<<Prev Rule

Texas Administrative Code

Next Rule>>
TITLE 13CULTURAL RESOURCES
PART 2TEXAS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
CHAPTER 26PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
SUBCHAPTER EMEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING WITH OTHER STATE AGENCIES
RULE §26.27Memorandum of Understanding with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

    (A) Archeological investigations. The annual permit authorizes construction monitoring, surface reconnaissance, shovel test excavation, controlled unit excavation up to 1 by 1 meter in horizontal dimension, mechanical testing, rock art recording and conservation, and intensive cultural resource surveys of TPWD lands up to 200 acres per project conducted during that calendar year.

      (i) Reconnaissance surveys as defined in §26.15 of this title (relating to Archeological Permit Categories) conducted under the annual permit may exceed 200 acres per project.

      (ii) Up to twelve (12) backhoe or other mechanical trench excavations may be used during survey-level investigations to determine whether buried cultural deposits exist, and to obtain geoarcheological (geomorphological) data.

      (iii) The following investigations are not authorized under this permit. Intensive surveys covering over 200 acres and/or advanced archeological investigations such as testing or data recovery as defined in §26.15 of this title (relating to Archeological Permit Categories) will not be conducted under this permit. Architectural investigations are not authorized under this permit.

    (B) Qualifications. Investigations will be conducted under the supervision of qualified TPWD archeologists or, at the discretion of the CRPD, archeologists contracted by TPWD who meet THC requirements for principal investigator as listed in §26.4 of this title. The CRPD, WFC, or their designees may designate qualified TPWD archeologists to serve as Principal Investigators for particular projects.

    (C) Standards. All archeological investigations performed on TPWD lands must meet current professional archeological standards as promulgated by the Council of Texas Archeologists.

  (6) THC Review of Reports on Archeological Investigations under annual Antiquities Permit.

    (A) Archeological investigations conducted on TPWD lands under the annual Antiquities Permit that require THC review under paragraph (2)(A) of this subsection or other state or federal regulations will be reported in the annual Antiquities Permit report. At the discretion of the CRPD, additional investigations that do not require THC review may be included in the annual Antiquities Permit report, and will be clearly designated as such.

    (B) Interim reports. When TPWD seeks project approval from THC as a result of archeological investigations conducted on TPWD lands under the annual Antiquities Permit, the CRPD, WFC, or their designees may send THC a concise interim report on the findings of the investigations. The interim report will contain information on:

      (i) the type of project that is proposed, including the nature and extent of its impacts;

      (ii) any prior impacts that have affected the project area;

      (iii) locational data for the area of archeological investigations and any archeological sites encountered;

      (iv) a summary of the scope, findings, and conclusions of the archeological investigations;

      (v) evaluations of each archeological site's suitability for official State Antiquities Landmark designation under §26.10 of this title (relating to Criteria for Evaluating Archeological Sites); and

      (vi) a project approval request or recommendations for further work, as appropriate.

    (C) THC review of interim reports. THC shall respond in writing (hard copy or electronic format) to interim reports within 30 days of receipt. When appropriate, THC will concur with the report findings and recommendations after review. If THC does not respond to TPWD within that period of time, TPWD may proceed with internal authorization of the proposed project without further notice to THC.

    (D) Draft reports. TPWD archeologists and archeologists contracted by TPWD who conduct investigations under the annual Antiquities Permit at the discretion of the CRPD shall provide the CRPD with concise, informative draft reports with supporting documents. All interim reports described in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph will be expanded into draft reports meeting the requirements of the Council of Texas Archeologists Guidelines for Cultural Resources Management Short Reports. The archeologist will submit shapefiles of areas investigated and copies of TexSite forms for the sites described in the report to the CRPD along with each draft report. All sites shall have trinomial designations assigned by the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin.

    (E) Draft annual Antiquities Permit report. The TPWD draft annual Antiquities Permit report on each year's investigations will be compiled and edited by the CRPD or their designee, and the CRPD will submit the report to THC for review by May 1 of the following year. THC shall provide comments in writing (hard copy or electronic format) on the draft annual report within 30 days of receipt. If THC does not respond to TPWD within that period of time, TPWD may proceed with publication of the final annual report without further notice to THC.

    (F) Final annual Antiquities Permit report. The final TPWD annual Antiquities Permit report shall be in a format that conforms to §26.16(a)(1) of this title (relating to Reports Relating to Archeological Permits). Upon approval of the draft annual Antiquities Permit report by THC, TPWD will submit the final report to THC no later than 120 days after TPWD has received THC approval, and will distribute copies in accord with §26.16 of this title.


Source Note: The provisions of this §26.27 adopted to be effective May 20, 2013, 38 TexReg 2980; amended to be effective February 25, 2018, 43 TexReg 1045

Previous Page

Link to Texas Secretary of State Home Page | link to Texas Register home page | link to Texas Administrative Code home page | link to Open Meetings home page