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§ 74-6C-7 NMSA 1978

Criminal enforcement

Known as the Solid Waste Act

The act spans §§ 74–74 (460 sections).

Laws 2025, ch. 112, § 16.

A. A person shall not:

(1) discharge a pollutant to waters of the United States without a permit for the discharge issued pursuant to the program;

(2) violate an applicable standard, limitation, permit condition or other requirement of a permit issued pursuant to the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act or a rule adopted pursuant to that act;

(3) make a false statement, a representation, a certification or an omission of material fact in an application, a record, a plan, a form, a notice or a report required by a permit or other document submitted or maintained pursuant to the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act or a rule or permit adopted or issued pursuant to that act;

(4) falsify, tamper with or render inaccurate a monitoring device, method or record required to be maintained pursuant to the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act or a rule or permit adopted or issued pursuant to that act;

(5) fail to monitor, sample or report as required by a permit issued pursuant to the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act or a rule or permit adopted or issued pursuant to that act; or

(6) violate a filing requirement pursuant to the New Mexico Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Act or a rule or permit adopted or issued pursuant to that act.

B. A person who knowingly violates or knowingly causes or allows another person to violate Subsection A of this section is guilty of a fourth degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Sentencing Act [Chapter 31, Article 18 NMSA 1978].

C. A person who is convicted of a second or subsequent violation of Subsection A of this section is guilty of a third degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Sentencing Act.

D. A person who knowingly violates Subsection A of this section or knowingly causes another person to violate Subsection A of this section and thereby causes a substantial adverse environmental impact is guilty of a third degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Sentencing Act.

E. A person who knowingly violates Subsection A of this section and knows at the time of the violation that the person is creating a substantial danger of death or serious bodily injury to any other person is guilty of a second degree felony and shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Sentencing Act.

F. A person who willfully or negligently violates Paragraph (2) or (6) of Subsection A of this section may be assessed a criminal fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per day for each violation.

G. A person who knowingly violates Paragraph (3) or (4) of Subsection A of this section may be assessed a criminal fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation.

H. A single operational upset or event that leads to simultaneous violations of more than one pollutant parameter shall be treated as a single violation.

I. The attorney general has the authority to enforce this section.

Official source: NMOneSource (New Mexico Compilation Commission). Reproduced from public-domain New Mexico statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.