(a) Failure to publish notice. If the Office of the
Chief Clerk (chief clerk) prepares a newspaper notice that is required
by Subchapters G - J, L, and M of this chapter (relating to Public
Notice for Applications for Consolidated Permits; Applicability and
General Provisions; Public Notice of Solid Waste Applications; Public
Notice of Water Quality Applications and Water Quality Management
Plans; Public Notice of Injection Well and Other Specific Applications;
and Public Notice for Radioactive Material Licenses) and the applicant
does not cause the notice to be published within 45 days of mailing
of the notice from the chief clerk, or for Notice of Receipt of Application
and Intent to Obtain Permit, within 30 days after the executive director
declares the application administratively complete, or fails to submit
the copies of notices or affidavit required in subsection (e) of this
section, the executive director may cause one of the following actions
to occur.
(1) The chief clerk may cause the notice to be published
and the applicant shall reimburse the agency for the cost of publication.
(2) The executive director may suspend further processing
or return the application. If the application is resubmitted within
six months of the date of the return of the application, it will be
exempt from any application fee requirements.
(b) Electronic mailing lists. The chief clerk may require
the applicant to provide necessary mailing lists in electronic form.
(c) Mail or hand delivery. When Subchapters G - L of
this chapter require notice by mail, notice by hand delivery may be
substituted. Mailing is complete upon deposit of the document, enclosed
in a prepaid, properly addressed wrapper, in a post office or official
depository of the United States Postal Service. If hand delivery is
by courier-receipted delivery, the delivery is complete upon the courier
taking possession.
(d) Combined notice. Notice may be combined to satisfy
more than one applicable section of this chapter.
(e) Notice and affidavit. When Subchapters G - J and
L of this chapter require an applicant to publish notice, the applicant
must file a copy of the published notice and a publisher's affidavit
with the chief clerk certifying facts that constitute compliance with
the requirement. The deadline to file a copy of the published notice
which shows the date of publication and the name of the newspaper
is ten business days after the last date of publication. The deadline
to file the affidavit is 30 calendar days after the last date of publication
for each notice. Filing an affidavit certifying facts that constitute
compliance with notice requirements creates a rebuttable presumption
of compliance with the requirement to publish notice. When the chief
clerk publishes notice under subsection (a) of this section, the chief
clerk shall file a copy of the published notice and a publisher's
affidavit.
(f) Published notice. When this chapter requires notice
to be published under this subsection:
(1) the applicant shall publish notice in the newspaper
of largest circulation in the county in which the facility is located
or proposed to be located or, if the facility is located or proposed
to be located in a municipality, the applicant shall publish notice
in any newspaper of general circulation in the municipality;
(2) for applications for solid waste permits and injection
well permits, the applicant shall publish notice in the newspaper
of largest general circulation that is published in the county in
which the facility is located or proposed to be located. If a newspaper
is not published in the county, the notice must be published in any
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the facility
is located or proposed to be located. The requirements of this subsection
may be satisfied by one publication if the newspaper is both published
in the county and is the newspaper of largest general circulation
in the county; and
(3) air quality permit applications required by Subchapters
H and K of this chapter (relating to Applicability and General Provisions
and Public Notice of Air Quality Permit Applications, respectively)
to publish notice shall comply with the requirements of §39.603
of this title (relating to Newspaper Notice).
(g) Copy of application. The applicant shall make a
copy of the application available for review and copying at a public
place in the county in which the facility is located or proposed to
be located. If the application is submitted with confidential information
marked as confidential by the applicant, the applicant shall indicate
in the public file that there is additional information in a confidential
file. The copy of the application must comply with the following.
(1) A copy of the administratively complete application
must be available for review and copying beginning on the first day
of newspaper publication of Notice of Receipt of Application and Intent
to Obtain Permit and remain available for the publications' designated
comment period.
(2) A copy of the complete application (including any
subsequent revisions to the application) and executive director's
preliminary decision must be available for review and copying beginning
on the first day of newspaper publication required by this section
and remain available until the commission has taken action on the
application or the commission refers issues to State Office of Administrative
Hearings; and
(3) where applicable, for air quality permit applications,
the applicant shall also make available the executive director's draft
permit, preliminary determination summary and air quality analysis
for review and copying beginning on the first day of newspaper publication
required by §39.419 of this title (relating to Notice of Application
and Preliminary Decision) and remain available until the commission
has taken action on the application or the commission refers issues
to State Office of Administrative Hearings.
(h) Failure to publish notice of air quality permit
applications. If the chief clerk prepares a newspaper notice that
is required by Subchapters H and K of this chapter for air quality
permit applications and the applicant does not cause the notice to
be published within 45 days of mailing of the notice from the chief
clerk, or, for Notice of Receipt of Application and Intent to Obtain
Permit, within 30 days after the executive director declares the application
administratively complete, or fails to submit the copies of notices
or affidavit required in subsection (i) of this section, the executive
director may cause one of the following actions to occur.
(1) The chief clerk may cause the notice to be published
and the applicant shall reimburse the agency for the cost of publication.
(2) The executive director may suspend further processing
or return the application. If the application is resubmitted within
six months of the date of the return of the application, it will be
exempt from any application fee requirements.
(i) Notice and affidavit for air quality permit applications.
When Subchapters H and K of this chapter require an applicant for
an air quality permit action to publish notice, the applicant must
file a copy of the published notice and a publisher's affidavit with
the chief clerk certifying facts that constitute compliance with the
requirement. The deadline to file a copy of the published notice which
shows the date of publication and the name of the newspaper is ten
business days after the last date of publication. The deadline to
file the affidavit is 30 calendar days after the last date of publication
for each notice. Filing an affidavit certifying facts that constitute
compliance with notice requirements creates a rebuttable presumption
of compliance with the requirement to publish notice. When the chief
clerk publishes notice under subsection (h) of this section, the chief
clerk shall file a copy of the published notice and a publisher's
affidavit.
(j) For applications filed on or after September 1,
2015, and subject to providing notice as prescribed by Texas Water
Code, §5.115, the commission shall make available on the commission's
website notice of administratively complete applications for a permit
or license authorized under the Texas Water Code and the Texas Health
and Safety Code.
(k) Summary of application. For permit applications
that are declared by the executive director to be administratively
complete on or after May 1, 2022, the applicant will provide a plain-language
summary of the application, no more than two pages long, that will
describe the following:
(1) the function of the proposed plant or facility;
(2) the expected output of the proposed plant or facility;
(3) the expected pollutants that may be emitted or
discharged by the proposed plant or facility; and
(4) how the applicant will control those pollutants,
so that the proposed plant will not have an adverse impact on human
health or the environment.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §39.405 adopted to be effective September 23, 1999, 24 TexReg 8190; amended to be effective August 15, 2002, 27 Texas Reg 7132; amended to be effective November 30, 2005, 30 TexReg 7877; amended to be effective June 24, 2010, 35 TexReg 5198; amended to be effective December 31, 2015, 40 TexReg 9644; amended to be effective May 14, 2020, 45 TexReg 3067; amended to be effective September 16, 2021, 46 TexReg 5784 |