| (a) The purpose of the Texas Coastal Management Program
(CMP) is to make more effective and efficient use of public funds
and to more effectively and efficiently manage coastal natural resource
areas (CNRAs) and the activities that may affect them. The program
is based on goals and policies that guide the use and development
of CNRAs, preserve and protect CNRAs, and improve government processes.
Under the Coastal Coordination Act, the commissioner of the General
Land Office (commissioner) is charged with adopting rules promulgating
the CMP goals and policies. The Coastal Coordination Act requires
agency or subdivision actions to comply with these goals and policies.
(b) The commissioner will exercise authority pursuant
to the Coastal Coordination Act in the following ways.
(1) The commissioner will study and review the principal
coastal problems of state concern. This review will include examination
of the current status and future trends of CNRAs; examination of conflicts
between competing uses of CNRAs; and examination of policy issues
with respect to local, state, or national interests and concerns related
to CNRAs. The commissioner will examine alternative regulatory and
other management approaches to these problems, identify data collection
and research needs, and foster public education and participation.
(2) The commissioner will coordinate the performance
of agencies, subdivisions, and programs by promulgating goals and
policies to guide and serve as the basis for consistency review of
agency and subdivision actions. The commissioner will examine the
goals and policies in this chapter annually to review the effectiveness
of the program and will propose revisions to the goals and policies,
as necessary.
(3) The commissioner will coordinate the measures required
to resolve identified coastal problems and make coastal management
processes more visible, accessible, coherent, consistent, and accountable
by reviewing agency and subdivision actions for consistency with the
goals and policies in this chapter. Agency and subdivision actions
subject to consistency review are those set forth in Texas Natural
Resources Code, §33.2051 and §33.2053. The commissioner
shall employ consistency review of agency and subdivision rules and
policies as the primary technique for ensuring that agency and subdivision
actions are consistent with the CMP goals and policies in this chapter.
(4) The commissioner will adopt guidance and procedural
rules for the review of federal agency actions, activities, and outer
continental shelf plans that incorporate the provisions of the federal
regulations governing those reviews. The commissioner shall employ
consistency review to ensure that federal agency actions, activities,
and outer continental shelf plans are consistent with the CMP goals
and policies in this chapter.
(5) The commissioner will implement a grants program
to award funds to coastal local governments and other qualified entities
for the planning and implementation of projects that address environmental
problems affecting the coastal area, to promote sustainable economic
development, and otherwise further the CMP goals and policies. The
commissioner shall establish the procedures for making any determination
related to awarding a grant. For each year or for each grant cycle,
the commissioner shall promulgate guidance for the grants program
describing the deadlines, schedule, eligibility requirements, funding
policies, and approval process.
(c) As directed in the Coastal Coordination Act, the
General Land Office (GLO) will act as the lead agency in coordinating
and implementing the CMP, in cooperation with other state agencies
that have duties relating to coastal matters. The GLO, in coordination
with other agencies and subdivisions, shall prepare a biennial report
reviewing the effectiveness of the CMP as required by Texas Natural
Resources Code, §33.204(f). On or before January 15 of each odd-numbered
year, the GLO shall send the report to the legislature.
(d) The CMP will help local governments improve their
ability to manage CNRAs and human activities affecting those resources.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §26.1 adopted to be effective June 15, 1995, 19 TexReg 7606; amended to be effective November 3, 1995, 20 TexReg 8643; amended to be effective October 7, 2018, 43 TexReg 6449; transferred effective December 1, 2022, as published in the Texas Register October 28, 2022, 47 TexReg 7301 |
