16 Tex. Admin. Code § 4.125 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Notice and Opportunity to Protest
(a)
Purpose. Applicants are encouraged to engage with their communities early in
the waste facility planning process to inform the community of the plan to
construct a facility and allow those who may be affected by the proposed
activities to express their concerns. The purpose of the notice required by
this section is to inform notice recipients:
(1) that an applicant has filed a permit
application with the Commission, seeking authorization to conduct an activity
or operate a facility; and
(2) of
the requirements for filing a protest if an affected person seeks to protest
the permit application.
(b) Timing of notice. The applicant shall
provide notice after staff determines that an application is complete pursuant
to §
1.201(b) of this
title (relating to Time Periods for Processing Applications and Issuing Permits
Administratively). The date notice is completed begins a 30-day period in which
an affected person may file a protest of the application with the
Commission.
(c) Notice recipients.
The applicant shall provide notice to:
(1) the
surface owners of the tract on which the facility will be located;
(2) the surface owners of tracts adjacent to
the tract on which the facility will be located;
(3) the surface owners of tracts located
within 500 feet of the facility's fence line or boundary, even if the surface
owner's tract is not adjacent to the tract on which the facility is
located;
(4) the city clerk or
other appropriate city official if any part of the tract on which the facility
will be located lies within the municipal boundaries of the city;
(5) the Commission's District Office;
and
(6) any other person or class
of persons that the Director determines should receive notice of an
application.
(d) Method
and contents of notice. Unless otherwise specified in this subchapter, the
applicant shall provide direct notice to the persons specified in subsection
(c) of this section as follows.
(1) The
applicant shall provide notice by registered or certified mail. Notice is
completed upon deposit of the document postpaid and properly addressed to the
person's last known address with the United States Postal Service.
(2) The notice of the permit application
shall consist of a complete copy of the application and any attachments. The
copy shall be of the application and attachments after staff determines the
application is complete pursuant to §
1.201(b) of this
title but before the final review is completed.
(3) The notice shall include a letter that
contains:
(A) the name of the
applicant;
(B) the date of the
notice;
(C) the name of the surface
owners of the tract on which the proposed facility will be located;
(D) the location of the tract on which the
proposed facility will be located including a legal description of the tract,
latitude/longitude coordinates of the proposed facility, county, original
survey, abstract number, and the direction and distance from the nearest
municipality or community;
(E) the
types of fluid or waste to be managed at the facility;
(F) a statement that an affected person may
protest the application by filing a written protest with the Commission within
30 calendar days of the date notice is completed;
(G) a statement that a protest shall include
the protestant's name, mailing address, telephone number, and email
address;
(H) the address to which
protests may be mailed or the location and instructions for electronic
submittal of a protest if the Commission implements an electronic means for
filing protests;
(I) the definition
of "affected person" pursuant to §
4.110 of this title (relating to
Definitions); and
(J) the signature
of the operator, or representative of the operator, and the date the letter was
signed.
(4) If the
Director determines that the applicant, after diligent efforts, has been unable
to ascertain the name and address of one or more persons required by this
section to be notified, then the Director may authorize the applicant to notify
such persons by publishing notice of the application in accordance with the
procedure and contents required by §
4.141 of this title (relating to
Additional Notice Requirements for Commercial Facilities). The Director will
consider the applicant to have made diligent efforts to ascertain the names and
addresses of surface owners required to be notified if the applicant has
examined the current county tax rolls and investigated other reliable and
readily available sources of information.
(e) Proof of notice.
(1) After the applicant provides the notice
required by this section, the applicant shall submit to the Commission proof of
delivery of notice which shall consist of:
(A)
a copy of the signed and dated letters required by subsection (d)(3) of this
section;
(B) the registered or
certified mail receipts; and
(C) a
map showing the property boundaries, surface owner names, and parcel numbers of
all notified parties.
(2) If the Director authorizes notice by
publication in accordance with subsection (d)(4) of this section, the applicant
shall provide the following as proof of notice:
(A) an affidavit from the newspaper publisher
that states the dates on which the notice was published and the county or
counties in which the newspaper is of general circulation; and
(B) the tear sheets for each published
notice.
(f)
Protest process. Any statement of protest to an application must be filed with
the Commission within 30 calendar days from the date notice is completed or
from the last date of publication if notice by publication is authorized by the
Director.
(1) The Technical Permitting
Section shall notify the applicant if the Commission receives an affected
person's timely protest. A timely protest is a written protest date-stamped as
received by the Commission within 30 calendar days of the date notice is
completed or within 30 calendar days of the last date of publication, whichever
is later.
(2) The applicant shall
have 30 days from the date of the Technical Permitting Section's notice of
receipt of protest to respond, in writing, by either requesting a hearing or
withdrawing the application. If the applicant fails to timely file a written
response, the Technical Permitting Section shall consider the application to
have been withdrawn.
(3) The
Technical Permitting Section shall refer all protested applications to the
Hearings Division if a timely protest is received and the applicant requests a
hearing.
(4) The Commission shall
provide notice of any hearing convened under this subsection to all affected
persons and persons who have requested notice of the hearing.
(5) If the Director has reason to believe
that a person entitled to notice of an application has not received notice as
required by this section, then the Technical Permitting Section shall not take
action on the application until notice is provided to such person.
(6) The Commission may issue a permit if no
timely protests from affected persons are received.
Notes
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