A. The "crane operators licensure examining council" is created. The members of the council shall serve at the pleasure of the superintendent. The superintendent shall appoint at least five members to the council with consideration given to geographical representation and proportional representation of operator, contractor, labor and public members. The members of the council shall include at least:

(1) one class I crane operator;

(2) one contractor, as defined by Section 60-13-3 NMSA 1978, who employs at least one crane operator;

(3) one representative of organized labor; and

(4) two members from the public at large who are not licensed crane operators.

B. The duties of the council include:

(1) reviewing and approving the applications, qualifications and examinations of applicants for licensure as crane operators and recommending to the superintendent whether licensure should be granted based on their evaluation of the operating experience and competence of the applicants;

(2) reporting findings and recommendations from the hearings to the superintendent;

(3) proceeding according to regulations adopted by the department; and

(4) approving examinations and training programs that meet the requirements of the federal occupational safety and health administration, United States department of labor or occupational health and safety bureau of the department of environment.

History: Laws 1993, ch. 183, § 14; 1995, ch. 138, § 9; 2005, ch. 52, § 3; 2013, ch. 76, § 6; 2017, ch. 31, § 11.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, replaced "hoisting" with "crane" throughout the section.

The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, clarified the structure of the licensure examining council; deleted the introductory paragraph, which provided the structure of the licensure examining council; added Subsection A; and in Subsection B, added the introductory sentence and Paragraph (4).

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2006, increased the number of members to the hoisting operators licensure examining council to five members; required that the superintendent give consideration to geographical representation in the appointment of members to the council; and required that one member be a representative of organized labor and that two members be public members who are not licensed hoisting operators.

The 1995 amendment, effective July 1, 1995, in the third sentence in the introductory paragraph substituted "class I" for "first class" and added "who employs one or more hoisting operators", and inserted "and approving" in Subsection A.