A. Seventy-five percent of light duty vehicles acquired in fiscal year 2003 and each fiscal year thereafter by the agencies and departments of state government and educational institutions shall be vehicles that:

(1) meet or exceed the corporate average fuel economy standards for vehicles issued by the national highway transportation safety administration of the United States department of transportation;

(2) are hybrid vehicles;

(3) are capable of operating on alternative fuel with either bi-fuel capability or dedicated engine configurations; or

(4) are plug-in electric vehicles.

B. Certified law enforcement pursuit vehicles and emergency light duty vehicles are exempt from the provisions of the Alternative Fuel Acquisition Act. The department may exempt additional light duty vehicles from the requirements of Subsection A of this section upon demonstration by the acquiring entity that:

(1) a vehicle that meets the corporate average fuel economy standards is not suitable for its intended use or is unavailable from an original vehicle manufacturer;

(2) alternative fuels are unavailable at a cost within fifteen percent of the cost of conventional fuel within the normal driving range of these vehicles; or

(3) a vehicle suitable for its intended use and capable of operating on alternative fuel or a gas-electric hybrid is not available from an original equipment manufacturer.

C. Equipment and installation procedures shall conform to all applicable state and federal safety and environmental regulations and standards.

D. The agencies and departments of state government, political subdivisions and educational institutions may submit loan applications to the department to acquire loans to facilitate the acquisition of their vehicles.

E. Agencies and departments of state government and educational institutions shall provide to the department by September 1, 2003 and by September 1 of each year thereafter the total number of light duty vehicles acquired in the preceding fiscal year and the number of those light duty vehicles that meet the requirements of Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section and the make, model, fuel or power type of and corporate average fuel economy rating for each of those vehicles.

History: Laws 1992, ch. 58, § 3; 1994, ch. 130, § 2; 1995, ch. 160, § 2; 2002, ch. 32, § 4; 2009, ch. 110, § 1; 2018, ch. 53, § 2.

Cross references. — For provision requiring public acquisition of American-made motor vehicles, with gas-electric hybrid exception, see 13-1-188 NMSA 1978.

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, revised the weight of vehicles that state agencies, departments of state government, and educational institutions may purchase pursuant to this section, and revised the weight of certain vehicles that are exempt from the provisions of the Alternative Fuel Acquisition Act; in Subsection A, after "Seventy-five percent of", added "light duty"; in Subsection B, after "emergency", added "light duty", and after "exempt additional", added "light duty"; and in Subsection E, after "total number of", added "light duty", and after "the number of those", added "light duty".

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection A, after "vehicles that" deleted "are capable of operating on alternative fuel or", added Paragraph (1), in Paragraph (2) deleted "gas-electric" before "hybrid vehicles", and added Paragraph (4); in Subsection B, added Paragraph (1); and in Subsection E, after "those vehicles that" deleted "are capable of operating on alternative fuel or that are gas-electric hybrid vehicles" and added "meet the requirements of Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection A of this section", after "fuel" added "or power", after "type of" added "and corporate average fuel economy rating for", and after "each of" deleted "the alternative fuel or gas-electric hybrid".

The 2002 amendment, effective July 1, 2002, substituted "acquisition" for "conversion" in the section heading and in present Subsections B and D; deleted former Subsection A, which set out the schedule for agencies and departments of state government and post-secondary institutions to convert vehicles purchased or leased after May 20, 1992 from gasoline to alternative fuel; rewrote former Subsection B, which read: "The agencies and departments of state government and the post-secondary institutions may convert their vehicles to bi-fuel capability or to dedicated engine configurations" as present Subsection A and redesignated the following subsections accordingly; substituted "acquiring entity" for "purchasing entity" in Subsection B; substituted "within fifteen percent of" for "approximately equivalent to" in Paragraph B(1); deleted former Paragraphs B(2) and B(3), which provided exemptions from the provisions of the Alternative Fuel Conversion Act if the conversion payback period was too long to be economically feasible or if the conversion of a vehicle would hamper or interfere with its intended use; added present Paragraph B(2); substituted "educational" for "post-secondary" in Subsection D; and added Subsection E.

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, in Subsection A, substituted "May 20, 1992" for "the effective date of the Alternative Fuel Conversion Act" and made minor stylistic changes in Paragraphs (1) and (2); and in Subsection C, inserted "Certified" and "pursuit vehicles" in the first sentence, redesignated the language beginning with "alternative fuels" as Paragraph (1), substituted "conventional fuel" for "gasoline" therein, and added Paragraphs (2) and (3).

The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, deleted "transportation" following "alternative" in the second sentence of Subsection C and inserted "political subdivisions" in Subsection E.