In addition to any other liability imposed by law, an excavator, after a formal hearing and upon a finding, who has failed to comply with Subsection C of Section 62-14-3 NMSA 1978 is subject to an administrative penalty of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a first offense as assessed by the commission. Thereafter, the commission may assess an administrative penalty of up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for subsequent violations of Subsection C of Section 62-14-3 NMSA 1978. In addition to any other penalty imposed by law, an operator of underground pipeline facilities or underground utilities, excavator or operator of a one-call notification system, after formal hearing and upon a finding, who has willfully failed to comply with Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978 shall be subject to an administrative penalty of up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a first offense as assessed by the commission. Thereafter, upon finding that a violation of Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978 has occurred, the commission may, upon consideration of the nature, circumstances, gravity of the violation, history of prior violations, effect on public health, safety or welfare and good faith on the part of the person in attempting to remedy the cause of the violation, assess an administrative penalty up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) per violation consistent with federal law. No offense occurring more than five years prior to the current offense charged shall be considered for any purpose. All actions to recover the penalties provided for in this section shall be brought by the commission. All penalties recovered in any such action shall be paid into the state general fund.

History: 1953 Comp., § 12-32-8, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 252, § 8; 1993, ch. 282, § 41; 1997, ch. 30, § 5; 2001, ch. 150, § 7; 2011, ch. 103, § 7.

The 2011 amendment, effective June 17, 2011, authorized the imposition of an administrative penalty even if an operator's failure to comply with the law did not contribute to the damage of an underground facility.

The 2001 amendment, effective July 1, 2001, rewrote the section, which formerly provided for a civil penalty of up to $500 for those who willfully failed to comply with Chapter 62, Article 14 NMSA 1978, and stated who is responsible for prosecuting the case and the proper venue.

The 1997 amendment, effective October 1, 1997, made stylistic changes in the second and third sentences.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, made stylistic changes in the first sentence; in the second sentence, substituted "New Mexico public utility commission" for "public service commission" and "division of the regulation and licensing department" for "commission"; and substituted "their" for "its" in the next-to-last sentence.