New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 9 - SOLID WASTE
Part 10 - FINANCIAL ASSURANCE
Section 20.9.10.15 - SURETY BOND GUARANTEEING PAYMENT OR PERFORMANCE
Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
An owner or operator may demonstrate financial assurance for closure, post-closure care, phase I and phase II assessments, or corrective action by obtaining a surety bond guaranteeing payment into a trust fund or standby trust fund established by the owner or operator. The surety bond and standby trust fund shall be worded as in the forms supplied by the department.
A. In the case of closure, post-closure care, and phase I and phase II assessments, the surety bond shall be effective prior to the initial receipt of waste. In the case of corrective action, the surety bond shall be effective no later than 120 days after the corrective action remedy has been approved by the secretary.
B. The owner or operator who uses a surety bond to satisfy its financial assurance requirements must also establish a trust fund or standby trust fund. Under the terms of the bond, all payments made thereunder must be deposited by the surety directly into the trust fund or standby trust fund in accordance with instructions from the secretary. A standby trust fund must meet all the requirements of the trust fund specified in 20.9.10.14 NMAC as applicable, except that, until the standby trust fund is funded pursuant to the requirements of this 20.9.10.14 NMAC and the surety agreement, annual payments into the standby trust fund are not required, updating of Schedule A to the trust agreement is not required, annual valuation as required by the trust agreement is not required, and notices of non-payment are not required.
C. Companies providing surety bonds shall be admitted carriers, licensed carriers, or registered carriers of surplus lines of insurance and authorized in the state of New Mexico to do business and be among those listed as acceptable sureties on federal bonds in circular 570 of the U.S. department of the treasury.
D. Except as provided in 20.9.10.23 NMAC, the penal sum of the bond shall be in an amount at least equal to the estimated costs to perform the activities assured by the bond.
E. Under the terms of the bond, the surety shall become liable on the bond obligation when the secretary determines that the owner or operator has failed to perform as guaranteed by the bond.
F. Payments made under the terms of the bond shall be deposited by the surety directly into the trust fund or standby trust fund in accordance with instructions by the secretary. No payments shall be made from the trust fund or standby trust fund unless approved in writing by the secretary.
G. The bond shall remain in effect until the closure and post-closure care or phase I and phase II assessments or any corrective action for which the bond was acting as financial assurance is certified as complete, or until it is replaced by an alternate financial assurance mechanism.
