This article shall be known as the "Sustainable Development
Testing Site Act."
As used in the Sustainable Development Test Site Act, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BOARD
The Board of Commissioners of Otero County;
PERMITTEE
A person who holds a testing permit.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
A live-in environment composed of structures and systems
that inherently produce utilities and life-support systems free of
existing conventional grids and disposal systems. "Sustainable development"
includes:
A.
The inherent provision of on-site energy needs via renewable
resources;
B.
The inherent provision of water needs while minimizing the withdrawals
from groundwater and surface water systems in accordance with state
water law and the rules and policies of the State Engineer;
C.
The inherent provision of sewage treatment needs with zero discharge;
D.
The reuse of materials discarded by modern society.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
Activities conducted at a sustainable development testing
site that test ideas, concepts or inventions designed to lead ultimately
to sustainable development.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TESTING SITE
An area that is:
A.
Two acres or less in size;
B.
Situated wholly outside the planning and platting jurisdiction
of a municipality; and
C.
Subject to a testing site permit and existing federal laws and
regulations.
TESTING SITE PERMIT
A permit, issued by a Planning Commission, that designates
an area as a sustainable development testing site and specifies:
A.
The sustainable development research that can be conducted within
the site by the permittee; and
B.
The county codes, ordinances, rules or permits that are not
applicable to the permittee and the research.
As long as a testing site permit is in effect:
A. The permittee, when conducting sustainable development research that
is specified in the testing site permit, shall comply with all applicable
laws and rules except those County codes, ordinances, rules or permits
specified in the permit as inapplicable to the permittee and the research;
B. Nothing in the Sustainable Development Testing Site Act or the testing
site permit shall be deemed to allow the permittee to appropriate
or otherwise use underground or surface water without first obtaining
a water rights permit or approval from the State Engineer. New appropriations
of water and water rights transfers shall in no event be exempted
from state water law and the rules of the State Engineer;
C. Employees and agents of the state or the County may, at all reasonable
times, enter the sustainable development testing site for the purpose
of inspecting the site and activities conducted on the site to ensure
that conditions specified in the testing site permit are being met;
D. The permittee shall annually, no later than the anniversary date
of the testing site permit, submit a report to the Planning Commission,
the Department of the Environment, the State Engineer, the Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the Construction Industries
Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department describing the
sustainable water quality and quantity, and air. All information contained
in the report and all other information learned from activities pursuant
to the testing site permit shall be made available to the public;
E. The Planning Commission may revoke the testing site permit if it
finds, after a public hearing, that:
(1) The permittee has violated a testing site permit provision, a provision of this article, a rule adopted to §
150-39, a Planning Commission rule, or an ordinance of the County; or
(2) The sustainable development testing site has not complied with a
permit provision, ordinance, rule, regulatory policy or other associated
administrative action of the State Engineer, the Department of the
Environment or another state or federal agency;
F. A permittee may apply to have a testing site permit amended by submitting a new application pursuant to §
150-34 of this article. In the event the Planning Commission determines that the proposed amendment will not substantially alter the sustainable development research or other activities conducted at the sustainable development test site, it may waive the requirements of that section for notice and public hearing; and
G. The permittee will pay all costs and fees related to the permit.
Upon the expiration of the term of a testing site permit or
any renewal thereof:
A. All activities within the area of the sustainable development testing
site shall comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, and rules,
including permitting requirements, in effect at the time of permitting
or thereafter; and
B. The permittee may provide the wastewater treatment and disposal technologies
to the wastewater technical advisory committee for review and, if
appropriate, for listing by the Department of the Environment as approved
for use.
Land within a sustainable development testing site shall not
be sold in whole or in part unless:
A. The subsequent owner obtains a testing site permit pursuant to the
provisions of this Sustainable Development Testing Site Act; or
B. The owner or subsequent owner enters into an agreement with the Board
of Commissioners to bring the land and improvements with the sustainable
development testing site into compliance with all County codes, ordinances,
rules, and permits that would be applicable to the site in the absence
of a testing site permit.
The Board of Commissioners or the Planning Commission may define
a new category of rules applicable to sustainable development testing
sites and promulgate rules for the category. The Board of Commissioners
or the Planning Commission may also promulgate rules or permit conditions
applicable to a specific sustainable development testing site.