New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 7 - WASTEWATER AND WATER SUPPLY FACILITIES
Part 4 - UTILITY OPERATOR CERTIFICATION
Section 20.7.4.7 - DEFINITIONS

Universal Citation: 20 NM Admin Code 20.7.4.7

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 6, March 26, 2024

All terms used in this part shall have the following meanings:

A. "act" means the Utility Operators Certification Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 61-33-1 to 10;

B. "board" means the utility operators certification advisory board;

C. "certified operator" means a person who is certified by the department as being qualified to operate one of the classifications of public water supply systems or public wastewater facilities;

D. "collection system" means pipelines or conduits, pumping stations, force mains, and all other devices, appurtenances and facilities used for collecting and conducting waste to a point of treatment and disposal;

E. "commission" means the water quality control commission;

F. "department" means the New Mexico environment department;

G. "distribution system" means pipelines, appurtenances, devices and facilities which carry potable water under pressure to each consumer;

H. "domestic liquid waste" means human excreta and water-carried waste from typical residential plumbing fixtures and activities, including but not limited to waste from toilets, sinks, bath fixtures, clothes or dishwashing machines and floor drains;

I. "domestic liquid waste treatment unit" means any system that is designed to discharge less than two thousand gallons per day and that is subject to the rules promulgated by the environmental improvement board pursuant to Paragraph (3) of Subsection (A) of Section 74-1-8 NMSA 1978 or a watertight unit designed, constructed and installed to stabilize only domestic liquid waste and to retain solids contained in such domestic liquid waste, including septic tanks;

J. "education" means academic credit received attending any public or private primary, secondary or high school, approved vocational training courses in the water supply and wastewater field, college or university;

K. "experience" means actual work experience, full or part-time, as an operator in the fields of public water supply or public wastewater treatment; work experience in a related field may be accepted at the discretion of the department;

L. "operate" means performing any activity or function or making any process control or system integrity decision regarding water quality or water quantity that has the potential to affect the proper functioning of a public water supply system or public wastewater facility or to affect human health, public welfare or the environment; the term "operate" does not include the operation of monitoring equipment from a distantly remote location;

M. "operator" means any person who operates a public water supply system or public wastewater facility;

N. "owner" means the person or persons who own(s) any part of a public water supply system or public wastewater facility;

O. "person" means any agency, department or instrumentality of the United States and any of its officers, agents or employees, the state or any agency, institution or political subdivision thereof, any public or private corporation, individual, partnership, association or other entity, and includes any officer or governing or managing body of any political subdivision or public or private corporation;

P. "population served" means actual or estimated maximum number of persons served by the public water supply system or public wastewater facility;

Q. "public wastewater facility" means a system of structures, equipment and processes designed to collect and treat domestic and industrial waste and dispose of the effluent, but does not include:

(1) any domestic liquid waste treatment unit;

(2) any industrial facility subject to an industrial pretreatment program regulated by the United States environmental protection agency under the requirement of the federal Clean Water Act of 1977; or

(3) any waste treatment system which is strictly limited to treating non-human, agricultural waste;

R. "public water supply system" means:

(1) a system for the provision through pipes or other constructed conveyances to the public of water for human consumption or domestic purposes if the system:
(a) has at least fifteen service connections; or

(b) regularly serves an average of at least twenty-five individuals at least sixty days of the year;

(2) any water supply source and any treatment, storage and distribution facilities under control of the operator of the system; and

(3) any collection device, including but not limited to wells, spring boxes, infiltration galleries or intake structures, and any treatment, storage, and distribution facilities under the control of the operator of such system and any collection device or pretreatment storage facilities not under such control which are used primarily in connection with such system;

S. "supervision" means the coordination, direction, oversight or inspection of the operation of a public water supply system or a public wastewater facility; the term "supervision" does not include the operation of monitoring equipment from a distantly remote location;

T. "training" means approved education or non-academic training in the fields of public water supply system or public wastewater facility operations;

U. "training credit" means the amount of credit earned by a participant in a training program; and

V. "treatment works" means any plant or other works used for the purpose of treating, stabilizing or holding wastes.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. New Mexico may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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