16 TAC §20.201
The Railroad Commission adopts new §20.201, concerning
gifts to the commission, with changes to the proposed version published in
the April 9, 1999, issue of the
Texas Register
(24 TexReg 2817). Under Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6447i, the commission
may apply for, request, solicit, contract for, receive, accept, and administer
gifts, grants, and donations of money or other assistance from any source
to carry out any commission purpose or power authorized by law. Texas Natural
Resources Code, §113.243(e), permits the commission to apply for, request,
solicit, contract for, receive, and accept gifts, grants, and other assistance
from any source for the purposes of Subchapter I of Chapter 113. Texas Government
Code, §2255.001, requires a state agency that is authorized by statute
to accept money from a private donor to adopt rules governing the relationship
between the donor and the agency and its employees. Texas Government Code,
§572.051, provides guidance to state officials and employees who may
be accepting gifts on behalf of their agencies. Finally, Texas Government
Code, Chapter 575, requires an agency to accept a gift by majority vote in
an open meeting.
New §20.201 incorporates these statutory requirements, limitations,
and guidelines in a general manner by establishing the process for the commission's
evaluation and acceptance of a gift within the purview of the executive director,
who would be responsible for ensuring that the donor of a potential gift meets
all the statutory requirements and that the potential gift would assist the
commission in carrying out an authorized purpose. Under new §20.201,
an entity may make a gift to the commission by first filing with the executive
director a written notice of intent to make a gift. The notice must include
the type of gift (e.g., equipment, money, expert assistance, etc.), the date
the gift would be made, a statement as to how the gift would assist the commission
in carrying out its duties, an estimate of the value of the gift, and a statement
of the donor's party status in contested cases pending before the commission.
The commission has developed a form (Notice of Gift to Railroad Commission
of Texas Pursuant to 16 TAC 20.201) which donors may use, but which is not
required.
Upon receiving a notice of intent to make a gift, the executive director
will notify the appropriate division director, who will respond with a written
recommendation whether the commission should accept the potential donation,
and the Office of General Counsel, which will furnish a report regarding the
donor's party status in any contested cases pending before the commission.
Donors are required to notify the executive director immediately if there
is a change in the donor's party status after filing a notice of intent to
make a gift but prior to acceptance of the gift.
After receiving the staff recommendation and party status report, the executive
director will process the notice of intent to make a gift depending on whether
the estimated value is either less than $500 or $500 or more. For proposed
gifts with an estimated value of less than $500, the executive director will
make a determination whether to accept the gift or not, and will notify the
donor and the appropriate division director in writing. If the estimated value
of a proposed gift is $500 or more, the executive director will give notice
that the commission will consider the matter at an open meeting and will forward
copies of the notice of intent to make a gift and the staff's information
and recommendation to the commissioners. The consideration of the potential
gift will be in open meeting, and any vote regarding the gift will be commemorated
in a signed order of the commission. The commission staff is directed to take
all appropriate steps to receive gifts and to account for them properly in
the records of the commission.
The commission received one comment, from the General Land Office, supporting
the new rule.
The commission has made one correction in §20.201(f) to insert a missing
word, "by," between "required" and "this." In addition, the commission has
made a change to the RRC Gift Form, use of which is optional. Under the section
headed "Contested Case Status" on the form, item number 2 states, "If the
donor has been a party in a contested case which has been completed within
the last 30 days, list the docket number, style, and final order date of the
case." In §20.201(c)(6)(B), however, the donor is required to state the
most recent case in which the donor was a party, or to state that the donor
has not ever been a party to a contested case. The wording on the form has
been amended to make it consistent with the wording in the rule itself.
The commission adopts new §20.201 under Texas Civil Statutes,
Article 6447i, which authorizes the commission to apply for, request, solicit,
contract for, receive, accept, and administer gifts, grants, and donations
of money or other assistance from any source to carry out any commission purpose
or power authorized by law; Texas Natural Resources Code, §113.243(e),
which permits the commission to apply for, request, solicit, contract for,
receive, and accept gifts, grants, and other assistance from any source for
the purposes of Subchapter I of Chapter 113; Texas Government Code, §572.051,
which sets forth guidelines for acceptance of gifts by state agency officials
and employees; Texas Government Code, §2255.001, which requires a state
agency that is authorized by statute to accept money from a private donor
to adopt rules governing the relationship between the donor and the agency
and its employees; and Texas Government Code, Chapter 575, which requires
an agency to accept a gift by majority vote in an open meeting.
New §20.201 affects Texas Civil Statutes, Article 6447i; Texas Natural
Resources Code, §113.243(e); Texas Government Code, §2255.001; and
Texas Government Code, §572.051 and Chapter 575.
§20.201.Gifts to the Commission.
(a)
Definitions. The following words and terms when used in
this section shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
indicates otherwise.
(1)
Commission--The Railroad Commission of Texas.
(2)
Commissioner--A member of the commission.
(3)
Contested case--A proceeding, including a ratemaking
or licensing proceeding, in which the legal rights, duties or privileges of
a party are to be determined by the commission after an opportunity for adjudicative
hearing. For purposes of this section, the term does not include matters that
are handled administratively without a hearing.
(4)
Decision in a contested case--That final order of
the commission that disposes of all issues in a contested case.
(5)
Employee--A full-time or part-time employee of the
commission.
(6)
Gift--A donation of money, property, or other assistance
conveyed to the commission and over which the commission has complete title,
control, or discretion. The term does not include items that are temporarily
in the commission's possession for testing or research purposes; a person's
participation as a speaker or presenter in a commission-sponsored conference
or seminar; or payments made pursuant to Texas Natural Resources Code, §89.084.
(7)
Inception of the case--The date an application, complaint,
petition, statement of intent, or other request for commission action, ruling,
or relief is determined to require a hearing or the date a matter is referred
to the Office of General Counsel, whichever is earlier.
(8)
Money--Cash or negotiable instruments.
(9)
Other assistance--The gift of personnel or expertise
in a particular professional or technical area.
(10)
Party--A person or a state agency named or admitted
as a party to a contested case pending before the commission.
(11)
Person--An individual; a partnership, limited partnership,
joint venture, cooperative, corporation, association, or any other business
organization or entity; a trust; an estate; a public or private institution
of higher education; or a state agency, county, municipality, council of government,
school district or other governmental subdivision.
(12)
Property--Real property or personal property, both
tangible and intangible.
(b)
Terms and conditions. The commission may apply for, request,
solicit, contract for, receive, accept, and administer gifts, grants, and
donations of money or other assistance from any source to carry out any commission
purpose or power authorized by law except as follows:
(1)
The commission shall not accept a gift from a party in
a contested case during the period from the inception of the contested case
until the 30th day after the date the decision in a contested case becomes
final under Texas Government Code, §2001.144.
(2)
The commission shall not solicit or accept any gift:
(A)
that might reasonably tend to influence a commissioner
or commission employee in the discharge of official duties, or that the commissioner
or commission employee knows or should know is being offered with the intent
to influence the commissioner's or commission employee's official conduct;
(B)
that could reasonably be expected to impair a commissioner's
or commission employee's independence of judgment in the performance of the
commissioner's or commission employee's official duties; or
(C)
for having exercised the commission's or a commission employee's
official powers or performed the commission's or commission employee's official
duties in favor of another.
(c)
Notice of intent to make a gift. A person wishing to make
a gift to the commission shall file with the executive director a completed
RRC Gift Form, Notice of Gift to Railroad Commission of Texas, or a letter
including the following information:
Figure: 16 TAC 20.201(c)
(1)
the complete legal name, address, and telephone number
of the donor;
(2)
a description of the intended gift;
(3)
the date on which the gift would be made;
(4)
a statement describing the manner in which the intended
gift would assist the commission in carrying out its duties;
(5)
an estimate of the value of the gift; and
(6)
a statement regarding the donor's party status in
any contested case pending before the commission:
(A)
If the donor is a party in a contested case pending before
the commission, the notice shall include the docket number, style, and filing
date of every contested case in which the donor is a party.
(B)
If the donor is not a party in any contested case pending
before the commission, the notice shall include either the docket number,
style, and date the order was signed in the most recent contested case in
which the donor was a party or a statement that the donor has never been a
party to a contested case before the commission.
(7)
The executive director shall forward the form
or letter to the appropriate division director for review.
(d)
Division director review. The division director to whom
the executive director has forwarded a copy of the form or letter shall review
the form or letter within 10 business days. The director shall indicate on
the form whether:
(1)
the intended gift would assist the commission in carrying
out its duties and, if so, how;
(2)
the intended gift would provide a broad or general
benefit to the commission in carrying out its purposes and powers that would
exceed any particular benefit that the donor might realize as a result of
making the gift;
(3)
the division director agrees with the estimated value
of the gift and, if not, the division director's estimate of the value of
the gift and the reason for the difference of opinion; and
(4)
the commission should accept the intended gift and,
if not, the reasons the division director recommends against accepting the
intended gift.
(5)
The division director shall forward the form or letter
to the Office of General Counsel for review.
(e)
Office of General Counsel review. Upon receipt of a form
or letter from a division director, the Office of General Counsel shall review
the form or letter within 10 business days regarding the intended donor's
status as a party in any proceeding pending before the commission.
(1)
The review shall indicate whether the date on which the
donor intends to make the gift to the commission meets the requirements of
subsection (b)(1) of this section and if not, shall state a date or dates
which would meet the requirements of subsection (b)(1) of this section.
(2)
The Office of General Counsel shall forward the reviewed
form or letter to the executive director for final review.
(f)
Executive director review. Upon receipt of a form or letter
reviewed by a division director and the Office of General Counsel, the executive
director shall review the form or letter within 10 business days to ensure
that all information required by this section is included.
(1)
The executive director may request that the person filing
the notice of intent to make a gift supply additional information regarding
the donor, the intended gift, its estimated value, its usefulness to the commission,
the donor's party status, or any other information that the executive director
deems relevant to the intended gift.
(2)
If the executive director finds all information on
the form or letter to be satisfactory and the value of the gift is less than
$500, the executive director shall approve the gift by signing and dating
the RRC Gift Form and shall forward copies of the form to the donor, the appropriate
division director, the Finance and Administration Division, and the Office
of General Counsel.
(3)
If the executive director finds all information on
the form or letter to be satisfactory and the value of the gift is $500 or
more, the executive director shall:
(A)
give notice that the commission will consider the matter
at an open meeting; and
(B)
request that the Office of General Counsel draft an order
consistent with the staff recommendation regarding acceptance of the intended
gift.
(4)
In an open meeting, the commission shall consider
the intended gift and shall vote on whether to accept the gift. The commission
shall commemorate the vote by signing an order.
(g)
Upon a commission order or an executive director decision
accepting a gift, the executive director shall ensure that the commission
staff takes all appropriate steps to receive the gift and to account for it
properly in the records of the commission.
This agency hereby certifies that the adoption has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal authority.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on May
25, 1999.
TRD-9903081
Mary Ross McDonald
Deputy General Counsel, Office of General Counsel
Railroad Commission of Texas
Effective date: June 14, 1999
Proposal publication date: April 9, 1999
For further information, please call: (512) 463-7008