(a) The board may adopt rules consistent with the Physical Therapy Practice Act to carry out its duties in administering the Act.
(b) Continuing competence. The board may adopt rules relating to the approval of continuing competence activities. The board may establish reasonable and necessary fees for the administration of the approval of continuing competence activities.
(c) Petition for adoption of rule changes.
  (1) In accordance with Texas Government Code, §2001.021, an interested person may request for the adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule of the board by submitting a written petition to the board. In this section, "interested person" has the meaning as defined in Texas Government Code, §2001.021. The petition must contain:
    (A) the name and contact information of the interested person or persons and
affiliation or organization, if any;
    (B) a description of the proposed rule change or amendment and the reason for it;
    (C) the section numbers and titles of the rule(s) affected if applicable;
    (D) the proposed rule change with an indication of language added and/or deleted.
    (E) a statement of:
      (i) the statutory authority under which the rule is to be adopted; and
      (ii) the public benefits anticipated as a result of adopting the rule or the
anticipated injury or inequity that could result from the failure to adopt the proposed rule.
    (F) the signature(s) of the requesting person or persons and date of signature(s).
  (2) The board shall evaluate the merits of the proposal.
  (3) In accordance with the Texas Government Code, §2001.021, the presiding officer or the board's designee shall acknowledge receipt of the petition to the person designated to receive communication regarding the petition.
  (4) Not later than the 60th day after the date of submission of a petition under this section, the board shall:
    (A) deny the petition in writing, stating its reasons for denial; or
    (B) initiate a rulemaking proceeding under this chapter.
  (5) If the board initiates rulemaking procedures in response to a petition, the rule text which the board proposes may differ from the rule text proposed by the petitioner.
  (6) Initial petitions for the adoption of a rule shall be presented to and decided by the Board in accordance with the provisions of this section. The Board may refuse to consider any subsequent petition from the same interested person for the adoption of the same or a similar rule submitted within twelve months after the date of the Board's rejection of the initial petition.

Source Note: The provisions of this §323.3 adopted to be effective January 4, 1989, 13 TexReg 6332; amended to be effective December 12, 1989, 14 TexReg 6277; amended to be effective October 5, 1992, 17 TexReg 6550; amended to be effective July 21, 2010, 35 TexReg 6285; amended to be effective January 1, 2016, 40 TexReg 8791