As used in the Utility Operators Certification Act [Chapter 61, Article 33 NMSA 1978]:

A. "certified operator" means a person who is certified by the department as being qualified to operate one of the classifications of public water supply systems or public wastewater facilities;

B. "commission" means the water quality control commission;

C. "department" means the department of environment;

D. "domestic liquid waste" means human excreta and water-carried waste from typical residential plumbing fixtures and activities, including waste from toilets, sinks, bath fixtures, clothes or dishwashing machines and floor drains;

E. "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" means any system that is designed to discharge less than two thousand gallons per day and that is subject to rules promulgated by the environmental improvement board pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 74-1-8 NMSA 1978 or a watertight unit designed, constructed and installed to stabilize only domestic liquid waste and to retain solids contained in such domestic liquid waste, including septic tanks;

F. "operate" means performing any activity, function, process control decision or system integrity decision regarding water quality or water quantity that has the potential to affect the proper functioning of a public water supply system or public wastewater facility or to affect human health, public welfare or the environment;

G. "person" means any agency, department or instrumentality of the United States and any of its officers, agents or employees, the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision thereof, any public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any political subdivision or public or private corporation;

H. "public wastewater facility" means a system of structures, equipment and processes designed to collect and treat domestic and industrial waste and dispose of the effluent, but does not include:

(1) any domestic liquid waste treatment unit; or

(2) any industrial facility subject to an industrial pretreatment program regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the requirements of the federal Clean Water Act of 1977; and

I. "public water supply system" means:

(1) a system for the provision through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public of water for human consumption or domestic purposes if the system:

(a) has at least fifteen service connections; or

(b) regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five individuals at least sixty days of the year; and

(2) includes any water supply source and any treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system.

History: 1978 Comp., § 61-33-2, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 44, § 2; 2001, ch. 181, § 1; 2005, ch. 285, § 1.

Federal Clean Water Act of 1977. — The federal Clean Water Act of 1977, referred to in Subsection H(2), appears as 33 U.S.C.S. § 1251 et seq.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1992, ch. 44, § 2 repeals former 61-33-2 NMSA 1978, as amended by Laws 1977, ch. 253, § 67, and enacts the above section, effective March 6, 1992. For provisions of former section, see 1990 Replacement Pamphlet.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, changes "commission" to "department", "water supply systems" to "public water supply systems" and "wastewater facilities" to "public wastewater facilities" in Subsection A; deletes the former definition of "certified supervisor" as a person certified by the commission to operate water supply systems or wastewater facilities and who performs on-site coordinations, direction and inspection of the operations of public wastewater or public water supply facilities; deletes former provision of Subsection B which included the department in the definition of the "commission" when the department acted under the Utility Operators Certification Act; defines "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" in Subsection E to include any system that is designed to discharge less than two thousand gallons per day and that is subject to rules promulgated by the environmental improvement board pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection A of Section 74-1-8 NMSA 1978; deletes aerobic treatment units as being included in a "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" in Subsection E; and adds Subsection F to define "operate".

The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, in Paragraph I(1) inserted "through pipes or other constructed conveyances" and deleted "piped" preceding "water".