SOLID WASTE SURCHARGE

HB0319

HOUSE BILL 319

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2026

INTRODUCED BY

Kristina Ortez

AN ACT

RELATING TO WASTE MANAGEMENT; IMPOSING A SURCHARGE ON SOLID
WASTE DISPOSAL TO SUPPORT GRANTS AVAILABLE UNDER THE RECYCLING,
CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND ILLEGAL DUMPING ACT; CLARIFYING THAT FOOD
RECOVERY, COMPOSTING AND ORGANIC WASTE REDUCTION INITIATIVES
ARE ELIGIBLE FOR GRANTS UNDER THE RECYCLING, CIRCULAR ECONOMY
AND ILLEGAL DUMPING ACT; DISTRIBUTING THE REVENUE ATTRIBUTABLE
TO THE SURCHARGE TO THE RECYCLING AND ILLEGAL DUMPING FUND.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

SECTION 1.
Section 7-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1965,
Chapter 248, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

"7-1-2. APPLICABILITY.--The Tax Administration Act
applies to and governs:

A. the administration and enforcement of the
following taxes or tax acts as they now exist or may hereafter
be amended:

(1) Income Tax Act;

(2) Withholding Tax Act;

(3) Oil and Gas Proceeds and Pass-Through
Entity Withholding Tax Act;

(4) Gross Receipts and Compensating Tax Act,
Interstate Telecommunications Gross Receipts Tax Act and Leased
Vehicle Gross Receipts Tax Act;

(5) Liquor Excise Tax Act;

(6) Local Liquor Excise Tax Act;

(7) any municipal local option gross receipts
tax or municipal compensating tax;

(8) any county local option gross receipts tax
or county compensating tax;

(9) Special Fuels Supplier Tax Act;

(10) Gasoline Tax Act;

(11) petroleum products loading fee, which fee
shall be considered a tax for the purpose of the Tax
Administration Act;

(12) Alternative Fuel Tax Act;

(13) Cigarette Tax Act;

(14) Estate Tax Act;

(15) Railroad Car Company Tax Act;

(16) Investment Credit Act, rural job tax
credit, Laboratory Partnership with Small Business Tax Credit
Act, Technology Jobs and Research and Development Tax Credit
Act, Film Production Tax Credit Act, Affordable Housing Tax
Credit Act and high-wage jobs tax credit;

(17) Corporate Income and Franchise Tax Act;

(18) Uniform Division of Income for Tax
Purposes Act;

(19) Multistate Tax Compact;

(20) Tobacco Products Tax Act;

(21) the telecommunications relay service
surcharge imposed by Section 63-9F-11 NMSA 1978, which
surcharge shall be considered a tax for the purposes of the Tax
Administration Act;

(22) the Insurance Premium Tax Act;

(23) the Health Care Quality Surcharge Act;

(24) the Cannabis Tax Act; and

(25) the Health Care Delivery and Access Act;

B. the administration and enforcement of the
following taxes, surtaxes, advanced payments or tax acts as
they now exist or may hereafter be amended:

(1) Resources Excise Tax Act;

(2) Severance Tax Act;

(3) any severance surtax;

(4) Oil and Gas Severance Tax Act;

(5) Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act;

(6) Oil and Gas Emergency School Tax Act;

(7) Oil and Gas Ad Valorem Production Tax Act;

(8) Natural Gas Processors Tax Act;

(9) Oil and Gas Production Equipment Ad
Valorem Tax Act;

(10) Copper Production Ad Valorem Tax Act;

(11) any advance payment required to be made
by any act specified in this subsection, which advance payment
shall be considered a tax for the purposes of the Tax
Administration Act;

(12) Enhanced Oil Recovery Act;

(13) Natural Gas and Crude Oil Production
Incentive Act; and

(14) intergovernmental production tax credit
and intergovernmental production equipment tax credit;

C. the administration and enforcement of the
following taxes, surcharges, fees or acts as they now exist or
may hereafter be amended:

(1) Weight Distance Tax Act;

(2) the workers' compensation fee authorized
by Section 52-5-19 NMSA 1978, which fee shall be considered a
tax for purposes of the Tax Administration Act;

(3) Uniform Unclaimed Property Act (1995);

(4) 911 emergency surcharge and the network
and database surcharge, which surcharges shall be considered
taxes for purposes of the Tax Administration Act;

(5) the solid waste assessment fee authorized
by the Solid Waste Act, which fee shall be considered a tax for
purposes of the Tax Administration Act;

(6) the water conservation fee imposed by
Section 74-1-13 NMSA 1978, which fee shall be considered a tax
for the purposes of the Tax Administration Act; [
and
]

(7) the gaming tax imposed pursuant to the
Gaming Control Act; and

(8) the regenerative waste management
surcharge authorized by the Recycling, Circular Economy and
Illegal Dumping Act, which surcharge shall be considered a tax
for purposes of the Tax Administration Act; and

D. the administration and enforcement of all other
laws, with respect to which the department is charged with
responsibilities pursuant to the Tax Administration Act, but
only to the extent that the other laws do not conflict with the
Tax Administration Act."

SECTION 2.
A new section of the Tax Administration Act,
Section 7-1-6.74 NMSA 1978, is enacted to read:

"7-1-6.74. [
NEW MATERIAL
] DISTRIBUTION--REGENERATIVE
WASTE MANAGEMENT SURCHARGE.--A distribution pursuant to the
provisions of Section 7-1-6.1 NMSA 1978 of the net receipts
attributable to the regenerative waste management surcharge
shall be distributed to the recycling and illegal dumping
fund."

SECTION 3.
Section 74-13-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005,
Chapter 171, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"74-13-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Recycling,
Circular Economy and Illegal Dumping Act:

A. "abatement" means to reduce in amount, degree or
intensity or to eliminate;

B. "agricultural use" means the beneficial use of
scrap tires in conjunction with the operations of a farm or
ranch that includes construction projects and aids in the
storage of feed;

C. "alliance" means the recycling, circular economy
and illegal dumping alliance;

D. "board" means the environmental improvement
board;

E. "circular economy" means an economy that uses a
systems-focused approach and involves industrial processes and
economic activities that:

(1) are restorative or regenerative by design;

(2) enable resources used in such processes
and activities to maintain their highest values for as long as
possible; and

(3) aim for the elimination of waste through
the superior design of materials, products and systems,
including business models;

F. "civil engineering application" means the use of
scrap tires or other recycled material in conjunction with
other aggregate materials in engineering applications;

G. "composting" means the process by which
biological decomposition of organic material is carried out
under controlled conditions and the process stabilizes the
organic fraction into a material that can be easily and safely
stored, handled and used in an environmentally acceptable
manner;

H. "composting facility" means a facility, other
than a transformation facility, that:

(1) is capable of providing biological
stabilization of organic material;

(2) accepts only source-separated compostable
materials; and

(3) is registered with the department;

[
H.
]
I.
"cooperative association" means a refuse
disposal district created pursuant to the Refuse Disposal Act,
a sanitation district created pursuant to the Water and
Sanitation District Act, a special district created pursuant to
the Special District Procedures Act or other associations
created pursuant to the Joint Powers Agreements Act or the
Solid Waste Authority Act;

[
I.
]
J.
"department" means the department of
environment;

[
J.
]
K.
"dispose" means to deposit scrap tires or
solid waste into or on any land or water;

[
K.
]
L.
"household" means any single and multiple
residence, hotel or motel, bunkhouse, ranger station, crew
quarters, campground, picnic ground or day-use recreation area;

[
L.
]
M.
"illegal dumping" means disposal of trash,
scrap tires or any solid waste in a manner that violates the
Solid Waste Act or the Recycling, Circular Economy and Illegal
Dumping Act;

[
M.
]
N.
"illegal dumpsite" means a place where
illegal dumping has occurred, except as stated in Subsection A
of Section 74-13-4 NMSA 1978;

O. "landfill" means a solid waste facility having a
valid permit or registration issued pursuant to the provisions
of the Solid Waste Act or regulations adopted pursuant to that
act or registration issued pursuant to the Environmental
Improvement Act that receives solid waste for disposal;

[
N.
]
P.
"market development" means activities to
expand or create markets for recyclable and reusable materials
that foster a circular economy;

[
O.
]
Q.
"motor vehicle" means a vehicle or device
that is propelled by an internal combustion engine or electric
motor power that is used or may be used on the public highways
for the purpose of transporting persons or property and
includes any connected trailer or semitrailer;

[
P.
]
R.
"processing" means techniques to change
physical, chemical or biological character or composition of
solid waste but does not include composting, transformation or
open burning;

[
Q.
]
S.
"recycling" means any process by which
recyclable materials are collected, separated or processed and
reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or
products;

[
R.
]
T.
"reuse" means the return of a commodity
into the economic stream without a change to its original form;

[
S.
]
U.
"scrap tire" means a tire that is no longer
suitable for its originally intended purpose because of wear,
damage or defect;

[
T.
]
V.
"scrap tire baling" means the process by
which scrap tires are mechanically compressed and bound into
block form;

[
U.
]
W.
"scrap tire generator" means a person who
generates scrap tires, including retail tire dealers,
retreaders, scrap tire processors, automobile dealers,
automobile salvage yards, private company vehicle maintenance
shops, garages, service stations and city, county and state
government but does not include persons who generate scrap
tires in a household or in agricultural operations;

[
V.
]
X.
"scrap tire hauler" means a person who
transports scrap tires for hire for the purpose of recycling,
disposal, transformation or use in a civil engineering
application;

[
W.
]
Y.
"secretary" means the secretary of
environment;

Z. "solid waste" means any garbage, refuse, sludge
from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant or
air pollution control facility and other discarded material,
including solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous
material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining and
agricultural operations and from community activities. "Solid
waste" does not include:

(1) drilling fluids, produced waters and other
non-domestic wastes associated with the exploration,
development or production, transportation, storage, treatment
or refinement of crude oil, natural gas, carbon dioxide gas or
geothermal energy;

(2) fly ash waste, bottom ash waste, slag
waste and flue gas emission control waste generated primarily
from the combustion of coal or other fossil fuels and wastes
produced in conjunction with the combustion of fossil fuels
that are necessarily associated with the production of energy
and that traditionally have been and actually are mixed with
and are disposed of or treated at the same time with fly ash,
bottom ash, boiler slag or flue gas emission control wastes
from coal combustion;

(3) waste from the extraction, beneficiation
and processing of ores and minerals, including phosphate rock
and overburden from the mining of uranium ore, coal, copper,
molybdenum and other ores and minerals;

(4) agricultural waste, including, but not
limited to, manures and crop residues returned to the soil as
fertilizer or soil conditioner;

(5) cement kiln dust waste;

(6) sand and gravel;

(7) solid or dissolved material in domestic
sewage or solid or dissolved materials in irrigation return
flows or industrial discharges that are point sources subject
to permits under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act, 33 U.S.C. Section 1342, or source, special nuclear
or byproduct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, 42 U.S.C. Section 2011 et seq.;

(8) densified-refuse-derived fuel; or

(9) any material regulated by Subtitle C of
the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976,
substances regulated by the federal Toxic Substances Control
Act or low-level radioactive waste;

[
X.
]
AA.
"tire" means a continuous solid or
pneumatic rubber covering that encircles the wheel of a motor
vehicle;

[
Y.
]
BB.
"tire-derived fuel" means whole or chipped
tires that produce a low sulfur, high-heating-value fuel;

[
Z.
]
CC.
"tire-derived product" means a usable
product produced from the processing of a scrap tire but does
not include baled tires;

[
AA.
]
DD.
"tire recycling" means a process in which
scrap tires are collected, stored, separated or reprocessed for
reuse as a different product or shredded into a form suitable
for use in rubberized asphalt or as raw material for the
manufacture of other products; [
and

BB.
]
EE.
"tire recycling facility" means a place
operated or maintained for tire recycling but does not include:

(1) retail business premises where tires are
sold, if no more than five hundred loose scrap tires or two
thousand scrap tires, if left in a closed conveyance or
enclosure, are kept on the premises at one time;

(2) the premises of a tire retreading
business, if no more than three thousand scrap tires are kept
on the premises at one time;

(3) premises where tires are removed from
motor vehicles in the ordinary course of business, if no more
than five hundred scrap tires are kept on the premises at one
time;

(4) a solid waste facility having a valid
permit or registration issued pursuant to the provisions of the
Solid Waste Act or regulations adopted pursuant to that act or
registration issued pursuant to the Environmental Improvement
Act; or

(5) a site where tires are stored or used for
agricultural uses;
and

FF. "transformation" means incineration, pyrolysis,
distillation, gasification or biological conversion other than
composting
."

SECTION 4.
Section 74-13-17 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005,
Chapter 171, Section 17, as amended) is amended to read:

"74-13-17. GRANTS--ELIGIBILITY--APPLICATIONS.--

A. A municipality, county, Indian nation, pueblo or
tribe, land grant community,
acequia, soil and water
conservation district
, cooperative association or solid waste
authority that meets eligibility requirements established by
the board may apply for a grant:

(1)
for providing funds to public landfills to
offset the cost of collecting or recycling of tires, purchase
equipment, perform marketing, purchase products produced by a
recycling facility, provide educational outreach, develop
recycling infrastructure, abate illegal dumpsites or contract
with vendors to promote recycling and to abate illegal
dumpsites consistent with provisions of the Recycling, Circular
Economy and Illegal Dumping Act;
and

(2) to support and advance wide-scale
composting and food recovery efforts, as well as other
initiatives to reduce the amount of organic waste entering the
solid waste stream.

B.
The first priority for funding shall be
abatement of illegal scrap tire dumpsites and the recycling of
scrap tires.

[
B. Nothing in this section prohibits a
municipality, county, Indian nation, pueblo or tribe, land
grant community or cooperative association from contracting for
services to complete an abatement action.
]

C. A grantee may contract for services to carry out
the purposes of Subsection A of this section.
"

SECTION 5.
A new section of the Recycling, Circular
Economy and Illegal Dumping Act is enacted to read:

"[
NEW MATERIAL
] REGENERATIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT SURCHARGE.--

A. A surcharge is imposed on each landfill
operating within the state. The surcharge shall be in an
amount equal to two dollars ($2.00) per ton of solid waste
accepted for disposal at the landfill. The owner or operator
of a landfill that owns or operates an on-site composting
facility or that diverts source-separated organic waste to a
composting facility shall pay a reduced surcharge of one dollar
fifty cents ($1.50) per ton of solid waste accepted for
disposal at the landfill. The surcharge imposed pursuant to
this section may be referred to as the "regenerative waste
management surcharge".

B. The surcharge imposed by this section shall be
administered in accordance with the provisions of the Tax
Administration Act and shall be paid to the taxation and
revenue department by each landfill that accepts solid waste
pursuant to Subsection A of this section in the form and manner
required by that department on or before the twenty-fifth day
of the month following the month in which the solid waste is
accepted. The taxation and revenue department may retain an
administrative fee of up to three percent of the amount
collected.

C. Beginning June 30, 2028 and every June 30
thereafter, the department shall publish a report on the amount
of money collected pursuant to this section, broken down by the
number of tons of solid waste accepted for disposal at each
landfill."

SECTION 6.
EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2027.

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