HB 190: SAND, GRAVEL & QUARRIES IN MINING ACT

An Act Relating To Mining; Amending The Definition Section Of The New Mexico Mining Act To Include Certain Sand, Gravel And Quarry Rock As Minerals And To Exclude Certain Small Mining Operations From The New Mexico Mining Act.

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MILD HB 190
SAND, GRAVEL & QUARRIES IN MINING ACT

Legislative URL:

HB 190 on nmlegis.gov

Emergency Clause:

No

Germane:

N/A

Location:

HRPAC

Action:

[3] HRPAC/HEENC-HRPAC API.

Issue(s):

Regulation & Enforcement

Related Legislators

Bill Sponsor:

John Sapien James Smith

Related Documents

Downloads:

Introduced
Fiscal Impact Report

Summary

The New Mexico Mining Act seeks to promote responsible utilization and reclamation of lands affected by exploration, mining or the extraction of minerals that are vital to the welfare of New Mexico. Under current law, sand, gravel and quarry rock used as aggregate for construction are excluded from the definition of minerals and the their extraction is excluded from the definition of mining. This bill reverses those definitions so that the mining of sand, gravel and rock used as aggregate for construction are included under the Act.

The bill also provides an exception to the definition of mining for certain small operations that it defines as the “exploration and extraction of minerals, unless by chemical means, from an open-cut mine with a surface area of less than five contiguous, unreclaimed acres.”

A potential benefit of the bill might be additional state oversight over sand, gravel and some rock mining. A possible concern might be the loss of oversight over the small operations.