The Texas Department of Information Resources (department) proposes the repeal of 1 TAC Chapter 206, §§206.1 - 206.3, 206.50 - 206.55, and 206.70 - 206.75, concerning State Web Sites, and new 1 TAC Chapter 206, §§206.1 - 206.3, 206.50 - 206.54, and 206.70 - 206.74, State Websites. The revisions are necessary to simplify existing rules and eliminate unnecessary rules.

The changes to the chapter apply to state agencies and institutions of higher education. The assessment of the impact of the proposed change on institutions of higher education has been prepared in consultation with the Information Technology Council for Higher Education in compliance with §2054.121(b), Texas Government Code.

The department proposes to repeal 1 TAC Chapter 206 in its entirety to rename the chapter and rule titles, revise rule language, eliminate duplication, and enable renumbering in new 1 TAC Chapter 206, State Websites. The department proposes to rename the chapter from "State Web Sites" to "State Websites" to be consistent with prevailing industry usage conventions.

In Subchapter A, the department proposes to revise the current text to delete unnecessary definitions that are no longer referenced in rule, to provide greater clarity and specificity to current definitions, and to define new terms that are consistent with new 1 TAC Chapter 206 language.

In Subchapters B and C, the department proposes to remove the term Usability from §206.50 and §206.70 titles and subsequent provisions to be consistent with statute which does not reference usability, and to replace specific accessibility provisions with direct reference to the identical language in US Section 508 Subpart B, §1194.22 to simplify the rule language and to provide harmonization between federal and state standard; revise text to eliminate redundant testing language; remove §206.51 and §206.71 to eliminate duplication of provisions for Accessibility Policy and Coordinator with §213.21 and §213.41; renumber, reorder, and revise §206.52 and §206.72 to reflect provisions of Texas Government Code §2054.116 to improve readability and to clarify the language; renumber and change the titles of §206.53 and §206.73 from "Privacy and Security of State Web Sites" to §206.52 and §206.72 "Privacy" to simplify and clarify the provision intent, and to revise language that requires state agencies to publish a privacy notice that describes practices for protecting personally identifiable information and conforms to requirements of Public Information Law and State Government Privacy Policies Law by moving detailed requirements from rule to the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy to comply with Texas Government Code §2054.126 regarding posting of information on the Internet; renumber and change the titles of §206.54 and §206.74 from "State Web Site Link and Privacy Policy" to §206.53 and §206.73 "Linking" to simplify and clarify the provision intent, remove language taken from Government Code Chapter 559, State Government Privacy Policies, to eliminate duplication, clarify applicability, revise the requirement of publishing a policy to publishing a notice that includes applicable provisions of the agency's linking policy that moves detailed requirements from rule to the State Website Linking and Privacy Policy to comply with statutory requirements on privacy and linking policy; renumber and change the titles §206.55 and §206.75 from "Linking and Indexing State Web Sites" to §206.54 and §206.74 "Indexing," and reorder to improve readability, simplify and clarify the provisions.

Lori Person, Chief Administrative Officer, has determined that for the first five-year period the repeal and new rules are in effect, there will be a positive fiscal impact on state agencies and institutions of higher education, although an exact cost avoidance estimate cannot be assessed. The elimination of unnecessary rules and the update of the rules to the newest technology standards will increase flexibility in the conduct of business for the department, state agencies and institutions of higher education. There is no impact on local government as a result of enforcing or administering the rules as proposed.

Ms. Person has also determined that for each year of the first five years the repeal and new rules are in effect, the anticipated public benefit results from more effective use of public and financial resources through the enforcement and administration of rules concerning the state websites. There are no anticipated economic costs to persons or small businesses required to comply with the proposed rules.

Comments on the proposed rule changes may be submitted to Martin Zelinsky, General Counsel, 300 West 15th Street, Suite 1300, Austin, Texas 78701, or to martin.zelinsky@dir.texas.gov. Comments will be accepted for 30 days after publication in the Texas Register.

The repeals are proposed pursuant to §2054.052(a), Texas Government Code, which authorizes the department to, respectively, adopt rules for the state websites and to implement its responsibilities under Chapter 2054, Texas Government Code.

No other statutes are affected by these rules.