(a) Delegation of Authority. To the fullest extent allowed by law, the commission delegates power and authority to the executive director to administer the Finfish License Buyback Program.

(b) Twenty percent of commercial finfish fisherman's license and commercial finfish fisherman's license transfer fees shall be set aside to be used only for the purpose of buying back commercial finfish fisherman's licenses from a willing license holder.

(c) License buyback application period.

(1) The department will open license buyback bid application periods (hereafter referred to as application) if available funds permit.

(2) The department shall establish during each application period a deadline for receipt of all applications.

(d) License buyback application requirements.

(1) The department shall consider all applications to the Finfish License Buyback Program provided the applicants meet the following requirements: (A) a completed License Buyback Application form furnished by the department has been submitted to the department by the application deadline; (B) the applicant is the owner of the license submitted for buyback; and (C) the applicant has submitted to the department copies of all supplemental information as required in this subsection.

(2) A completed License Buyback Application shall contain: (A) the full name of the applicant; (B) the current address of applicant's residence; (C) the social security number of applicant; (D) a copy of legal documentation that: (i) documents applicant holds the sole rights and privileges to the license; or (ii) documents that all members of a partnership or association, or each officer of a corporation, and the owner of a majority of a corporation's corporate stock, are in agreement to apply to the license buyback program. (E) a copy of current commercial finfish fisherman's license; and (F) if required, the applicant's bid offer, in U.S. dollars.

(3) Department records will be used to verify all information supplied by or pertaining to the applicant's history in the finfish fishery and in cases where the applicant has not provided adequate information for proper consideration of the application.

(e) Finfish license buyback criteria.

(1) The department may establish criteria each license year which will be used to determine qualifications for license buyback.

(2) The department may consider: (A) duration of participation in the fishery prior to enactment of Parks and Wildlife Code, §47.001-47.086; (B) amount of funds accumulated in the Finfish License Buyback Account; (C) number of commercial finfish fisherman's licenses in the fishery issued in the license year of the specific bid offer application period; (D) bid offers from previous application periods; (E) established open market prices for licenses; and (F) other relevant factors.

(f) Application Ranking Procedures.

(1) Ranking values will be assigned to all applications based on the above criteria.

(2) The department will purchase licenses beginning with the highest ranking to the lowest.

(3) If bid offers are equally ranked, the Department will rank according to the ascending alphabetical order of the applicant's last name.

(g) Notification of acceptance or rejection of application.

(1) The department will notify each applicant in writing within 45 days of receipt of application regarding acceptance or rejection of application bid offer.

(2) Applicants whose bids are accepted must then notify the department of their intent to accept or reject the offer from the department within 15 days of the postmark of the notification letter sent by the department.

(3) The unsuccessful applicant may withdraw, resubmit, or amend an application for consideration during any future application periods.

(4) The department will continue to purchase in rank order as the buyback fund permits.

(h) Delegation of purchasing authority. The department may designate other qualified agents to purchase licenses on behalf of the department provided all purchased licenses are surrendered to the department and retired.

Source Note: The provisions of this §58.304 adopted to be effective July 6, 2000, 25 TexReg 6361