The Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) adopts amendments to §157.17, concerning Final Decisions and Orders. The amendments are adopted without changes to the proposed text as published in the September 7, 2012, issue of the Texas Register (37 TexReg 7036).

The amendments were proposed at TALCB's August 17, 2012, meeting to clarify that while the board welcomes SOAH judges' recommendations regarding sanctions, the board has the authority and responsibility to impose disciplinary sanctions against appraisers, appraiser trainees and appraisal management companies. The amendments also delineate the procedures for remand and oral arguments; the standards required when the board may change a finding of fact, conclusion of law or recommendation in a proposal for decision; and the requirements for final orders.

The reasoned justification for the amendments to §157.17 is transparency and clarification of procedural standards when a contested case comes before the board for a final decision.

No comments were received on the proposed amendments.

The amendments are adopted under Texas Occupations Code, §1103.151 and §1104.051, which authorize the TALCB to adopt rules necessary for certifying or licensing an appraiser and administering the provisions of Chapter 1104 regarding appraisal management companies and the corresponding statutory sections for those chapters regarding action after hearing and decisions by the board, §§1103.518, 1103.521, 1104.214 and 1104.215.

The statutes affected by the amendments are Texas Occupations Code, Chapters 1103 and 1104. No other statute, code or article is affected by the amendments.