The Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) adopts amendments to 22 TAC §§153.5, Fees; and 153.18, Appraiser Continuing Education (ACE); and new §§153.40, Approval of Continuing Education Providers and Courses; and 153.41, ACE Providers: Compliance and Enforcement, with changes to the text of §153.40 as published in the October 5, 2018, issue of the Texas Register (43 TexReg 6578); therefore, §153.40 will be republished.

The amendments and new rules are recommended for adoption by the TALCB Education Committee to create processes for TALCB approval of appraiser continuing education (ACE) providers and courses and collect fees for these processes as authorized by the Legislature in Texas Occupations Code §§1103.153, 1103.156 and Chapter 1105, Texas Occupations Code. The amendments and rules allow TALCB to approve ACE providers and courses without relying on other states or the Appraiser Qualifications Board (AQB) to do so. The adopted amendments also clarify that ACE providers need not provide a copy of the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) to students enrolled in a 7-hour USPAP Update course, but must ensure that students have access to an electronic or paper copy of the current version of USPAP.

Section 1103.051, Texas Occupations Code, established TALCB as an independent subdivision of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC). Chapter 1105, Texas Occupations Code, grants self-directed, semi-independent (SDSI) status to TALCB and TREC. As an SDSI agency, Chapter 1105 removes TALCB from the legislative appropriations process and requires TALCB to be responsible for all direct and indirect costs of TALCB's existence and operations. Thus, TALCB must generate sufficient revenue through the collection of fees to fund its budget and operations. The fees to be collected under the amendments and new rules will help TALCB to recover and fund only a portion of its operational costs to approve continuing education providers and courses.

Two comments were received on the amendments and new rules as published. One commenter supported the adoption of §§153.18, 153.40 and 153.41 as published. This commenter also suggested TALCB should offer $25 approval of one-time ACE course offerings for courses up to four hours in length, not just two hours in length as proposed. The commenter reasoned that a four-hour cutoff would be more fair and equitable to providers, since the approval fee for a three-hour course would be $65 and $70 for a four-hour course under the proposed amendments. After due consideration of these comments, the TALCB Education Committee found that ACE course approvals require additional time and work for staff review as the course length increases, and recommends adoption of a $25 fee only for approval of two-hour one-time course offerings, as proposed, since two hours is the minimum length authorized for ACE course approval under AQB requirements and federal law. TALCB agrees with the Education Committee's findings and the recommendation to adopt amendments to §§153.5, 153.18, and new §153.41 as published.

The second commenter suggested removing the requirement in §153.40(j) for course completion rosters to include the date a student registered for a course, because this date would be difficult for providers to track and implement and would not provide relevant information required under state or federal law. TALCB agrees with this comment to remove the requirement to include the date a student registered for a course on the course completion roster.

For these reasons, TALCB adopts amendments to 22 TAC §§153.5, 153.18, and new 153.41 as published, and TALCB adopts new 22 TAC §153.40 with changes to the text as published.

The reasoned justification for the amendments and rules is to provide processes for approving continuing education providers and courses consistent with AQB requirements and federal law at an equal or lower cost of obtaining the same or similar approvals from the AQB or another state, while allowing TALCB to raise sufficient revenue to recover and fund a portion of its operational costs as required under Chapter 1105, Texas Occupations Code.

The revisions to §153.40 as adopted do not change the nature or scope so much that the rule as adopted could be deemed a different rule. The rule as adopted does not affect individuals other than those contemplated by the rule as proposed. The rule as adopted does not impose more onerous requirements than the proposed rule.

The amendments and new rules are adopted under Texas Occupations Code §1103.153, which authorizes TALCB to adopt rules relating to the requirements for approval of continuing education providers and courses, and §1103.156, which authorizes TALCB to establish reasonable fees to administer Chapter 1103, Texas Occupations Code.

The statute affected by these amendments and new rules is Chapter 1103, Texas Occupations Code. No other statute, code or article is affected by the amendments.