(a) A proposed action of an agency listed in §29.11(a) of this chapter (relating to Actions and Rules Subject to the Coastal Management Program) may be referred to the commissioner for review to determine consistency with the CMP goals and policies only if:
  (1) the agency has proposed the action for which referral is sought;
  (2) the consistency determination for the proposed action was contested by:
    (A) a committee member or an agency that was a party in a formal hearing under Government Code, Chapter 2001, or in an alternative dispute resolution process; or
    (B) a committee member or other person by the filing of written comments with the agency before the action was proposed if the proposed action is one for which a formal hearing under Government Code, Chapter 2001, is not available;
  (3) a person described by subsection (a)(2) of this section files a request for referral within ten days of the date the action is proposed alleging a significant unresolved dispute regarding the proposed action's consistency with the CMP goals and policies; and
  (4) any three committee members other than the representative of the Texas Sea Grant College Program agree within 13 days of the date the action is proposed that there is a significant unresolved dispute regarding the proposed action's consistency with the CMP goals and policies and the matter is referred to the commissioner for review.
(b) If consistency review thresholds are in effect under §29.26 of this chapter (relating to Approval of Thresholds for Referral), the commissioner may not review a proposed action for consistency with the CMP goals and policies unless the requirements of subsection (a) of this section are satisfied and:
  (1) if the proposed action is one for which a formal hearing under Government Code, Title 10, Subtitle A, Chapter 2001, is available:
    (A) the action exceeds the applicable thresholds and the agency's consistency determination was contested in a formal hearing or an alternative dispute resolution process; or
    (B) the action does not exceed the applicable thresholds but may directly and adversely affect a critical area, critical dune area, coastal park, wildlife management area or preserve, or Gulf beach and a state agency contested the agency's consistency determination in a formal hearing; or
  (2) if the proposed action is one for which a formal hearing under Government Code, Chapter 2001, is not available to contest the agency's determination, the action exceeds the applicable thresholds.
(c) For purposes of this subchapter, an action subject to the contested case provisions of Government Code, Chapter 2001, is proposed when a notice of a decision or order is issued under Government Code, §2001.142.
(d) The commissioner must consider and act on a matter referred under this section before the 26th day after the date the agency or subdivision proposed the action.

Source Note: The provisions of this §29.32 adopted to be effective June 15, 1995, 19 TexReg 7670; amended to be effective November 3, 1995, 20 TexReg 8664; amended to be effective October 29, 2006, 31 TexReg 8842; amended to be effective October 7, 2018, 43 TexReg 6452; transferred effective December 1, 2022, as published in the Texas Register October 28, 2022, 47 TexReg 7301; amended to be effective July 10, 2023, 48 TexReg 3675