New Mexico Register / Volume XXX,
Issue 4 / February 26, 2019
PUBLIC RULE
HEARING AND REGULAR BOARD MEETING
The
New Mexico Board of Optometry will hold a rule hearing on Friday, March 29,
2019, at 1:00 p.m. Following the rule
hearing, the Board will convene a board meeting to adopt the rules and take
care of regular business. The rule
hearing and board meeting will be held at the New Mexico Regulation and
Licensing Department, 5500 San Antonio Dr., NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the
Sandia Conference Room.
The
purpose of the rule hearing is to consider proposed amendments to the following
rules:
16.16.4 NMAC - Requirements for Licensure
16.16.11 NMAC - License Expiration Due to Non-
Renewal; Reactivation
16.16.13 NMAC - Continuing Education
To
obtain and review copies of the proposed changes you may go to the Board’s
website at: http://www.rld.state.nm.us/boards/Optometry_Rules_and_Laws.aspx,
or contact the Boards and Commissions Division at (505) 476-4622.
The
Board is currently accepting public comments on the proposed amendments. Please submit written comments on the proposed
changes to Martha Gallegos, Acting Board Administrator, via electronic mail at optometry.bd@state.nm.us or by regular mail at P.O. Box 25101,
Santa Fe, NM 87504, no later than Thursday, March 28, 2019. 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:
http://www.rld.state.nm.us/boards/Optometry_Rules_and_Laws.aspx, no more than
three business days following receipt to allow for public view.
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 Martha Gallegos, Acting Board Administrator at (505) 476-4622.
Statutory Authority: Legal authority for this rulemaking can
be found in the Optometry Act, Sections 61-2-1 through -18, NMSA 1978 (1985, as
amended through 2010) which, among other provisions, specifically authorizes
the Board to “adopt rules necessary to implement the provisions of the
Optometry Act.” Subsection D of Section 61-2-6, NMSA 1978.
Summary of
Proposed Changes:
16.16.4 NMAC
- Requirements for Licensure
Requirements
for Licensure by Endorsement states that practitioners from other states go
through all the same requirements as new graduates. This change will expedite licensure for
applicants by endorsement.
16.16.11
NMAC - License Expiration Due to Non-Renewal; Reactivation
Clarify
penalty fee to reflect fee for reinstatement by reducing the fees associated
with Non-renewal reactivation, in order to make it easier for previously
licensed optometrists to resume practicing in New Mexico. This would help with the current shortage of Optometrists.
16.16.13
NMAC - Continuing Education
Proposed change is a semantic change only and will
have no impact on licensed Doctors of Optometry to Paragraph (2) of Subsection
A of 16.16.13.8 NMAC.