New Mexico Statutes Chapter 69. Mines § 69-25B-6. Objectives of the fund; duties of the director

A. Pursuant to the state reclamation plan, expenditures from the fund shall be used by the director on eligible lands and water and shall reflect the priorities and objectives in the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977,  1 as amended.

B. The legislature declares that voids and open and abandoned tunnels, shafts and entryways resulting from any previous mining operation constitute a hazard to the public health or safety and that surface impacts of any underground or surface mining operations may degrade the environment. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, the director, with the prior approval of the governor and the United States secretary of the interior, may use expenditures from the fund to fill the voids, seal the abandoned tunnels, shafts and entryways and reclaim surface impacts of underground or surface mines that could endanger life and property, constitute a hazard to the public health and safety or degrade the environment. In those instances where mine waste piles are being reworked for conservation purposes, expenditures from the fund may be used to pay the incremental costs of disposing of the wastes from those operations by filling voids and sealing tunnels if the disposal of these wastes meets the purposes of this subsection.