PART 1. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
CHAPTER 15. TRANSPORTATION PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING
Subchapter B. RESEARCH AND PLANNING CONTRACTS
The Texas Department of Transportation (department) proposes amendments to §15.13, New Product Evaluation.
EXPLANATION OF PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
Section 15.13, New Product Evaluation, was adopted to provide procedures for the evaluation of new products and processes that may benefit the department. The section became effective on April 21, 1992. In the last 16 years, evaluation processes have changed but the rule has not. Some provisions of the section are unnecessarily specific and in need of revision. The proposed amendments to §15.13 adapt the section to current situations and technologies and provide the department with the flexibility needed to more quickly evaluate products that are beneficial to transportation.
In the existing section the word "vendor" was artificially defined to mean anyone or any entity who submitted an application. The amendments substitute the word "person" for "vendor" throughout the section because person is more appropriate in the context in which the term is used.
Amendments to §15.13(b), Definitions, add the definition of "executive director" and an expansive definition of "person." The amendments delete the definitions "new product," "product evaluation committee," "specification," "specification committee," and "vendor" because those terms are not used in the section as amended.
Amendments to §15.13(c), Application, specify that an application for product evaluation must be submitted to the executive director or the person who is designated by the executive director to receive the applications and, in recognition that the Internet is commonly used today for distributing information, amendments to paragraph §15.13(c)(4) change the source of application forms from central and district offices to the department's Internet site. Because the Internet web links change frequently, the section provides a method by which the application form is easily found.
The amendments delete §15.13(d), Evaluation procedures, and §15.13(e), Vendor notification, to provide flexibility for the evaluation of products. The information concerning the current application and evaluation processes and the specifics of notification will be provided on the department's web site where the application form is found.
Section 15.13(f), Restrictions, is re-lettered accordingly and amended to clarify that a determination that a product is acceptable to the department is not an endorsement of the product by the department or a finding of suitability of the product.
FISCAL NOTE
James Bass, Chief Financial Officer, has determined that for each of the first five years the amendments as proposed are in effect, there will be no fiscal implications for state or local governments as a result of enforcing or administering the amendments.
Rick Collins, Director, Research and Technology Implementation Office, has certified that there will be no significant impact on local economies or overall employment as a result of enforcing or administering the amendments.
PUBLIC BENEFIT AND COST
Mr. Collins has also determined that for each year of the first five years the sections are in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing or administering the amendments will be a more efficient and cost-effective method for evaluating new products. There are no anticipated economic costs for persons required to comply with the sections as proposed. There will be no adverse economic effect on small businesses.
SUBMITTAL OF COMMENTS
Written comments on the proposed amendments to §15.13 may be submitted to Rick Collins, Director, Research and Technology Implementation Office, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 East 11th Street, Austin, Texas 78701-2483. The deadline for receipt of comments is 5:00 p.m. on July 14, 2008.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY
The amendments are proposed under Transportation Code, §201.101, which provides the Texas Transportation Commission with the authority to establish rules for the conduct of the work of the department.
CROSS REFERENCE TO STATUTE
Transportation Code, §§202.001, 203.002, and 224.032.
§15.13.New Product Evaluation.
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide for the evaluation of new products and processes which may be of benefit to the Texas Department of Transportation in carrying out its statutorily authorized functions and responsibilities.
(b) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Department--The Texas Department of Transportation.
(2) Executive director--The executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation.
(3) Person--Includes an individual, corporation, association, and any other legal entity.
[(2) New product--A product
or process currently available on the market for immediate acquisition,
for which the department does not have a current specification or
which appears superior to existing products covered by a specification.]
[(3) Product Evaluation
Committee (PEC)--The standing committee of the department responsible
for coordinating product evaluation.]
[(4) Specification--An
engineering description of acceptable materials and processes for
department activities, adopted by the department's specification committee.]
[(5) Specification committee--A
standing committee of the department appointed by the executive director
to approve and adopt specifications for department materials and operations.]
[(6) Vendor--A person or
organization outside the department which submits a product for evaluation.]
(c) Application.
(1) To submit a product for evaluation, a person must [
vendor shall] submit to the executive
director or the executive director's designee an application
in a form prescribed by the department.
(2) The department may request the person [vendor
] to submit additional information, such as test reports,
engineering reports, or other data citing the economic, environmental,
or engineering advantages of the product.
(3) A person [vendor] who submits
a patented product shall provide the department with a written certification
that the person [vendor] is the holder of the
patent, or has market rights to the product under license by the patent holder.
(4) Application forms may be obtained from the department's
Internet site by searching on the phrase: product evaluation [
Texas Department of Transportation, Research and Development Section,
P.O. Box 5051, Austin, Texas 78763, or from any district office of
the department].
[(d) Evaluation procedures.]
[(1) After receipt of the application and any required additional information, the PEC will conduct a preliminary examination of a product to:]
[(A) determine whether the product is a new product; and]
[(B) coordinate with appropriate department organizational units to determine if an evaluation of the product is feasible.]
[(2) If, pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, the PEC determines that the product is a new product that may be useful in the department's operations, and is one which the department may wish to procure, the department may, if determined to be appropriate, test the product under laboratory conditions or trial usage.]
[(e) Vendor notification.
The department will advise the vendor, in writing, of the results
of the evaluation.]
(d) [(f)] Restrictions.
(1) Any department determination of product acceptability does not:
(A) obligate the department to procure the product or require any of its contractors to procure the product for use on department projects; or
(B) constitute endorsement or finding of suitability of use other than for the department.
(2) A person may [vendor shall]
not represent a determination of product acceptability as an endorsement
or [a] finding of suitability of the product.
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 May 30, 2008.
TRD-200802811
Bob Jackson
General Counsel
Texas Department of Transportation
Earliest possible date of adoption: July 13, 2008
For further information, please call: (512) 463-8683