New Mexico Statutes
Article 2 - Air Pollution
Section 74-2-12.1 - Civil penalty; representation of department or local authority; limitation of actions.

A. A person who violates a provision of the Air Quality Control Act or a regulation, permit condition or emergency order adopted or issued pursuant to that act may be assessed a civil penalty not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for each day during any portion of which a violation occurs.
B. A person who fails to comply with an administrative order issued pursuant to Section 74-2-12 NMSA 1978 may be assessed, pursuant to a court order, a civil penalty of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for each day of noncompliance with the order.
C. In an action to enforce the provisions of the Air Quality Control Act or an ordinance, regulation, permit condition or order, adopted, imposed or issued pursuant to that act:
(1) the department shall be represented by the attorney general;
(2) a local authority that is a municipality shall be represented by the attorney of the municipality; and
(3) a local authority that is a county shall be represented by the district attorney within whose judicial district the county lies.
D. No action for civil penalty shall be commenced more than five years from the date the violation was known by the department or the local agency.
History: 1978 Comp., § 74-2-12.1, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 20, § 15; 2001, ch. 133, § 4; 2006, ch. 61, § 2.
The 2006 amendment, effective May 17, 2006, added a new Subsection B to provide a penalty for failure to comply with an administrative order.
The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, inserted Subsection C.
Disposal penalty authorized. — An award that represented three times the costs that the department of environment incurred in contracting for removal of a pile of asbestos-containing debris, including a six percent gross receipts tax, was consistent with the penalties authorized by law. Espinosa v. Roswell Tower, Inc., 1996-NMCA-006, 121 N.M. 306, 910 P.2d 940.

Structure New Mexico Statutes