Part 1. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Subchapter B. COLLECTION OF DEBTS
The Texas Department of Agriculture (the department) proposes amendments to §1.56, concerning waiver of fees charged to persons obtaining licenses or services from the department. The rule currently allows employees of a political subdivision that hold a noncommercial political applicator license (NCP) to obtain a waiver of the entire licensing fee. When this rule was initially adopted the pool of eligible licensees was considerably smaller than it is today. Now, however, the number of NCP licensees has grown to the point that considerable division staff time is required to receive, track, and process the waiver requests. The amendments are proposed to improve allocation of personnel resources in the department's Licensing Division by allowing NCP renewals to be processed by the automated payment processing equipment at the Texas State Comptroller's office. The amendments eliminate the clause allowing these licensees to receive a waiver of their licensing fee. This fee will be offered at a 90% discount ($12 per year) for these NCP licensees. Without a fee, the 5,000+ renewals must currently be processed manually by department staff at considerable public expense.
Mike Cardwell, assistant commissioner for administration, has determined that for the first five-year period the amended section is in effect there will be fiscal implications for state government. There will be an increase in fees collected by approximately $50,000 per year. There will be no fiscal implications to local government as result of enforcing or administering the section, as amended.
Mr. Cardwell also has determined that for each year of the first five years the amended section is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing the section, as amended, will be an increase in efficiency in licensing operations due to the availability of Lockbox automation and Online Renewal that was not previously available due to renewals being submitted without fees. There will be no effect on micro-businesses or small businesses. There is anticipated economic cost to persons who are required to comply with the sections as proposed in the amount of $1 per month.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Mike Cardwell, Assistant Commissioner for Administration, Texas Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711. Comments must be received no later than 30 days from the date of publication of the proposal in the Texas Register.
The amendments to §1.56 are proposed under the Texas Agriculture Code, §12.034, which provides the department with the authority to adopt rules which provide for the waiver of licensing and inspection fees.
The Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter 12, is affected by the proposal.
§1.56.Waiver of Fees.
(a) - (b) (No change.)
(c) Circumstances under which a fee
may
[
will
] be waived.
(1) (No change.)
(2) As authorized by section 12.034 of the Texas Agriculture
Code (the Code), the department
may
[
will
]
waive the following fees when the circumstances and documentation
listed below are shown to exist in accordance with the provisions
of this section:
(A) License Fees. License fees are generally required
for legislatively mandated cost recovery purposes and will not be
waived except for the following entities which file their request
for fee waiver by the deadline specified in subsection (e) of this
section, or have good cause for failing to file their request by that
deadline, and who would otherwise have timely met the requirements
for the original license or renewal thereof.
The responsible
assistant commissioner shall make any necessary determination regarding
the existence of good cause under this paragraph. Reference to an
agency, school, organization, or other artificial entity below includes
only the entity. Individual employees or agents of a listed entity
are not eligible for a fee waiver, regardless whether the license
is for personal use or use in service to the entity.
[
Any
necessary determination regarding the existence of good cause under
this paragraph shall be made by the responsible assistant commissioner.
]
(i) - (v) (No change.)
(vi) a parent-teacher association operated by, through, or under an entity described by clause (iii) or (iv) of this subparagraph that certifies in writing that all proceeds from any sales authorized by the license will be applied to educational activities, equipment, supplies, or other educational expenses incurred by the association; or
[
(vii)
a local governmental,
state, or federal employee who certifies in writing that the activities
for which the license is required will be performed solely for the
local governmental, state, or federal entity for whom the employee
works; or]
(vii)
[
(viii)
] a department employee,
if the employee's supervisor requires or recommends that the license
be obtained.
(B) Additional Fee for Late Payment of License Renewal Fees (Section 12.024 of the Code).
(i) - (iii)(No change.)
(iv) Alleged failure to timely receive renewal notice. Department records show that the renewal notice was not sent by the department to the last known address according to department records (unless those records contain an obvious significant typographical error by the department that could reasonably have resulted in misdelivery of the notice) of the person in whose name the license was issued, on or before the 30th day prior to expiration of the license that was the subject of the renewal notice.
(I) - (III) (No change.)
(IV)
[
Except when waived for a class of licensees
under clause (vi) of this subparagraph,
]
The
[
the
]
responsible assistant commissioner will decide on a case-by-case basis
whether an alleged failure to send the renewal notice on or before
the 30th day prior to expiration significantly impaired the licensee's
ability to timely renew. The responsible assistant commissioner shall
take into account the requirements for renewal for the particular
license, the amount of time past the 30th day (prior to expiration)
that the renewal notice was actually sent, if this can be determined,
and any other circumstances relevant to the licensee's ability to
comply by the renewal deadline in light of the alleged late mailing.
(V) (No change.)
(v) (No change.)
(vi) Other justifiable reasons. Any reason which, in
the judgment of the responsible assistant commissioner, involves extraordinary
circumstances that justify waiver of the fee to ensure just and fair
treatment of the person who owes the fee. The department may, by written
notice published in the In Addition section of the Texas Register
, prospectively or retroactively
waive late fees for an entire class of licensees if, due to malfunctions
in the renewal generation process, a class of license renewals are
mailed less than 30 days prior to the normal expiration date for that
class of licenses or under other circumstances as deemed necessary
for the just and fair treatment of an entire class of licensees.
The
responsible assistant commissioner shall make any necessary determination
under this paragraph, regarding whether waiver is necessary to ensure
just and fair treatment of the person who owes the fee.
[
Any
necessary determination under this paragraph, regarding whether waiver
is necessary to ensure just and fair treatment of the person who owes
the fee, shall be made by the responsible assistant commissioner.
]
(C) Inspection Fees. Inspection fees are generally
required for legislatively mandated cost recovery purposes and will
not be waived except for extraordinary reasons. Unless
another
controlling law prohibits waiver,
[
waiver is prohibited
by another controlling law,
] these fees may be waived for any
reason which, in the judgment of the responsible assistant commissioner,
involves extraordinary circumstances that justify waiver of the fee
to ensure just and fair treatment of the person who owes the fee.
The
responsible assistant commissioner shall make any necessary determination
under this paragraph, regarding whether waiver is necessary to ensure
just and fair treatment of the person who owes the fee.
[
Any
necessary determination under this paragraph, regarding whether waiver
is necessary to ensure just and fair treatment of the person who owes
the fee, shall be made by the responsible assistant commissioner.
]
(D) Other Fees. Unless waiver is prohibited by another
controlling law, other fees may be waived for any reason which, in
the judgment of the responsible assistant commissioner, involves extraordinary
circumstances that justify waiver of the fee to ensure just and fair
treatment of the person who owes the fee.
The responsible assistant
commissioner shall make any necessary determination under this paragraph,
regarding whether waiver is necessary to ensure just and fair treatment
of the person who owes the fee.
[
Any necessary determination
under this paragraph, regarding whether waiver is necessary to ensure
just and fair treatment of the person who owes the fee, shall be made
by the responsible assistant commissioner.
]
(d) Procedure to request a waiver of a fee.
(1) (No change.)
(2) To qualify for a fee waiver, the person owing the fee or that person's authorized representative or agent must file with the department a written request, that the fee be waived, by the deadline specified in subsection (e) of this section.
(A) (No change.)
(B) A request from a governmental entity [
or the
employee of a governmental entity
] must be filed on the letterhead
of the governmental entity.
(C) (No change.)
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection
regarding letterhead requirements, the request
must
[
may
]
be filed on a department Request to Waive Fee Form,
or
[
in
any
] other written
communication
[
form
]
that contains
all of
the following information for each
fee for which a waiver is requested:
(A) - (E) (No change.)
(F) a statement or list of the reason or reasons that
the waiver is requested
(
the department recommends that
the person requesting the fee waiver refer to the appropriate subsection
and paragraph in subsection (c) of this section
);
[
.
]
(G) - (H) (No change.)
(e) - (h) (No change.)
(i) Delegation by assistant commissioner. The responsible
assistant commissioner may delegate any duty or privilege established
by this section and the
employee to whom the duty or privilege
is delegated
[
delegatee
] shall have the same authority
as the delegating responsible assistant commissioner [
to make
any necessary decisions permitted or required under this section
].
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on August 20, 2007.
TRD-200703745
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Earliest possible date of adoption: September 30, 2007
For further information, please call: (512) 463-4075