A. Unless provided otherwise in this section, all costs in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) that are necessary to perform a minimum site assessment in accordance with the rules of the board shall be paid from the corrective action fund.

B. Payment of the cost of corrective action, including the cost of a minimum site assessment, shall be made by the department following application and proper documentation of the costs and in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary establishing eligible and ineligible costs. Ineligible costs include attorney fees, repair or upgrade of tanks, loss of revenue and costs of monitoring a contractor.

C. The department shall adopt rules to provide for payments from the corrective action fund, to the extent that money is available in the fund, to persons who cannot afford to pay all or a portion of the initial ten thousand dollar ($10,000) cost of a minimum site assessment otherwise required in this section. The department shall develop a financial assistance means test, including a sliding scale of financial relief as the department deems appropriate, that allows some or all of the minimum site assessment costs to be paid from the corrective action fund.

D. All department determinations concerning the manner of payment, compliance and cost eligibility shall be made in accordance with department rules.

E. If the owner or operator is in compliance with the requirements of Subsection B of Section 74-6B-8 NMSA 1978, payment of costs from the corrective action fund shall occur not later than sixty days after the submission of the application and proper documentation of costs by the owner or operator, except as provided in Section 74-6B-14 NMSA 1978.

F. Before any payment is made for a corrective action pursuant to this section to or on behalf of an owner or operator, payment shall first be made to reimburse the federal leaking underground storage tank trust fund for any costs incurred for that corrective action.

G. Counties and municipalities are exempt from the requirements to pay any portion of the initial ten thousand dollars ($10,000) of a minimum site assessment.

History: 1978 Comp., § 74-6B-13, enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 64, § 10; 1993, ch. 327, § 1; 1995, ch. 6, § 17; 1997, ch. 104, § 3; 1997, ch. 222, § 3; 2001, ch. 325, § 19.

The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, deleted language in Subsection A, concerning reimbursement of costs; deleted all of former Subsection B, concerning reimbursement of costs; redesignated former Subsections C to F as B to E; deleted the former second sentence of former Subsection C, concerning eligible costs for payment; deleted the former last sentence in former Subsection D, concerning financial assistance; substituted "sixty days" for "thirty days" in current Subsection E; deleted former Subsection G, concerning reserve of a portion of the fund; added Subsections F and G; and made stylistic changes.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Subsection F, substituted "thirty" for "ninety"; and in Subsection C, made a stylistic change

The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, added "to the extent that money is available" at the end of Subsection A, added "and if money is available in the fund" at the end of Subsection B, and inserted "to the extent that money is available in the fund" in the first sentence of Subsection D.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, added "Unless provided otherwise in this section" to the beginning and substituted "March 9, 1992" for "the effective date of this section" in the second sentence; added present Subsection D, redesignating former Subsections D through F as Subsections E through G; and changed the style of the statutory reference in present Subsection F.