Summary:

  House Bill 348 (HB 348) increases the maximum penalty for a violation of water law and provides for an annual increase in penalties for a violation of water law to account for inflation.

 

Legislation Overview:

 House Bill 348 (HB 348) amends Section 72-2-18 NMSA 1978 (Enforcement-Compliance Orders) by stating that the preferred remedy for violations under Chapter 72 NMSA 1978 is repayment of the water. HB 348 limits the state engineer (OSE)’s pursuit of penalties to those that do not involve overdiversion of water or where repayment of water is not possible or is insufficient to deter future violations. 
HB 348 requires the state engineer to issue a written notice of violation before issuing a compliance order. It increases the maximum penalty for a violation of water law to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day or any portion of a day in which the violation continues. If the overdiverted or illegally diverted water is sold, the penalty will be doubled the economic benefit to the violator resulting from the violation. It allows the OSE discretion in setting the amount of the penalty and specifies what factors the OSE should consider. The civil penalty is not enforceable until the compliance order becomes final.
HB 348 increases the penalty for per day violation of the Ground Water Storage and Recovery Act (Section 72-5A-12 NMSA 1978) to two thousand dollars ($2,000) per day. 
HB 348 requires the OSE to give notice and an opportunity for a hearing before suspension or revocation of a license for certain bond violations and makes technical changes in Section 72-12-14 NMSA 1978. It increases the penalty a district court may impose up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) which the OSE recovers on the part of the state.
For each of these sections, HB 348 provides for an annual increase in penalties for a violation of water law to account for inflation based on the consumer price index beginning on 1 July 2027 and every 1 July thereafter with a limit on the increase to 150 percent of the current penalty amount. It directs the OSE to post the maximum penalty for that Fiscal Year (FY).

 

Current Law:

 Current Law
Penalties under Section 72-2-18 NMSA 1978 and Section 72-5A-12 NMSA 1978 are one hundred dollars ($100) per day; and under Section 72-12-14 NMSA 1978, one thousand dollars ($1,000) per day. There is no provision to increase fees because of inflation.


 

Amendments:

 2/18/25
The House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee amended HB 348 (HB 348 HAAWC) by adding to the maximum penalty for overdiversion or illegal diversion of water. A person overdiverting or creating an illegal diversion of water will be subject to a civil penalty of twice the sale price of the water or twenty-five dollars per barrel whichever is more.  It makes grammatical changes to conform to that change. It now duplicates SB 210A SCONC.