(a) Initial processing procedures.
  (1) Within 30 days of receipt of a petition, the Commission shall notify the petitioner by certified mail whether or not the petition is complete under §§12.79(b) or (c) of this title (relating to Procedures: Petitions). Complete, for a designation or termination petition, means that the information required under §§12.79(b) or (c) of this title (relating to Procedures: Petitions) has been provided.
  (2) The Commission shall determine whether any identified coal resources exist in the area covered by the petition, without requiring any showing from the petitioner. If the Commission finds there are not any identified coal resources in that area, it shall return the petition to the petitioner with a statement of the findings.
  (3) If the Commission determines that the petition is incomplete, frivolous, or that the petitioner does not meet the requirement of §12.79(a) of this title (relating to Procedures: Petitions), it shall return the petition to the petitioner with a written statement of the reasons for the determination and the categories of information needed to make the petition complete. A frivolous petition is one in which the allegations of harm lack serious merit or available information shows that either no mineable coal resources exist in the petitioned area or the petitioned area is not or could not be subject to related surface coal mining operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine or an adjoining surface mine.
  (4) When considering a petition for an area which was previously and unsuccessfully proposed for designation, the Commission shall determine if the new petition presents significant new allegations of facts with evidence which tends to establish the allegations. If the petition does not contain such materials, the Commission may choose not to consider the petition and may return the petition to the petitioner, with a statement of its findings and a reference to the record of the previous designation proceedings where the facts were considered.
  (5) The Commission shall notify the person who submits a petition of any application for a permit received which includes any area covered by the petition.
  (6) The Commission may determine not to process any petition received in so far as it pertains to lands for which an administratively complete permit application has been filed and the first newspaper notice has been published. Based on such a determination, the Commission may issue a decision on a complete and accurate permit application and shall inform the petitioner why the Commission cannot consider the part of the petition pertaining to the proposed permit area.
(b) Public notice and hearing procedures.
  (1) Promptly after a petition is received, the Commission shall notify the general public of the receipt of the petition by a newspaper advertisement placed in the locale of the area covered by the petition. The notice shall be published in the county newspaper of the largest circulation in the county, for each county of the petitioned area and in the Texas Register. The Commission shall make copies of the petition available to the public and shall provide copies of the petition to other interested governmental agencies, intervenors, persons with an ownership interest of record in the property, and other persons known to the Commission to have an interest in the property. Proper notice to persons with an ownership interest of record in the property shall comply with the requirements of applicable State law.
  (2) Promptly after the determination that a petition is complete, the Commission shall request submissions from the general public of relevant information by a newspaper advertisement placed once a week for two consecutive weeks in the locale of the area covered by the petition, in the county newspaper of the largest circulation in the county, for each county of the petitioned area, and in the Texas Register.
(c) Right of intervention. Until three days before the Commission holds a hearing under §12.81 of this title (relating to Procedures: Hearing Requirements), any person may intervene in the proceeding by filing allegations of facts describing how the designation determination directly affects the intervenor, supporting evidence, a short statement identifying the petition to which the allegations pertain, and the intervenor's name, address and telephone number.
(d) Record-keeping procedures. Beginning from the date a petition is filed, the Commission shall compile and maintain a record consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed with or prepared by the Commission. The Commission shall make the record available to the public for inspection free of charge and for copying at reasonable cost during all normal hours at the main office of the Commission. The Commission shall also maintain information at or near the area in which the petitioned land is located and make this information available to the public for inspection free of charge and for copying at reasonable cost during all normal business hours. At a minimum, this information shall include a copy of the petition.

Source Note: The provisions of this §12.80 adopted to be effective April 7, 1997, 22 TexReg 3093; amended to be effective June 12, 2001, 26 TexReg 4090