Rule Petitions

Petitions for Adoption of Rules:

Rules for submittal and processing of petitions are located in Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Title 30, Part 1, Chapter 20. Requests that do not meet all of the requirements may be considered deficient, and will not be subject to processing as a petition for rulemaking.

(a) Any interested person may petition the commission to request the adoption of a rule. For the purposes of this section, an interested person must be: 

   (1) a resident of Texas;

   (2) a business entity located in Texas;

   (3) a governmental subdivision located in Texas; or

   (4) a public or private organization located in Texas that is not a Texas state agency.

 (b) Petitions shall be submitted in writing to: Executive Director, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas 78711-3087, and shall comply with the following requirements:

   (1) each rule requested must be submitted by separate petition;

   (2) each petition must state the name and address of the petitioner;

   (3) each petition shall include:

     (A) a brief explanation of the proposed rule;

     (B) the text of the proposed rule prepared in a manner to indicate the words to be added or deleted from the text of the current rule, if any;

     (C) a statement of the statutory or other authority under which the proposed rule is to be promulgated; and

     (D) an allegation of injury or inequity that could result from the failure to adopt the proposed rule.

 (c) A petition may be denied for failure to comply with the requirements of subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

 (d) Within 60 days after submission of a petition, the commission shall consider the petition and shall either deny the petition in writing, stating its reasons for the denial, or shall initiate rulemaking proceedings in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act.