New Mexico Register / Volume XXXIII, Issue 20 / October 25,
2022
NOTICE OF PUBLIC RULE HEARING AND REGULAR BOARD
MEETING
The New Mexico Massage Therapy Board will hold a
rule hearing on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. Following the rule hearing, the Board will
convene a regular board meeting to consider adoption of the rules and take care
of regular business. The rule hearing
and board meeting will be held at the Regulation and Licensing Department, 5500
San Antonio Dr., Albuquerque, NM, Sandia Conference Room for those desiring to
attend in person.
The meeting will also be held via Cisco Webex
Meetings for those desiring to attend virtually.
Event address for attendees:
https://nmrld.webex.com/nmrld/onstage/g.php?MTID=e11d16eb103096e2a02c15ef3ddb2b281
Event number: 2494 514 6282
United States Toll
+1-415-655-0002
Access code: 2494 514 6282
The purpose of the rule hearing is to consider
proposed amendments to the following rules:
16.7.4
NMAC – Requirements for Licensure
16.7.8
NMAC – Licensure for Military Service Members, Spouses and Veterans
16.7.10
NMAC- Examination
To obtain and review copies of the full text of
the proposed rule and proposed changes you may go to the Board’s website
at: https://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/massage-therapy/mt-laws-rules-and-policies/,
or contact the Boards and Commissions Division at (505) 476-4622.
Pursuant to 20.1.1.304 NMAC, all interested
persons will be given reasonable opportunity at the hearing to submit relevant
evidence, data, views and arguments, orally or in
writing, to introduce exhibits, and to examine witnesses. Any person who wishes
to submit a non-technical written statement for the record in lieu of providing
oral testimony at the hearing, must file the written statement prior to the
hearing or submit it at the hearing.
The Board is currently accepting public
comments on the proposed amendments.
Please submit written comments on the proposed changes to Roxann
Ortiz-Pena, Board Administrator, via electronic mail at massage.board@state.nm.us
or by regular mail at P.O. Box 25101, Santa Fe, NM 87504, no later than
Wednesday November 30, 2022. Persons
will also be given the opportunity to present their comments at the rule
hearing. All written comments will be
posted to the Board’s website at:
https://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/massage-therapy/mt-laws-rules-and-policies/,
no more than three business days following receipt to allow for public view.
Please note that formatting and minor technical
changes in the regulations other than those proposed by the New Mexico Massage
Therapy Board may be proposed at the hearing. In addition, the Board may make
other changes as necessary to accomplish the purpose of protecting public
health and safety in response to public comments and evidence presented at the
hearing.
An individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language
interpreter, or other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate
in the hearing, please contact Nicolas Alderete, Board Administrator at (505)
476-4622.
Statutory Authority: Subsection A of Section 61-12C-8 NMSA 1978 of
the Massage Therapy Practice Act, Sections 61-12C-1 to -28 NMSA 1978,
specifically authorizes the Board to, “adopt and file, in accordance with the
State Rules Act, rules necessary to carry out the provisions of the Massage
Therapy Practice Act, in accordance with the provisions of the Uniform
Licensing Act. In addition, Section
61-1-31.1 NMSA 1978 of the Uniform Licensing Act, requires the Board to “determine
those states and territories of the United States and District of Columbia from
which the board will not accept an applicant for expedited licensure and those
foreign countries from which the Board will accept an applicant for expedited
licensure.”
Purpose of the Proposed
Rules: The proposed rules are
intended to provide greater clarity in existing regulatory and statutory
requirements, ensure continued high levels of professionalism among licensees
and certificate holders, and to generally satisfy the Board’s statutory
obligation to further the interests of public health, safety, and welfare by
“protect(ing) the public from unlawful, improper and
incompetent practice of massage therapy.”
See Section 61-12C-2 NMSA
1978. In addition, several of the proposed rule changes are intended to address
recent statutory changes to the Uniform Licensing Act, Sections 61-1-1 through
37 NMSA 1978 and the Massage Therapy Practice Act, Sections 61-12C-1 to 28 NMSA
1978. See H.B. 191, 56th Leg., Regular
Session. (N.M. 2022), available at
https://nmlegis.gov/Sessions/22%20Regular/final/HB0191.pdf.
Summary of Proposed
Changes: The Board summarizes its
proposed changes to its administrative rules as follows:
16.7.3 - NMAC - Fees
The proposed changes to
Part 3 of the Board’s current rules consist of adding language. In addition to minor non-substantive changes
including amendments providing necessary renumbering, the new Part 3 provides
for pro-rated license fees per month for the initial license term of licensees
receiving their license pursuant to the provisions for expedited licensure.
16.7.4 – NMAC - Requirements for
Licensure
The proposed changes to
Part 4 of the Board’s current rules are to amend the existing language. In addition to minor non-substantive changes
including amendments providing necessary renumbering and citation, amended Part
4 proposed amendments change the objective of Part 4 to reflect the legislative
purpose of the Board, the general provisions for licensure by examination. Additionally, proposed amendments to Part 4
remove provisions for licensure by credentials, which is to be replaced with
the process for expedited licensure under the proposed changes to Part 8 (see
below). Finally, proposed amendments to Part 4 clarify that the initial licensing
period provision, providing for the award of an initial license period for up
to two years to provide for syncing individual licensee license renewal to the
Board’s annual licensing renewal cycle.
16.7.8 – NMAC - Expedited Licensure
The proposed changes to
Part 8 of the Board’s current rules consist of repealing and replacing existing
language. The new Part 8 provides for expedited licensure for applicants
currently licensed in an eligible jurisdiction and expedited licensure for
military service members, their family members, and veterans. These additions include definitions
applicable to Part 8, a listing of disapproved licensing jurisdictions and the
reasons therefore, provisions for the requirements of the expedited licensure
application for applicants currently licensed in an eligible jurisdiction, and
provisions regarding the initial term of an expedited license and its renewal.
16.7.10 – NMAC - Examination
The proposed changes to
Part 10 of the Board’s current rules are to amend existing language. The
proposed amendments to Part 10 clarify that the Board’s jurisprudence
examination is required for both applicants for licensure by examination and
those licensees that received their license pursuant to the expedited licensure
provisions for those applicants then currently licensed in an eligible
jurisdiction, after their initial expedited licensure period has expired.