New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 6 - WATER QUALITY › Part 2 - GROUND AND SURFACE WATER PROTECTION › Section 20.6.2.3109 - SECRETARY APPROVAL, DISAPPROVAL, MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION OF DISCHARGE PERMITS, AND REQUIREMENT FOR ABATEMENT PLANS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. The department shall evaluate the
				application for a discharge permit, modification or renewal based on
				information contained in the department's administrative record. The department
				may request from the discharger, either before or after the issuance of any
				public notice, additional information necessary for the evaluation of the
				application. The administrative record shall consist of the application, any
				additional information required by the department, any information submitted by
				the discharger or the general public, other information considered by the
				department, the proposed approval or disapproval of an application for a
				discharge permit, modification or renewal prepared pursuant to Subsection H of
				20.6.2.3108
				NMAC, and, if a public hearing is held, all of the documents filed with the
				hearing clerk, all exhibits offered into evidence at the hearing, the written
				transcript or tape recording of the hearing, any hearing officer report, and
				any post hearing submissions.
B.
				The secretary shall, within 30 days after the administrative record is complete
				and all required information is available, approve, approve with conditions or
				disapprove the proposed discharge permit, modification or renewal based on the
				administrative record. The Secretary shall issue a response to comments which
				shall specify which provisions, if any, in the draft permit were changed and
				the reasons for the change, and shall briefly describe and respond to all
				significant comments on the draft permit raised during the public comment
				period or at any hearing. The secretary shall notify the applicant or permittee
				by certified mail of the action taken and the reasons for such action and shall
				include a copy of the response to comments. Notice shall also be given by mail
				or email to persons who participated in the permitting action.
C. Provided that the other requirements of
				this part are met and the proposed discharge plan, modification or renewal
				demonstrates that neither a hazard to public health nor undue risk to property
				will result, the secretary shall approve the proposed discharge plan,
				modification or renewal if the following requirements are met:
(1) ground water that has a TDS concentration
				of 10,000 mg/l or less will not be affected by the discharge; or
(2) the person proposing to discharge
				demonstrates that approval of the proposed discharge plan, modification or
				renewal will not result in either concentrations in excess of the standards of
				20.6.2.3103
				NMAC at any place of withdrawal of water for present or reasonably foreseeable
				future use, except for contaminants in the water diverted as provided in
				Subsection E of
				20.6.2.3109
				NMAC; or
(3) the proposed discharge
				plan conforms to either Subparagraph (a) or (b) below and Subparagraph (c)
				below:
(a) municipal, other domestic
				discharges, and discharges from sewerage systems handling only animal wastes:
				the effluent is entirely domestic, is entirely from a sewerage system handling
				only animal wastes or is from a municipality and conforms to the following:
(i) the discharge is from an impoundment or a
				leach field existing on February 18, 1977 which receives less than 10,000
				gallons per day and the secretary has not found that the discharge may cause a
				hazard to public health; or
(ii)
				the discharger has demonstrated that the total nitrogen in effluent that enters
				the subsurface from a leach field or surface impoundment will not exceed 200
				pounds per acre per year and that the effluent will meet the standards of
				20.6.2.3103
				NMAC except for nitrates and except for contaminants in the water diverted as
				provided in Subsection E of
				20.6.2.3109
				NMAC; or
(iii) the total nitrogen
				in effluent that is applied to a crop which is harvested shall not exceed by
				more than 25 percent the maximum amount of nitrogen reasonably expected to be
				taken up by the crop and the effluent shall meet the standards of
				20.6.2.3103
				NMAC except for nitrates and except for contaminants in the water diverted as
				provided in Subsection E of
				20.6.2.3109
				NMAC;
(b) discharges
				from industrial, mining or manufacturing operations:
(i) the discharger has demonstrated that the
				amount of effluent that enters the subsurface from a surface impoundment will
				not exceed 0.5 acre-feet per acre per year; or
(ii) the discharger has demonstrated that the
				total nitrogen in effluent that enters the subsurface from a leach field or
				surface impoundment shall not exceed 200 pounds per acre per year and the
				effluent shall meet the standards of
				20.6.2.3103
				NMAC except for nitrate and contaminants in the water diverted as provided in
				Subsection E of
				20.6.2.3109
				NMAC; or
(iii) the total nitrogen
				in effluent that is applied to a crop that is harvested shall not exceed by
				more than 25 percent the maximum amount of nitrogen reasonably expected to be
				taken up by the crop and the effluent shall meet the standards of
				20.6.2.3103
				NMAC except for nitrate and contaminants in the water diverted as provided in
				Subsection D of
				20.6.2.3109
				NMAC;
(c) all
				discharges:
(i) the monitoring system
				proposed in the discharge plan includes adequate provision for sampling of
				effluent and adequate flow monitoring so that the amount being discharged onto
				or below the surface of the ground can be determined;
(ii) the monitoring data is reported to the
				secretary at a frequency determined by the secretary.