A. A special fund is created to be known as the "rural infrastructure revolving loan fund". Money appropriated to the fund or to the department to carry out the provisions of the Rural Infrastructure Act may be used to make loans and grants to local authorities, individually or jointly, for water supply, wastewater or solid waste facilities. Appropriations made to the fund but not expended at the end of the fiscal year for which appropriated shall not revert to the general fund but shall accrue to the credit of the fund. Earnings on the balance in the fund shall be credited to the fund. In addition, when the proceeds from the issuance of severance tax bonds appropriated to the fund are deposited in the state treasury, interest earned on that money during the period from deposit in the state treasury until the actual transfer of the money to the fund shall be credited to the fund.

B. Ten percent of any appropriation to the fund or to the department to carry out the provisions of the Rural Infrastructure Act shall be set aside for emergency grants and loans pursuant to Section 75-1-5 NMSA 1978.

C. All water supply, wastewater and solid waste facilities shall be designed in compliance with the engineering requirements established by the secretary after consulting with and considering the recommendations of the professional engineering societies operating in New Mexico. The secretary shall also establish, by regulation, guidelines for the ranking of projects for top priority based on public health needs.

D. The department shall administer the fund and shall make grant and loan disbursements in accordance with the Rural Infrastructure Act. The secretary shall adopt regulations to govern the application procedure and requirements for disbursing grants and loans under the Rural Infrastructure Act, including requirements consistent with the purpose of the act for determining the eligibility and priority of local authorities for such grants and loans.

E. Receipts from the repayment of loans, including loans approved by the state board of finance pursuant to Section 75-1-5 NMSA 1978, shall be deposited in the fund by the department, including receipts from the repayment of loans made pursuant to appropriations to carry out the purposes of the Water Supply Construction Act made prior to the effective date of the Rural Infrastructure Act.

F. Money in the fund is appropriated to the department to carry out the provisions of the Rural Infrastructure Act. The department may allocate up to two percent of the total balance in the fund to pay for administrative expenses necessary to carry out the provisions of the Rural Infrastructure Act. Money allocated for administrative expenses shall be placed in a separate administrative account in the fund to be used solely for administrative expenses, and the department shall at the beginning of the fiscal year determine the projected administrative costs for the year and deposit in the account the appropriate amount; provided that the amount to be deposited does not exceed two percent of the total balance in the fund. Money in the account shall remain in the account at the end of a fiscal year.

G. Loans and grants made pursuant to the provisions of the Rural Infrastructure Act shall not be used by the local authority on any project constructed in fulfillment or partial fulfillment of requirements made of a subdivider by the provisions of the Land Subdivision Act [47-5-1 to 47-5-8 NMSA 1978] or the New Mexico Subdivision Act [Chapter 47, Article 6 NMSA 1978].

History: 1953 Comp., § 75-41-3, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 333, § 3; 1977, ch. 283, § 1; 1979, ch. 219, § 2; 1983, ch. 173, § 4; 1984, ch. 5, § 14; 1987, ch. 175, § 2; 1988, ch. 28, § 4; 1991, ch. 208, § 3; 2001, ch. 250, § 3; 2001, ch. 265, § 3; 2007, ch. 342, § 3.

Cross references. — For public project revolving fund, see 6-21-6 NMSA 1978.

For appropriations to other funds from the public project revolving fund, see 6-21-6.1 NMSA 1978.

For distributions to the public project revolving fund from governmental gross receipts tax, see 7-1-6.38 NMSA 1978.

For exemption of environmental improvement board from authority of secretary of environment, see 9-7A-12 NMSA 1978.

Compiler's notes. — The Water Supply Construction Act, referred to in Subsection E, was replaced by the Rural Infrastructure Act, effective July 1, 1988.

The name of this act was changed from the "Water Supply Construction Act" to the "Rural Infrastructure Act" by Laws 1988, ch. 28, § 1.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, permits loans or grants for solid waste facilities and adds Subsection F.

2001 amendments. — Identical amendments to this section were enacted by Laws 2001, ch 250, § 3 and Laws 2001, ch. 265, § 3, effective June 15, 2001, substituting "department" for "division" throughout the subsection; inserting "or wastewater" following "water supply" in Subsections A and C; substituting "secretary" for "board" in Subsections C and D; and deleting the former last sentence of Subsection D, which read "The division shall coordinate its application procedures and funding cycle pursuant to the New Mexico Community Assistance Act". This section is set out as amended by Laws 2001, ch. 265, § 3. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.

The 1991 amendment, effective July 1, 1991, added the final sentence in Subsection A and inserted "including loans approved by the state board of finance pursuant to Section 75-1-5 NMSA 1978" in Subsection E.