16 Tex. Admin. Code § 4.238 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Notice
(a) Purpose.
Applicants are encouraged to engage with their communities early in the
commercial recycling facility planning process to inform the community of the
plan to construct an off-lease or centralized commercial solid oil and gas
waste recycling 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 for an off-lease or
centralized commercial solid oil and gas waste recycling facility 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 commercial recycling facility will be
located;
(2) the surface owners of
tracts located within a distance of 1/2-mile from the fence line or edge of the
facility as shown on the plat required under §
4.233(b) of this
title (relating to Minimum Real Property Information) of the facility's fence
line or boundary, even if the surface owner's tract is not adjacent to the
tract on which the commercial recycling facility is located;
(3) the city clerk or other appropriate city
official if any part of the tract on which the commercial recycling facility
will be located lies within the municipal boundaries of the city;
(4) the Commission's District Office;
and
(5) 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 commercial recycling facility will be
located;
(D) the location of the
tract on which the proposed commercial recycling 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 solids to be recycled at the
commercial recycling facility;
(F)
the recycling method proposed and the proposed end-use of the recycled
material;
(G) 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;
(H) a statement that a
protest shall include the protestant's name, mailing address, telephone number,
and email address;
(I) 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;
(J) the definition
of "affected person" pursuant to §
4.110 of this title (relating to
Definitions); and
(K) the signature
of the operator, or representative of the operator, and the date the letter was
signed.
(4) If the
Director finds that a person to whom the applicant was required to give notice
of an application has not received such notice, then the Director shall not
take action on the application until the applicant has made reasonable efforts
to give such person notice of the application and an opportunity to file a
protest to the application with the Commission.
(e) Proof of notice. 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:
(1) a copy of the signed and dated letters
required by subsection (d)(3) of this section;
(2) the registered or certified mail
receipts; and
(3) a map showing the
property boundaries, surface owner names, and parcel numbers of all notified
parties.
(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.
(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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