(a) Proposed final determination. When a majority of the commission has not heard the contest or read the record, the judge who presided at the contest hearing or one who has read the record shall prepare a proposal for final determination and shall send it by first-class mail to all persons on the commission's mailing list. The proposed final determination shall contain a statement of the reasons therefore and a statement of each finding of fact and conclusion of law stated separately necessary to support the proposed final determination. Any party adversely affected may file exceptions and present briefs to the commission concerning the proposal for final determination within the time limit stated in the notice of the proposal for final determination. The parties may waive compliance with this rule by written stipulation filed with the commission.
(b) Final determination. The adjudication hearings shall be closed at the conclusion of the last contest hearing. The commission will make a final determination of the claims to water rights in the adjudication within 60 days after the closing of the adjudication hearings, provided that where the case was not heard by the commission, the judge may set a reasonable time for the issuance of a final determination and shall announce such extension at the closing of the adjudication hearings. The commission shall send a copy of the final determination, and any modification thereof, by first-class mail to each person of record on the mailing list as required by Texas Water Code, §11.315.
(c) Notice of final determination. The commission shall send a notice of the final determination by first-class mail to each claimant of water rights within the river basin in which the segment is located, to the extent that the claimants can be reasonably ascertained from the records of the commission, and to each other person on the commission's mailing list.
  (1) Each notice shall state the following:
    (A) the place that the final determination and record of hearings will be open for public inspection;
    (B) the method of ordering copies of the final determination and the cost of copies; and
    (C) the date by which applications for rehearing must be filed, which shall be 30 days from the date of issuance of the final determination.
  (2) The commission shall provide in the final determination and notice thereof the effective date of the determination in order to provide a sufficient period of time within which the determination and notice can be printed and mailed.
(d) Application for rehearing of final determination. An application for rehearing is the same as a motion for rehearing under the APA, and is a prerequisite to filing an exception to the final determination under Texas Water Code, §§11.318, et seq.
  (1) If an application for rehearing is granted, the commission shall issue notice setting forth the substance of the application and setting the time and place of the hearing. Notice shall be sent in the same manner provided for in contest hearings.
  (2) If the final determination is modified after a rehearing, the commission shall send a copy of the modified final determination by first-class mail to each person on the mailing list. However, if the modifications are such that they are likely to substantially affect the rights of other water right holders within the basin but outside the watershed or segment being adjudicated, then a summary of the modifications shall also be sent to all other water rights holders in the basin.

Source Note: The provisions of this §86.18 adopted to be effective June 6, 1996, 21 TexReg 4780.