(a) Except as allowed by Transportation Code, §391.038, if a sign is partially destroyed by a natural force outside the control of the permit holder, including wind, tornado, lightening, flood, fire, or hurricane, the department will determine whether the sign can be repaired without an amended permit.
(b) The department may require the sign owner to submit an estimate of the proposed work, including an itemized list of the materials to be used and the manner in which the work will be done. The department will allow the sign to be repaired without an amended permit if the department determines that the damage is not substantial. If the damage is determined to be substantial the sign owner must obtain an amended permit under §21.174 of this subchapter (relating to Amended Permit).
(c) The department will cancel the existing permit if it determines the damage to the sign is substantial under subsection (g) of this section and an amended permit is not obtained by the sign owner within one year after the date that the department first became aware of the damage.
(d) If a permit is canceled under this section or §21.176 of this subchapter (relating to Cancellation of Permit), the remaining sign structure must be dismantled and removed without cost to the state.
(e) A sign that is totally or partially destroyed by vandalism or a motor vehicle accident may be rebuilt as described on the most recently approved permit application.
(f) If a decision to cancel a permit is appealed, the sign may not be repaired during the appeal process.
(g) Damage is considered to be substantial if the cost to repair the sign would exceed 60 percent of the cost to replace it with a sign of the same basic construction using new materials and at the same location.
(h) If a sign is partially destroyed by a natural force outside the control of the sign owner in an area that receives a state or federal disaster declaration and the sign owner has documentation to show that the sign damage is not considered substantial the sign may be repaired without a prior determination by the department under subsection (b) of this section if the sign is repaired within 180 days after the date of the event and if within 60 days after the date of completion of the repairs, the owner submits to the department:
  (1) photos of the partially destroyed sign and the repaired sign; and
  (2) a notarized affidavit executed by the sign owner containing:
    (A) the permit number of the sign;
    (B) a statement that the sign was damaged by the natural force;
    (C) a statement that the cost to repair the sign was less than 60 percent of the cost of a new sign with the same basic construction; and
    (D) a statement that the sign was repaired in the same configuration and with like materials according to the most recent approved permit.
(i) A sign repaired in violation of this subsection is subject to enforcement and removal.

Source Note: The provisions of this §21.197 adopted to be effective July 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 2418; amended to be effective March 14, 2018, 43 TexReg 1446