2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 3 - Municipalities
Article 18 - Powers of Municipalities
Section 3-18-7 - Additional county and municipal powers; flood and mudslide hazard areas; flood plain permits; land use control; jurisdiction; agreement.
A. For the purpose of minimizing or eliminating damage from floods or mudslides in federal emergency management agency and locally designated flood-prone areas and for the purpose of promoting health, safety and the general welfare, a county or municipality with identified flood or mudslide hazard areas shall by ordinance:
(1) designate and regulate flood plain areas having special flood or mudslide hazards;
(2) prescribe standards for constructing, altering, installing or repairing buildings and other improvements under a permit system within a designated flood or mudslide hazard area;
(3) require review by the local flood plain manager for development within a designated flood or mudslide hazard area; provided that final decisions are approved by the local governing body;
(4) review subdivision proposals and other new developments within a designated flood or mudslide hazard area to ensure that:
(a) all such proposals are consistent with the need to minimize flood damage;
(b) all public utilities and facilities such as sewer, gas, electrical and water systems are designed to minimize or eliminate flood damage; and
(c) adequate drainage is provided so as to reduce exposure to flood hazards;
(5) require new or replacement water supply systems or sanitary sewage systems within a designated flood or mudslide hazard area to be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and discharges from the systems into flood waters and require on-site waste disposal systems to be located so as to avoid impairment of them or contamination from them during flooding; and
(6) designate and regulate floodways for the passage of flood waters.
B. A flood plain ordinance adopted pursuant to this section shall substantially conform to the minimum standards prescribed by the federal insurance administration, regulation 1910 issued pursuant to Subsection 7(d), 79 Stat. 670, Section 1361, 82 Stat. 587 and 82 Stat. 575, all as amended.
C. A county or municipality that enacts a flood plain ordinance shall designate a person, certified pursuant to the state-certified flood plain manager program, as the flood plain manager to administer the flood plain ordinance.
D. A county or municipality that has areas designated by the federal emergency management agency and the county or municipality as flood-prone shall participate in the national flood insurance program.
E. A county or municipality shall have exclusive jurisdiction over flood plain permits issued under its respective flood plain ordinance in accordance with this section and so long as all structures built in flood plains are subject to inspection and approval pursuant to the Construction Industries Licensing Act [Chapter 60, Article 13 NMSA 1978]. Notwithstanding Section 3-18-6 NMSA 1978, when a municipality adopts a flood plain ordinance pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of this section, the municipality's jurisdiction under the flood plain ordinance may take precedence over a respective county flood plain ordinance within the municipality's boundary and within the municipality's subdividing and platting jurisdiction.
F. A county or municipality shall designate flood plain areas having special flood or mudslide hazards in substantial conformity with areas identified as flood- or mudslide-prone by the federal insurance administration pursuant to the national flood insurance program and may designate areas as flood- or mudslide-prone that may not be so identified by the federal insurance administration.
G. A municipality or county adopting a flood plain ordinance pursuant to this section may enter into reciprocal agreements with any agency of the state, other political subdivisions or the federal government in order to effectively carry out the provisions of this section.
H. The homeland security and emergency management department is designated as the state coordinating agency for the national flood insurance program and may assist counties or municipalities when requested by a county or municipality to provide technical advice and assistance.
History: 1953 Comp., § 14-17-5.1, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 14, § 1; 2001, ch. 11, § 1; 2003, ch. 310, § 1; 2009, ch. 250, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSCross references. — For municipal powers regarding flood control, see 3-41-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.
For county powers regarding flood control, see 4-50-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.
The 2009 amendment, effective April 7, 2009, in Subsection H, after "The", added "homeland security and emergency management" and after "department", deleted "of public safety".
The 2003 amendment, effective June 20, 2003, deleted "building and" following "mudslide hazard areas" in section heading; substituted "with identified flood or mudslide hazard areas shall" for "may" following "county or municipality" near the end of Subsection A; added present Subsection D and redesignated the subsequent subsections accordingly; substituted "all structures built in flood plains are subject to inspection and approval" for "it is enforced by an approved inspector" preceding "pursuant to the Construction Industries" near the end of the first sentence of present Subsection E; added "and may designate areas as flood- or mudslide-prone that may not be so identified by the federal insurance administration" at the end of Subsection F; and rewrote Subsection H.
The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, inserted "and flood plain" preceding "permits" in the section heading; in Subsection A inserted "federal emergency management agency and locally" preceding "designated flood-prone areas"; added present Paragraph A(3) and renumbered the remaining paragraphs accordingly; inserted "flood plain" preceding "ordinance" in Subsections B, D and F; added present Subsection C and renumbered the remaining subsections accordingly; in present Subsection D, inserted "flood plain" preceding "permits issued" near the beginning of the subsection and updated the internal reference; and in Subsection G, substituted "the department of public safety, the department of environment" for "the environmental improvement agency" and "division of the regulation and licensing department" for "commission".
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Liability of governmental entity for issuance of permit for construction which caused or accelerated flooding, 62 A.L.R.3d 514.
