A. All vehicles with a gross vehicle weight in excess of one hundred seventy thousand pounds shall require a special permit as provided for in Section 66-7-413 N.M. Stat. Ann., and no such permit shall be issued unless:

(1)     an engineering investigation and review have been conducted to:

(a) establish whether the move could be made without visible or documented damages to the portion of road or bridges upon which the move is to be made;

(b) establish whether the move could be made without visible or documented damages to any private facilities along the road upon which the move is to be made; and

and (c) estimate the cost for any necessary modifications the move may cause;

(2)     when required, the applicant has submitted to the department of transportation and the local highway authorities all pertinent information requested of the applicant by the department of transportation and the New Mexico state police division. If the submitted data are not acceptable to the department of transportation, the applicant will be advised by the New Mexico state police division that engineering investigations will be conducted by the department of transportation, and the cost incurred by the department of transportation will be paid by the applicant as an added cost to the permit fee.

B. The department of transportation shall adopt the necessary rules for the development of data for an investigation to determine whether to issue any special permit pursuant to Section 66-7-413 N.M. Stat. Ann..

C. The applicant or the applicant’s employer shall pay the costs for any modifications to the road, bridges or private facilities along the road that the department of transportation has determined are necessary for the issuance of the special permit and the costs for any damages to the road or bridges that are the result of the move and the fault of the mover and not the department of transportation.

D. Any person who violates the provisions of Subsection A of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment for a definite term not to exceed six months, or both.

E. Nothing contained in this section shall limit in any manner the authority of the state, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision to collect damages for any unlawful use of highways as provided by law.