New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI, Issue 17 / September 9, 2025

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The New Mexico State Land Office (“SLO”) will hold a public hearing on September 30, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., and continuing thereafter as necessary, in Morgan Hall, Room 101, 310 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The hearing will include a virtual/telephonic participation option, details of which will be provided on SLO’s website (http://www.nmstatelands.org) at least 30 days prior to the public hearing. Any change to the location or time of the hearing will be posted with a final agenda on the SLO webpage (http://www.nmstatelands.org) at least 72 hours prior to the date and times specified above.

The purpose of the hearing is to consider repealing and replacing State Land Office Rule 19.2.7 NMAC (relating to geothermal resources leases) to address the Legislature’s 2013 amendments to the Geothermal Resources Act (Section 19-13-1 et seq., NMSA 1978) and to modernize and improve the SLO’s process for issuing leases for extraction, removal and/or use of geothermal resources from state trust lands. Legal authority for this rulemaking can be found in the Geothermal Resources Act, Section 19-13-25 NMSA 1978, and in Section 19-1-2 NMSA 1978.

The proposed rule is available on the SLO website (http://nmstatelands.org) and the Sunshine Portal (http://www.sunshineportalnm.com) and at the SLO building located at 310 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico. To request a hard copy, please contact Francesca Di Palma at (505) 827-5761 or make a request by email at SLO-INFO@nmslo.gov.

Written comments may be submitted by mail to Francesca Di Palma, New Mexico State Land Office, Attention: Geothermal Rulemaking, or by email to SLO-INFO@nmslo.gov. Written comments (including comments submitted by email) will be accepted through 5:00 p.m. on September 26, 2025.

Individuals with disabilities who require this information in an alternative format or need any form of auxiliary aid (such as a sign language interpreter) to attend or participate in any aspect of the proposed rulemaking process or the public rule hearing are asked to contact Selena Romero at least 10 days prior to the hearing by phone at (505) 827-5790 or by email at sromero@nmslo.gov.