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HOUSE BILL 334
57
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2025
INTRODUCED BY
Meredith A. Dixon and Anita Gonzales and Jack Chatfield
and Joseph L. Sanchez and Harlan Vincent
AN ACT
RELATING TO LIABILITY; ENACTING THE RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
WILDFIRE LIABILITY ACT; REQUIRING WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLANS;
PROVIDING FOR A REVIEW BY THE FORESTRY DIVISION OF THE ENERGY,
MINERALS AND NATURAL RESOURCES DEPARTMENT; PROVIDING FOR
APPROVAL BY THE PUBLIC REGULATION COMMISSION; REQUIRING PUBLIC
NOTICE; ESTABLISHING LIMITS ON LIABILITY AND DAMAGE AWARDS;
ESTABLISHING A TWO-YEAR LIMITATION ON THE FILING OF CLAIMS;
AMENDING SECTION 30-32-4 NMSA 1978 (BEING LAWS 1882, CHAPTER
61, SECTION 7, AS AMENDED) AND SECTION 37-1-4 NMSA 1978 (BEING
LAWS 1880, CHAPTER 5, SECTION 4).
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1
through 8 of this act may be cited as the "Rural Electric
Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act".
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SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
Rural Electric Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act:
A. "commission" means the public regulation
commission;
B. "division" means the forestry division of the
energy, minerals and natural resources department;
C. "economic loss" means a monetary loss resulting
from a medical expense, interruption in income or business
operation or property damage. "Economic loss" includes the
monetary cost of a replacement service and to the extent
allowed under law a burial;
D. "electric cooperative" means:
(1) a cooperative nonprofit membership
corporation as defined in Section 62-15-2 NMSA 1978; or
(2) a person, other than an investor-owned
public utility or a public utility owned by an investment fund,
with electric generation and transmission facilities organized
in this state or in another state, independent power producers
or developers providing wholesale electric power to a
cooperative nonprofit membership corporation organized pursuant
to the Rural Electric Cooperative Act;
E. "noneconomic loss" means discomfort,
disfigurement, future pain and emotional distress, loss of
consortium, loss due to death, loss of enjoyment of life, loss
of use, mental anguish, pain and suffering and the value of
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life itself;
F. "plan" means a wildfire mitigation plan; and
G. "wildfire" means a fire originating from an
unplanned ignition, such as an accidental human-caused fire, a
fire caused by lightning or a prescribed fire that is declared
a wildfire by a federal or state emergency management or land
management agency pursuant to authority granted by law.
SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE WILDFIRE
MITIGATION PLAN--REQUIREMENTS.--
A. To receive the benefits under the Rural Electric
Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act, an electric cooperative
shall prepare a plan that includes the:
(1) electric cooperative's size and a detailed
description and map of the electric cooperative's:
(a) service area; and
(b) electric system within the electric
cooperative's service area;
(2) methods that the electric cooperative uses
to assess wildfire risk within the electric cooperative's
service area;
(3) procedures and standards that the electric
cooperative uses to perform vegetation management;
(4) electric cooperative's inspection and
maintenance procedures for the electric cooperative's electric
system;
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(5) electric cooperative's design and
construction procedures and standards for the electric
cooperative's electric system;
(6) electric cooperative's situational
awareness program, including weather monitoring and forecasting
procedures;
(7) electric cooperative's emergency response
procedures in the event of a wildfire;
(8) electric cooperative's operational
procedures during wildfire conditions, including red flag
warning protocols and alternate recloser settings procedures;
and
(9) electric cooperative's procedures to
restore the electric cooperative's electrical system in the
event of a wildfire.
B. An electric cooperative's plan shall also
include:
(1) a description of the electric
cooperative's awareness efforts regarding the electric
cooperative's wildfire mitigation efforts, including vegetation
management and operational controls;
(2) confirmation that the electric
cooperative's plan and annual reports are made publicly
available;
(3) a description of the plan's mitigation
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measures, including modifications to facilities, and
preventative programs that the electric cooperative is
implementing to reduce the risk of the electric cooperative's
equipment igniting a wildfire, including pole and right-of-way
inspections;
(4) the factors that the electric cooperative
considered to balance the components of the plan with the need
to provide continuous electricity service to the electric
cooperative's service area and the costs and feasibility; and
(5) the potential impact of the plan's
mitigation measures on public safety, first responders and
health and communication infrastructure.
SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN--
REVIEW--APPROVAL.--
A. An electric cooperative's plan shall be
effective for five years upon the date of approval by the
commission. An electric cooperative shall update and resubmit
its plan for approval by the commission at the end of each
subsequent five-year period following the initial approval by
the commission.
B. An electric cooperative shall submit its plan to
the division for review and recommendations prior to submitting
the plan to the commission for approval.
C. An electric cooperative shall include the review
and recommendations of its plan from the division in its
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submission of the plan to the commission; provided that, when
the electric cooperative has not received a response from the
division within forty-five days of submitting its plan for
review, the electric cooperative may submit the plan to the
commission without the division's review.
D. The commission shall approve or reject a plan
within forty-five days of submission of a plan pursuant to this
section. When a plan has not been approved or rejected by
commission, the plan is approved as a matter of law. When the
commission rejects an electric cooperative's plan, the
commission shall issue a decision in writing detailing the
specific reasons for the rejection. An electric cooperative
shall then have thirty days to modify and resubmit the plan to
the commission for approval.
E. Within thirty days of receiving approval of a
plan, an electric cooperative shall post a non-confidential
version of the plan that excludes elements that would
compromise the security of its electric system on its website
in a clearly identifiable and accessible manner.
SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] ANNUAL REPORT--PUBLIC NOTICE.--
On July 1, 2026 and on July 1 of each subsequent year, an
electric cooperative shall post a report on the electric
cooperative's plan on the electric cooperative's website in a
clearly identifiable and accessible manner. The report shall
include a description of the electric cooperative's compliance
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with the plan, modifications or updates that have been made to
the plan and the plan's approval status pursuant to the Rural
Electric Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act.
SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN
APPROVAL--EFFECT ON LIABILITY--RECOVERY FOR LOSS.--
A. In a civil action or claim made against an
electric cooperative, upon providing proof that the electric
cooperative's plan has been approved by the commission and that
its annual reports adhere to the requirements as set forth in
Section 5 of the Rural Electric Cooperative Wildfire Liability
Act, or that the electric cooperative was denied the ability to
comply with an approved plan by a federal agency, landowner,
member of the electric cooperative, state or tribal government,
the electric cooperative is:
(1) presumed to have reasonably and prudently
prepared for and mitigated the risk of wildfire for the
electric cooperative's electric system and operations;
(2) exempt from liability for losses resulting
from a wildfire; and
(3) not liable for failure to implement a
public safety power shutoff policy unless one is mandated by
the commission.
B. A plaintiff may recover economic losses or
noneconomic losses from an electric cooperative as a result of
a wildfire when the plaintiff demonstrates, by a showing of
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clear and convincing evidence, that an origin and cause
investigation conducted by a national wildfire coordination
group or wildland fire investigator certified pursuant to
federal law has determined that:
(1) the cause of the wildfire is a powerline
or related in any way to the electric cooperative's equipment
or operations;
(2) the electric cooperative's conduct
intentionally set the wildfire or intentionally caused the
wildfire to be set while knowing that to do so was wrong and
that harm to others might be the result; and
(3) the electric cooperative's conduct was the
actual and proximate cause of the wildfire and loss to the
plaintiff.
SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] LIMITATIONS--FILING CLAIMS--
DAMAGE AWARDS.--
A. A claim against an electric cooperative for loss
resulting from a wildfire shall be filed in district court
within two years after the date of ignition of the fire or it
shall be forever barred.
B. A plaintiff in a civil action against an
electric cooperative for loss due to a wildfire, or the estate
thereof, may recover for:
(1) economic loss; and
(2) noneconomic loss to the extent that the
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noneconomic loss is due to death or bodily injury resulting
from a burn. A claim for noneconomic loss resulting from a
burn shall be denied unless the plaintiff submits to the court
a diagnosis in writing by a medical provider that the burn is
the result of the wildfire that serves as the basis of claim.
C. A state agency or a fire response agency that
incurs costs to suppress a wildfire may file a suit in district
court to reclaim the incurred costs pursuant to the limitations
on liability in the Rural Electric Cooperative Wildfire
Liability Act.
D. The total damages for any and all claims that
can be awarded against an electric cooperative and its insurer
per wildfire, no matter the total number of claimants or suits
or actions as a result of that wildfire, shall not exceed two
million dollars ($2,000,000).
SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] NO LIMIT ON DEFENSES.--Nothing
in the Rural Electric Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act shall
limit the defenses that an electric cooperative may be entitled
to raise in an action for damages caused by wildfire.
SECTION 9. Section 30-32-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1882,
Chapter 61, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:
"30-32-4. DAMAGES TO PERSON INJURED.--Except for an
electric cooperative operating pursuant to a wildfire
mitigation plan approved pursuant to the Rural Electric
Cooperative Wildfire Liability Act , if a person sets on fire
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any woods, marshes or prairies, whether the person's own or
not, so as thereby to occasion damage to another person or that
person's property, the person shall make satisfaction in double
damages to the party injured to be recovered by civil action,
unless the person is conducting a prescribed burn pursuant to
the Prescribed Burning Act."
SECTION 10. Section 37-1-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1880,
Chapter 5, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:
"37-1-4. ACCOUNTS--UNWRITTEN CONTRACTS--TORTS--FRAUDS--
GENERAL PROVISION.--[SEC. 4. Those] Excepting actions brought
against an electric cooperative for damages due to wildfire
pursuant to the Rural Electric Cooperative Wildfire Liability
Act, actions founded upon accounts and unwritten contracts,
[those] actions brought for injuries to property or for the
conversion of personal property or for relief upon the ground
of fraud and all other actions not [herein ] otherwise provided
for in Chapter 37, Article 1 NMSA 1978 and specified shall be
brought within four years."
SECTION 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2025.
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