(a) The executive director and the respondent may reach an agreement, or settlement, in an enforcement action. In order to have legal effect as an order of the agency, and in any case in which penalties are assessed, an agreed order must be approved and issued by the commission or the executive director. In such an agreed order, the respondent may agree to:
  (1) admit to none, any, or all of the violations alleged in any Executive Director Preliminary Report or petition in the case;
  (2) assessment of a specific administrative penalty;
  (3) remedial ordering provisions;
  (4) any combination of these; and
  (5) any other lawful provisions agreed to by the executive director and the respondent.
(b) The effective date of an agreed order shall be the date the order is signed by the commission or the executive director, unless stated otherwise in the agreed order.
(c) When an agreement is reached, the executive director shall publish notice of the proposed agreed order in the Texas Register, providing 30 days for public comment. Unless delegated to the executive director, after the public comment period, the proposed agreed order shall be scheduled for consideration by the commissioners during a commission meeting under Chapter 10 of this title (relating to Commission Meetings). If the proposed agreed order is to be issued by the executive director, the agreed order shall be scheduled for the executive director's agenda. If the enforcement action is under the jurisdiction of the State Office of Administrative Hearings, the judge shall remand the action to the executive director who will file the agreed order with the chief clerk for commission or executive director consideration. The judge is not required to prepare a proposal for decision or memorandum regarding the settlement.

Source Note: The provisions of this §70.10 adopted to be effective June 6, 1996, 21 TexReg 4753; amended to be effective July 7, 1999, 24 TexReg 5017; amended to be effective July 22, 2010, 35 TexReg 6289; amended to be effective December 31, 2015, 40 TexReg 9677