New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 19 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDLIFE › Chapter 8 - COAL MINING › Part 35 - VALID EXISTING RIGHTS › Section 19.8.35.11 - NOTICE AND COMMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES VER REQUEST

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. When the person
				making the VER request satisfies the completeness requirements of 19.8.35.10
				NMAC, the person requesting the VER must publish a notice for two consecutive
				weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land is
				located. An affidavit of publication will be provided to the director after the
				notice has been published. Each notice must include:
(1) the location of the land to which the
				request pertains;
(2) a description
				of the type of surface coal mining operations planned;
(3) a reference to and brief description of
				the applicable standard(s) under the definition of valid existing rights in
				19.8.2.102 NMAC;
(a) if the request relies
				upon the good faith/all permits standard or the needed for and adjacent
				standard in Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of 19.8.35.7 NMAC, the notice also
				must include a description of the property rights that the person making the
				VER claims and the basis for the claim;
(b) if a request relies upon the standard in
				Paragraph (1) of Subsection D of 19.8.35.7 NMAC, the notice also must include a
				description of the basis by which the person making the VER request claims that
				the road existed when the land came under the protection of 19.8.2.201 NMAC; in
				addition, the notice must include a description of the basis of the claim by
				which the person making the VER request has a legal right to use that road for
				surface coal mining operations;
(c)
				if a request relies upon the standard in Paragraph (2) of Subsection D of
				19.8.35.7 NMAC, the notice also must include a description of the basis for the
				claim that a properly recorded right of way or easement for a road in that
				location existed when the land came under the protection of 19.8.2.201 NMAC; in
				addition, the notice must include a description of the basis for the claim
				that, under the document creating the right of way or easement, and under any
				subsequent conveyances, the person making the VER request has a legal right to
				use or construct a road across the right of way or easement to conduct surface
				coal mining operations;
(4) if a request relies upon one or more of
				the standards in Paragraph (2) of Subsections A of 19.8.35.7 NMAC , and
				Paragraphs (1) and (2) of Subsection D of 19.8.35.7 NMAC, a statement that the
				director will not make a decision on the merits of a request if, by the close
				of the comment period under this notice or the notice required by Subsection C
				of 19.8.35.12 NMAC, a person with a legal interest in the land initiates
				appropriate legal action in the proper venue to resolve any differences
				concerning the validity or interpretation of the deed, lease, easement, or
				other documents that form the basis of a claim;
(5) a description of the procedures that the
				director will follow in processing a request;
(6) the closing date of the comment period,
				which must be a minimum of 30 days after the publication date of the notice;
(7) a statement that interested
				persons may obtain a 30-day extension of the comment period upon request;
(8) the name and address of the
				director's office where a copy of the request is available for public
				inspection and to which comments and requests for extension of the comment
				period should be sent.