(a) Purpose. The assessment record shall contain documents relied upon by the state trustees in selecting appropriate assessment procedures and protocols and in developing restoration plans. The purpose of the assessment record is to ensure documentation of the state trustees' decisions.
(b) Maintenance and central repository. The assessment record shall be developed and maintained by the lead administrative trustee. All closed assessment records from unauthorized discharges of oil into coastal waters shall be maintained by the commissioner in accordance with the records retention schedule of the Texas General Land Office.
(c) Contents. Each assessment record shall contain, at a minimum:
  (1) Documents. All final documents and references to documents utilized by state trustees in selecting assessment procedures and protocols, and in developing restoration plans;
  (2) Data. All technical, scientific and economic information discovered and relied upon by the state trustees during the assessment;
  (3) the Notice of Intent to Perform an Assessment;
  (4) the preliminary field investigation report and all other information considered in the pre-assessment phase;
  (5) a copy of the assessment and the restoration plan as presented to the responsible person;
  (6) all correspondence, agreements and other documents related to the role of the responsible person in the assessment process; and
  (7) comments received from the public and the state trustees response to those comments.
(d) Exceptions. Certain documents and data, described below, shall not be included in assessment record.
  (1) Documents. Drafts, pre-decisional, deliberative inter-agency and intra-agency documents shall not be included in the assessment record. Documents describing analysis of liability or any attorney-client privileged documents or attorney work product documents also shall not be included.
  (2) Data. Any scientific, technical or economic data that fails to meet all criteria set forth in a quality assurance/quality control plan developed by the state trustees may be included only if there is a scientifically reliable basis for utilizing any of the data.
(e) Availability of the assessment record. The assessment record is a document subject to the Texas Open Records Act, Texas Government Code Annotated, Chapter 552.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.40 adopted to be effective October 19, 1994, 19 TexReg 7911; amended to be effective October 21, 2010, 35 TexReg 9318