16 Tex. Admin. Code § 20.201 - Gifts to the Commission
(a) Definitions.
The following words and terms when used in this section shall have the
following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Commission--The Railroad Commission of
Texas.
(2) Commissioner--A member
of the commission.
(3) Contested
case--A proceeding, including a ratemaking or licensing proceeding, in which
the legal rights, duties or privileges of a party are to be determined by the
commission after an opportunity for adjudicative hearing. For purposes of this
section, the term does not include matters that are handled administratively
without a hearing.
(4) Decision in
a contested case--That final order of the commission that disposes of all
issues in a contested case.
(5)
Director--The Director of Finance and Administration.
(6) Division director--The director of any
commission division.
(7)
Employee--A full-time or part-time employee of the commission.
(8) Gift--A donation of money, property, or
other assistance conveyed to the commission and over which the commission has
complete title, control, or discretion. The term does not include items that
are temporarily in the commission's possession for testing or research
purposes; a non-employee's participation as a speaker or presenter in a
commission-sponsored conference or seminar; or payments made pursuant to Texas
Natural Resources Code, §
89.084.
(9) Inception of the case--The date an
application, complaint, petition, statement of intent, or other request for
commission action, ruling, or relief is determined to require a hearing or the
date a matter is referred to the Office of General Counsel, whichever is
earlier.
(10) Money--Cash or
negotiable instruments.
(11) Other
assistance--The gift of personnel or expertise in a particular professional or
technical area.
(12) Party--A
person or a state agency named or admitted as a party to a contested case
pending before the commission.
(13)
Person--An individual; a partnership, limited partnership, joint venture,
cooperative, corporation, association, or any other business organization or
entity; a trust; an estate; a public or private institution of higher
education; or a state agency, county, municipality, council of government,
school district or other governmental subdivision.
(14) Property--Real property or personal
property, both tangible and intangible.
(b) Terms and conditions. The commission may
apply for, request, solicit, contract for, receive, accept, and administer
gifts, grants, and donations of money or other assistance from any source to
carry out any commission purpose or power authorized by law except as follows:
(1) Neither the commission nor its delegate
shall accept a gift from a party in a contested case during the period from the
inception of the contested case until the 30th day after the date the decision
in a contested case becomes final under Texas Government Code, §
2001.144.
(2) Neither the commission nor its delegate
shall solicit or accept any gift:
(A) that
might reasonably tend to influence a commissioner or commission employee in the
discharge of official duties, or that the commissioner or commission employee
knows or should know is being offered with the intent to influence the
commissioner's or commission employee's official conduct;
(B) that could reasonably be expected to
impair a commissioner's or commission employee's independence of judgment in
the performance of the commissioner's or commission employee's official duties;
or
(C) for having exercised the
commission's or a commission employee's official powers or performed the
commission's or commission employee's official duties in favor of
another.
(c)
Notice of intent to make a gift. A person wishing to make a gift to the
commission shall file with the Director a completed RRC Gift Form, Notice of
Gift to Railroad Commission of Texas, or a letter including the following
information:
(1) the complete
legal name, address, and telephone number of the donor;
(2) a description of the intended
gift;
(3) the date on which the
gift would be made;
(4) a statement
describing the manner in which the intended gift would assist the commission in
carrying out its duties;
(5) an
estimate of the value of the gift; and
(6) a statement regarding the donor's party
status in any contested case pending before the commission:
(A) If the donor is a party in a contested
case pending before the commission, the notice shall include the docket number,
style, and filing date of every contested case in which the donor is a
party.
(B) If the donor is not a
party in any contested case pending before the commission, the notice shall
include either the docket number, style, and date the order was signed in the
most recent contested case in which the donor was a party or a statement that
the donor has never been a party to a contested case before the
commission.
(7) The
Director shall forward the form or letter to the appropriate division director
for review.
(d) Division
director review. The division director to whom the Director has forwarded a
copy of the form or letter shall review the form or letter within 10 business
days. The division director shall indicate on the form whether:
(1) the intended gift would assist the
commission in carrying out its duties and, if so, how;
(2) the intended gift would provide a broad
or general benefit to the commission in carrying out its purposes and powers
that would exceed any particular benefit that the donor might realize as a
result of making the gift;
(3) the
division director agrees with the estimated value of the gift and, if not, the
division director's estimate of the value of the gift and the reason for the
difference of opinion; and
(4) the
commission should accept the intended gift and, if not, the reasons the
division director recommends against accepting the intended gift.
(5) The division director shall forward the
form or letter to the Office of General Counsel for review.
(e) Office of General Counsel
review. Upon receipt of a form or letter from a division director, the Office
of General Counsel shall review the form or letter within 10 business days
regarding the intended donor's status as a party in any proceeding pending
before the commission.
(1) The review shall
indicate whether the date on which the donor intends to make the gift to the
commission meets the requirements of subsection (b)(1) of this section and if
not, shall state a date or dates which would meet the requirements of
subsection (b)(1) of this section.
(2) The Office of General Counsel shall
forward the reviewed form or letter to the Director for final review.
(f) Director review. Upon receipt
of a form or letter reviewed by a division director and the Office of General
Counsel, the Director shall review the form or letter within 10 business days
to ensure that all information required by this section is included.
(1) The Director may request that the person
filing the notice of intent to make a gift supply additional information
regarding the donor, the intended gift, its estimated value, its usefulness to
the commission, the donor's party status, or any other information that the
Director deems relevant to the intended gift.
(2) The commission delegates to the Director
the authority to accept or reject intended gifts using the standards and
procedures set forth in this section.
(3) If the Director finds all information on
the form or letter to be complete and accurate the Director shall either accept
or reject the intended gift. The Director shall accept a gift by signing and
dating the RRC Gift Form and forwarding copies of the form to the donor, the
appropriate division director, the Finance and Administration Division, and the
Office of General Counsel. The Director shall notify in writing the donor, the
appropriate division director, the Finance and Accounting Division, the Office
of General Counsel, and the commissioners of a decision to reject an intended
gift, and shall include a brief statement of the reason(s) for the
rejection.
(4) If the Director
accepts a gift valued at $500 or more, the Director shall:
(A) give notice that the commission will
acknowledge the acceptance at an open meeting; and
(B) prepare a document by which the
commission may acknowledge acceptance of a gift.
(5) In an open meeting, the commission shall
consider the acknowledgment of an accepted gift and shall commemorate the
acknowledgment by signing the prepared document.
(g) Upon a Director decision accepting a
gift, the Director shall ensure that the commission staff takes all appropriate
steps to receive the gift and to account for it properly in the records of the
commission.
Notes
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