New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 17 - WEATHER MODIFICATION › Part 2 - WEATHER CONTROL AND PRECIPITATION ENHANCEMENT › Section 19.17.2.19 - HEARING PROCEDURES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
				Weather control committee chair. The chair of the weather control committee
				shall preside over hearings on any contested application. The chair, with
				advice and consent from the other weather control committee members, shall have
				the power to regulate the hearing; to perform all acts and take all measures
				necessary to conduct such hearing, including the authority to administer oaths
				and affirmations; to explain the events and requirements of the hearing process
				to all hearing participants; to hear all relevant issues during the hearing; to
				request and receive a proper administrative record and to otherwise regulate
				the conduct and course of the hearing. The chair may limit testimony to those
				matters reasonably noticed by the application or by any letter of protest filed
				pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of 19.17.2.18 NMAC of this
				rule.
B. Pre-hearing discovery. No
				pre-hearing discovery shall be required by or from any hearing participant. At
				least ten (10) days prior to the hearing, the weather control committee shall
				make available to any hearing participant any application to be considered at
				the hearing, and any protest thereof, previously filed with the
				commission.
C. Location of
				hearings. The weather control committee shall hold all hearings in Santa Fe,
				unless the weather control committee decides in its sole discretion that a
				hearing should be held elsewhere to facilitate participation.
D. Testimony and evidence. During a hearing,
				evidence shall be presented only by (1) the applicant, (2) any person filing a
				letter of protest filed pursuant to Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of 19.17.2.18
				NMAC of this rule, and (3) the commission's staff. No other person or entity
				may give evidence or argument. Any person or entity giving evidence or argument
				must provide the commission and all other hearing participants with a copy of
				any document or exhibit submitted as evidence. The New Mexico rules of evidence
				are not binding on presentation of evidence. The hearing shall be taped or
				transcribed.
E. Administrative
				notice. The weather control committee may take administrative notice of all
				judicially cognizable facts (i.e., all facts that may be noticed by a judge),
				and of generally recognized technical or scientific facts, published reports of
				governmental and state agencies and studies and conclusions within the
				commission's specialized knowledge.
F. Continuance/postponement. At the
				discretion of the chair, a scheduled hearing may be continued with notice,
				prior the hearing or may be recessed during the hearing and reconvened at a
				later date. Any statement of continuance or recess shall be made a part of the
				record. A hearing participant may request postponement or continuance of a
				hearing for good cause shown subject to approval by the chair. Grounds for
				postponement or continuance may include, but are not limited to, the
				unavailability of witnesses, unfair hardship by a hearing participant or
				economic use of commission resources.
G. Weather control committee recommendations.
				Within thirty (30) days after the weather control committee either completes
				its hearing deliberations or elects not to hold a hearing pursuant to
				Subsection D of 19.17.2.18 NMAC, it shall deliver to the commission a
				recommended decision including findings of fact and conclusions of law. The
				commission's staff shall serve a copy on each hearing participant by U.S.
				first-class mail, postage prepaid within ten (10) days of issuance
				thereof.
H. Final decision. At the
				next regularly scheduled commission meeting occurring at least fifteen (15)
				days after the weather control committee serves its recommended decision on the
				hearing participants, the commission shall consider the recommended decision on
				the hearing participants, the commission shall consider the recommended
				decision and issue a final decision or remand to the weather control committee
				for further administrative proceedings.
I. Administrative record. The administrative
				record shall include or otherwise reflect, at a minimum, all filings with the
				commission, all staff recommendations, all evidence received or considered,
				offers of proof and objections and rulings thereon, any recommended decision
				including findings of fact and conclusions of law submitted by the weather
				control committee, the transcript or tape of the oral proceedings as well as
				any decision, opinion or report by the commission.