New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 20 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Chapter 11 - ALBUQUERQUE - BERNALILLO COUNTY AIR QUALITY CONTROL BOARD › Part 41 - CONSTRUCTION PERMITS › Section 20.11.41.15 - PUBLIC INFORMATION HEARING (PIH)

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Before the department makes a final
				decision regarding a permit application, the department shall hold a PIH if the
				director determines that there is significant public interest and a significant
				air quality issue is involved. A PIH is not an adjudicatory hearing on the
				merits. The PIH shall be held no fewer than 30 days before the deadline for the
				department to make a final decision regarding the permit application. The
				hearing officer shall determine whether to require attendees to be sworn before
				they can ask questions, provide comments or provide information. During the
				PIH, attendees can ask questions, provide comments and provide information
				regarding the requested air quality permitting action, but no final decision
				shall be made by the department at the close of the hearing.
B. The department shall make all arrangements
				and pay all expenses of the hearing including:
(1) arranging for a location for the PIH,
				which shall be held near the proposed source if reasonably feasible;
(2) providing an English-Spanish and
				Spanish-English translator at the PIH if determined to be necessary by the
				department;
(3) providing a hearing
				officer; the hearing officer shall preside over the PIH; shall give all
				attendees present at the hearing a reasonable opportunity to ask questions,
				provide comments and provide information regarding the requested air quality
				permitting action and to examine attendees commenting at the hearing; but shall
				not make a recommendation or a final decision regarding the permit
				application;
(4) requesting that
				the applicant present its proposal and to answer questions from attendees at
				the PIH;
(5) no fewer than 30 days
				before the PIH, providing a copy of the public notice by certified mail or
				electronic mail to the applicant, the designated representative(s) of the
				recognized neighborhood associations and recognized neighborhood coalitions
				that are within one-half mile of the exterior boundaries of the property on
				which the source is or is proposed to be located; contact information, if
				available, shall be obtained from the most current records of the city of
				Albuquerque office of neighborhood coordination and the county of Bernalillo
				zoning, building and planning department; the notice shall contain the
				information required by Paragraphs (1) and (3)-(5) of Subsection C of
				20.11.41.13
				NMAC, and the name of the contact person, the department and the address to
				which comments and inquiries may be directed; the notice of the PIH shall be in
				English and Spanish if the department determines notice in Spanish is
				necessary; if a PIH notice is returned to the department undelivered, the
				department shall promptly confirm the address through the appropriate local
				government entity, and, if an address is available, shall provide a second copy
				of applicant's PIH notice to the president or vice president of the
				neighborhood association or neighborhood coalition;
(6) publishing public notice of the PIH in
				the newspaper with the largest general circulation in Bernalillo county no
				fewer than 30 days before the PIH; the notice shall include the date, time, and
				location of the PIH, the number of the proposed permit, and a statement that a
				final decision has not been made by the department regarding the proposed
				permit;
(7) mailing notice of the
				PIH to all interested persons who have submitted written comments or evidence
				to the department and to all interested persons who have delivered to the
				department a written request for notice regarding the application; a request to
				inspect or copy shall not be considered a written comment for the purposes of
				Paragraph (7) of Subsection B of 20.11.41.15 NMAC;
(8) requiring department staff to attend the
				PIH; be present during the applicant's requested presentation and the comments
				and questions by the attendees; and answer questions regarding the application
				and the permitting process; and
(9)
				recording the PIH and including the recording in the administrative record for
				the permit application; the department shall provide a duplicate of the
				recording to any person who requests a copy; the person requesting shall
				reimburse the department for the cost of the copy before the department makes
				the copy; the person making the request for a copy may instead provide the
				department with recording media that meets the department specifications, and
				the department will not impose a charge for copying; if a person requests a
				transcript of the hearing (the requestor), the department shall obtain an
				estimate of the cost of the transcription and inform the requestor; the
				requestor shall pay the estimated cost before the department orders the
				transcription; if the actual cost of the transcription is more than the
				estimate, the requestor shall pay the additional amount before the department
				provides the transcription; if the actual cost of the transcription is less
				than the estimate, the department shall reimburse the difference.