(a) Applicability. This rule applies to the permits listed in Column A of Table 1 of this section. For purposes of this rule, the term "permit" includes any authorization issued administratively by the Commission, through the Oil and Gas Division, the Gas Services Division, the Surface Mining and Reclamation Division, or the Rail/LP-Gas/Pipeline Safety Division, and required by the Commission either to engage in or conduct a specific activity or to deviate from requirements, standards, or conditions in statutes or Commission rules and for which the median processing time exceeds seven days.
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(b) Completeness. An application is complete when the division or section shown in Column B of Table 1 has determined that the application contains information addressing each application requirement of the regulatory program and all information necessary to initiate the final review by the division or section processing the application. For purposes of this section, certain applicants, as shown in Column D of Table 1, are required to have an approved organization report (Form P-5) on file with the Commission in order for an application to be complete.
(c) Time periods.
  (1) The date a permit application is received under this section is the date the application reaches the designated division or section within a division as shown in Column B of Table 1.
  (2) The division or section shown in Column B of Table 1 shall process permit applications in accordance with the time periods shown in Columns F and G of Table 1 for a particular permit. Time periods are counted on the basis of calendar days.
  (3) The Initial Review Period, shown in Column F of Table 1, begins on the date the designated division or section receives the application and ends on the date the division or section gives written notice to the applicant indicating that either:
    (A) the application is complete and accepted for filing; or
    (B) the application is incomplete, as described in paragraph (4) of this subsection.
  (4) If the division or section determines that an application is incomplete, the division or section shall notify the applicant in writing and shall describe the specific information required to complete the application. An applicant may make no more than two supplemental filings to complete an application. The Initial Review Period shall start again each time the division or section receives a supplemental filing relating to an incomplete application. After the second supplemental submission, if the application is complete, the division or section shall administratively rule on the application; if the application is still incomplete, the division or section shall administratively deny the application. The division or section specifically does not have the authority to accept or review any other additional supplemental submissions. The division or section shall notify the applicant in writing of the administrative decision and, in the case of an administrative denial, the applicant's right to request a hearing on the application as it stands. The applicant may withdraw the application.
  (5) The Final Review Period, shown in Column G of Table 1, begins on the date the division or section makes a determination under paragraph (3)(A) of this subsection and ends on the date the permit is:
    (A) administratively granted;
    (B) administratively denied; or
    (C) docketed as a contested case proceeding if the application is neither administratively granted nor administratively denied.
  (6) An applicant whose application has been administratively denied may request a hearing by filing a written request for a hearing addressed to the division or section processing the application, within 30 days of the date the application is administratively denied.
  (7) Within seven days of either docketing an application under paragraph (5)(C) of this subsection or receiving a written request for a hearing under paragraph (6) of this subsection, the division or section processing the application shall forward the file and any request for hearing, including any memoranda or notes explaining or describing the reasons for docketing or administrative denial, to the Docket Services Section of the Office of General Counsel. The Office of General Counsel shall process the application as prescribed in subsection (e) of this section.
(d) Complaint procedure.
  (1) An applicant may complain directly to the Executive Director if a division or section does not process an application within the applicable time periods shown in Columns F and G of Table 1, and may request a timely resolution of any dispute arising from the claimed delay. All complaints shall be in writing and shall state the specific relief sought, which may include the full reimbursement of the fee paid in that particular application process, if any, as shown in Column E of Table 1. As soon as possible after receiving a complaint, the Executive Director shall notify the appropriate division director of the complaint.
  (2) Within 30 days of receipt of a complaint, the division director of the division or section processing the application that is the subject of the complaint shall submit to the Executive Director a written report of the facts relating to the processing of the application. The report shall include the division director's explanation of the reason or reasons the division or section did or did not exceed the established time periods. If the Executive Director does not agree that the division or section has violated the established periods or finds that good cause existed for the division or section to have exceeded the established periods, the Executive Director may deny the relief requested by the complaint.
  (3) For purposes of this section, good cause for exceeding the established period means:
    (A) the number of permit applications to be processed by the division or section exceeds by at least 15 percent the number of permit applications processed by that division or section in the same quarter of the previous calendar year;
    (B) the division or section must rely on another public or private entity to process all or part of the permit application received by the agency, and the delay is caused by that entity; or
    (C) other conditions exist that give the division or section good cause for exceeding the established period, including but not limited to circumstances such as personnel shortages, equipment outages, and other unanticipated events or emergencies.
  (4) The Executive Director shall make the final decision and provide written notification of the decision to the applicant and the division or section within 60 days of receipt of the complaint.
(e) Hearings. If an application is docketed as a contested case proceeding, it is governed by the time periods in this chapter (relating to Practice and Procedure) once the application has been filed with the Docket Services Section of the Office of General Counsel.

Source Note: The provisions of this §1.201 adopted to be effective May 14, 2001, 26 TexReg 3482; amended to be effective January 9, 2002, 27 TexReg 138; amended to be effective May 13, 2004, 29 TexReg 4469