(a) A person who is granted a permit authorizing withdrawal of groundwater in an amount less than that requested by the person may appeal the final decision of the board to the commission by filing a request for commission review of the board's final decision with the executive director within 60 days after the final order of the board.
(b) If the person appealing the final decision of the board to the commission has requested written findings and conclusions from the board, such findings and conclusions shall be submitted to the executive director either with the request for commission review if the findings and conclusions are then available or as soon thereafter as they become available.
(c) The executive director may request additional information from the appellant, the board, or both concerning the final decision of the board. A request for commission review is administratively complete when all of the information requested, including the information requested in subsection (b) of this section, has been submitted. A complete application shall be delivered to the chief clerk for the setting of a hearing on the appeal.
(d) The review on appeal by the commission under this section is governed by the substantial evidence rule as defined in the Administrative Procedure Act, Government Code, §2001.174. The final decision of the commission may adopt, modify or reject the findings and conclusions of the board. If the commission rejects the findings and conclusions of the board, it shall adopt its own findings of fact and conclusions of law. The commission shall issue a final ruling on the appeal no later than 60 days from the date the hearing on the appeal is closed.
(e) The hearing on the appeal shall be conducted, to the extent applicable given the limited scope of review under the substantial evidence rule, in accordance with the procedural rules of the commission; provided, however, that such hearing shall not be conducted as a contested case, and the foregoing procedural rules shall apply only to the extent that they do not exceed the scope of the commission's review under the substantial evidence rule. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to give the person a right to a trial de novo or to introduce evidence other than the record of the proceedings before the Board.

Source Note: The provisions of this §293.365 adopted to be effective November 7, 1988, 13 TexReg 5388; amended to be effective October 22, 1996, 21 TexReg 9905; amended to be effective June 5, 1998, 23 TexReg 5715.