Section 3. Statutory Authority

This regulation is created pursuant to the Cultural Properties Act, Section 18-6-8 NMSA 1978, which authorizes the state historic preservation officer to administer the Cultural Properties Act, including to serve as the administrative head of all the Cultural Properties Act’s functions assigned to the historic preservation division by law and to coordinate all duties performed by and cooperate with entities, public or private, involved with cultural properties. Pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. 470a(b)-(d), the state historic preservation officer is the designated state official who shall be responsible for the administration of the state historic preservation program which includes providing a mechanism for the certification by the state historic preservation officer of local governments to carry out the purposes of the National Historic Preservation Act.