulative effects of such
				degradation shall be utilized;
(iii) the degradation shall not result in
				water quality lower than necessary to protect any existing use of the surface
				water; and
(iv) the degradation
				shall not alter the essential character or special use that makes the water an
				ONRW.
(b) For surface
				waters of the state other than ONRWs, the department shall review on a
				case-by-case basis discharges that may result in degradation from restoration
				or maintenance activities, and may approve such activities in accordance with
				the following:
(i) the degradation shall be
				limited to the shortest possible time;
(ii) the degradation shall be minimized and
				controlled by best management practices or in accordance with permit
				requirements as appropriate, and all practical means of minimizing the
				duration, magnitude, frequency and cumulative effects of such degradation shall
				be utilized; and
(iii) the
				degradation shall not result in water quality lower than necessary to protect
				any existing use of the surface water.
(5) In those cases where potential water
				quality impairment associated with a thermal discharge is involved, this
				antidegradation policy and implementing method shall be consistent with Section
				316 of the federal Clean Water Act.
(6) In implementing this section, the
				commission through the appropriate regional offices of the United States
				environmental protection agency will keep the administrator advised and
				provided with such information concerning the surface waters of the state as he
				or she will need to discharge his or her responsibilities under the federal
				Clean Water Act.