(a) State publications in physical format. State agencies must deposit four copies of state publications in physical format to the State Publications Depository Program except as follows:
  (1) State agencies must deposit three copies of the following state publications:
    (A) Annual financial reports; and
    (B) Annual operating budgets.
  (2) State agencies must deposit two copies of the following state publications:
    (A) Requests for legislative appropriations;
    (B) Quarterly and annual reports of measures; and
    (C) State or strategic plans (for agency services, programs within its jurisdiction).
(b) State publications in electronic format. The number and method of submission of state publications in electronic format differs depending on whether the electronic state publication is available online and specific instructions that may apply to the preparation and distribution of the publication. Unless specific instructions require otherwise:
  (1) If a state publication is available online, a state agency shall provide the commission online access to the publication. The state agency is not required to submit an electronic copy of the state publication on removable electronic storage media. If also available in print, the URL for the online publication must be included on the cover or title page of the printed publication submitted in accordance with subsection (a) of this section;
  (2) If a state publication is not available online, the state agency must submit one copy of each state publication on removable electronic storage media or other method approved by the Director and Librarian. Files must be formatted in a readily accessible format or other file type accessible via software provided to the commission or that is in the public domain. If the file is compressed, it must be compressed using lossless compression techniques.
(c) Minimum requirements for electronic submissions. All submissions of state publications in electronic format for the State Publications Depository Program must:
  (1) Consist of an Adobe Portable Document File (PDF) or other secure file type accepted at the determination of the Director and Librarian;
  (2) Include a publication reporting form;
  (3) Be submitted by the designated state agency publications liaison(s); and
  (4) Include the following descriptive information at a minimum:
    (A) a title tag;
    (B) an author meta tag that includes the name of the state agency responsible for creating the state publication;
    (C) a description meta tag that includes a narrative description of the publication; and
    (D) a keyword or subject meta tag that includes selected terms from within the publication.
(d) Publication reporting form. A state agency must include a completed publication reporting form with each submission of a publication in either print or electronic format. If a state publication is made available to the commission online in compliance with subsection (b)(1) of this section, the state agency must provide a completed publication reporting form to the commission when the agency notifies the commission that the publication is available.
(e) The Texas Records and Information Locator (TRAIL). TRAIL provides access to state publications that are made available to the public by state agencies online. A state agency is not required to submit copies of its state agency websites to the commission for the State Publications Depository Program. State agencies should ensure their websites adhere to the following minimum technical requirements to enable the commission to harvest the website through TRAIL:
  (1) Guaranteed access, at no charge, to the state agency's online state publications. If a "robots.txt" file is used to prevent harvesting of a State Agency website, then that file must include an exception for TSLAC's designated harvesting system;
  (2) State publications must be accessible:
    (A) by anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or other electronic means as defined in Internet standards documents of the Internet Engineering Steering Group, Internet Architecture Board, and Internet community; and
    (B) by following a link or series of links from the Agency's primary URL. For publications accessible only by database searching or similar means, an alternative path such as a hidden link to a comprehensive site map must be provided except as exempted in §3.5 of this title (relating to Standard Exemptions for State Publications in All Formats); or
    (C) on alternative electronic formats and interfaces consistent with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and as amended.
  (3) Each original state publication and subsequent versions as described in §3.2(c) of this title (relating to Standard Requirements for State Publications in All Formats) must remain available on the agency website for a minimum of nine months to ensure that the publication has been collected by the commission and made available in TRAIL. Agencies may confirm that a version of an online publication has been added to the TRAIL archive by searching at www.tsl.texas.gov/trail/index.html.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.3 adopted to be effective November 29, 2023, 48 TexReg 6900