2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 65 - Motor Carriers › Article 2A - Motor Carrier Act › Section 65-2A-5 - Applications in general; ministerial grants of authority; when public hearings required. (Effective July 1, 2024.)

A. A person shall file an application for any matter for which department approval is required. An application shall be made in writing, verified and in a form that contains information and is accompanied by proof of service upon interested persons as required by the department.
B. The department shall simplify to the extent possible the process for approving applications. The department may hold a public hearing on its own initiative or specific to an objection that has been filed within the notice period in opposition to or in consideration of an application.
C. The department shall hold a public hearing on an application whenever a protest is filed concerning the application during the notice period or the traffic safety bureau of the department requests a hearing during the notice period.
D. The department may approve or deny an application in whole or in part, or allow or require particular terms of service as it may find reasonable and appropriate. If no objection, protest or request for hearing by the traffic safety bureau of the department is filed during the notice period, the department may grant the application by ministerial action, if the application complies with the provisions of the Motor Carrier Act and the rules of the department regarding fitness, ability, financial responsibility and safety.
History:
Laws 2003, ch. 359, § 5; 2013, ch. 73, § 4; 2013, ch. 77, § 4; 2023, ch. 100, § 33.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2023 amendment,
effective July 1, 2024, removed references to the public regulation commission due to the transfer of certain powers and duties to the department of transportation; changed each occurrence of "commission" to "department" throughout the section; and in Subsection D, after "hearing by the", deleted "transportation division" and added "traffic safety bureau".
Temporary provisions.
— Laws 2023, ch. 100, § 80, effective July 1, 2024, provided that:
A. On July 1, 2024, all staff positions, functions, personnel, appropriations, money, records, equipment, supplies, other property and contractual obligations of the public regulation commission related to motor carrier regulation and enforcement, railroad safety enforcement and ambulance standards are transferred to the department of transportation.
B. Beginning July 1, 2024, all references in law, rules, orders and other official acts to the public regulation commission or the transportation division of the public regulation commission related to motor carrier regulation and enforcement, railroad safety enforcement and ambulance standards shall be deemed references to the department of transportation.
C. Beginning July 1, 2024, all contractual obligations of the public regulation commission related to motor carrier regulation and enforcement, railroad safety enforcement and ambulance standards are binding on the department of transportation.
D. The rules, orders and decisions of the public regulation commission related to motor carrier regulation and enforcement, railroad safety enforcement and ambulance standards shall remain in effect until repealed or amended.