he request of a worker formerly engaged in activities
 controlled by the licensee or registrant, each licensee or registrant shall
 furnish a written report of the worker's exposure to sources of radiation.
 The report shall include the dose record for each year the worker was required
 to be monitored in accordance with §289.202(f) of this title. Such report
 shall be furnished within 30 days from the date of the request, or within
 30 days after the dose of the individual has been determined by the licensee
 or registrant, whichever is later. The report shall cover the period of time
 that the worker's activities involved exposure to sources of radiation and
 the dates and locations of work under the license or certificate of registration
 in which the worker participated during this period.  
<p>
<P>(4)
<p>
 When a licensee or registrant is required in accordance
 with &#167;289.202(xx), (yy), and (zz) of this title to report to the agency
 any exposure of an individual to sources of radiation, the licensee or the
 registrant shall also provide the individual a written report of that individual's
 exposure data included therein. Such reports shall be transmitted at a time
 not later than the transmittal to the agency.  
<p>
<P>(5)
<p>
 At the request of a worker who is terminating employment
 with the licensee or registrant in work involving exposure to sources of
radiation  during the current year, each licensee or registrant shall provide
at termination  to each such worker, or to the worker's designee, a written
report regarding  the radiation dose received by that worker from operations
of the licensee  or registrant during the current year or fraction thereof.
If the most recent  individual monitoring results are not available at that
time, a written estimate  of the dose shall be provided together with a clear
indication that this is  an estimate.  
<p>
<P>(e)
<p>
 Presence of representatives of licensees or registrants
 and workers during inspection.  
<p>
<P>(1)
<p>
 Each licensee or registrant shall afford to the agency
 at all reasonable times opportunity to inspect materials, machines, activities,
 facilities, premises, and records in accordance with this chapter.  
<p>
<P>(2)
<p>
 During an inspection, agency inspectors may consult
 privately with workers as specified in subsection (f) of this section. The
 licensee or registrant may accompany agency inspectors during other phases
 of an inspection.  
<p>
<P>(3)
<p>
 If, at the time of inspection, an individual has
 been authorized by the workers to represent them during agency inspections,
 the licensee or registrant shall notify the inspectors of such authorization
 and shall give the workers' representative an opportunity to accompany the
 inspectors during the inspection of physical working conditions.  
<p>
<P>(4)
<p>
 Each workers' representative shall be routinely engaged
 in work under control of the licensee or registrant and shall have received
 instructions as specified in subsection (c) of this section.  
<p>
<P>(5)
<p>
 Different representatives of licensees or registrants
 and workers may accompany the inspectors during different phases of an inspection
 if there is no resulting interference with the conduct of the inspection.
 However, only one workers' representative at a time may accompany the inspectors.
  
<p>
<P>(6)
<p>
 With the approval of the licensee or registrant and
 the workers' representative, an individual who is not routinely engaged in
 work under control of the licensee or registrant, for example, a consultant
 to the licensee or registrant or to the workers' representative, shall be
 afforded the opportunity to accompany agency inspectors during the inspection
 of physical working conditions.  
<p>
<P>(7)
<p>
 Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
 agency inspectors are authorized to refuse to permit accompaniment by any
 individual who deliberately interferes with a fair and orderly inspection.
 With regard to any area containing proprietary information, the workers'
representative  for that area shall be an individual previously authorized
by the licensee  or registrant to enter that area.  
<p>
<P>(f)
<p>
 Consultation with workers during inspections.  
<p>
<P>(1)
<p>
 Agency inspectors may consult privately with workers concerning
 matters of occupational radiation protection and other matters related to
 applicable provisions of agency regulations and licenses to the extent the
 inspectors deem necessary for the conduct of an effective and thorough inspection.
  
<p>
<P>(2)
<p>
 During the course of an inspection any worker may
 bring privately to the attention of the inspectors, either orally or in writing,
 any past or present condition which that individual has reason to believe
 may have contributed to or caused any violation of the Act, the requirements
 in this chapter, license or certificate of registration conditions, or any
 unnecessary exposure of an individual to radiation from any source of radiation
 under the licensee's or registrant's control. Any such notice in writing
shall  comply with the requirements of subsection (g)(1) of this section.
 
<p>
<P>(3)
<p>
 The provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection
 shall not be interpreted as authorization to disregard instructions in accordance
 with subsection (c) of this section.  
<p>
<P>(g)
<p>
 Requests by workers for inspections.  
<p>
<P>(1)
<p>
 Any worker or representative of workers who believes that
 a violation of the Act, the requirements of this chapter, or license or certificate
 of registration conditions exists or has occurred in work under a license
 or certificate of registration with regard to radiological working conditions
in which the worker is engaged, may request an inspection by giving notice
of the alleged violation to the agency. Any such notice shall be in writing,
shall set forth the specific grounds for the notice, and shall be signed by
the worker or representative of the workers. A copy shall be provided to the
licensee or registrant by the agency no later than at the time of inspection
except that, upon the request of the worker giving such notice, the worker's
name and the name(s) of individual(s) referred to therein shall not appear
in such copy or on any record published, released, or made available by the
agency, except for good cause shown.  
<p>
<P>(2)
<p>
 If, upon receipt of such notice, the agency determines
that the request meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (1) of this
subsection, and that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged
violation exists or has occurred, an inspection shall be made as soon as practicable
to determine if such alleged violation exists or has occurred. Inspections
in accordance with this section need not be limited to matters referred in
the request.  
<p>
<P>(3)
<p>
 No licensee or registrant, contractor or subcontractor
of a licensee or registrant shall discharge or in any manner discriminate
against any worker because of the following:  
<p>
<P>(A)
<p>
 such worker has filed any request or instituted or caused
to be instituted any proceeding under this chapter;  
<p>
<P>(B)
<p>
 such worker has testified or is about to testify in any
such proceeding; or  
<p>
<P>(C)
<p>
 because of the exercise by such worker on behalf of that
individual or others of any option afforded by this section.  
<p>
<P>(h)
<p>
 Inspections not warranted.  
<p>
<P>(1)
<p>
 If the agency determines, with respect to a request under
subsection (g) of this section, that an inspection is not warranted because
there are no reasonable grounds to believe that a violation exists or has
occurred, the agency shall notify the requestor in writing of such determination.
The requestor may obtain review of such determination in accordance with the
provisions of the Act and the Government Code, Chapters 2001 and 2002.  
<p>
<P>(2)
<p>
 If the agency determines that an inspection is not
warranted because the requirements of subsection (g)(1) of this section have
not been met, the agency shall notify the requestor in writing of such determination.
Such determination shall be without prejudice to the filing of a new request
meeting the requirements of subsection (g)(1) of this section.  
<p>
<P>(i)
<p>
 Notice to employees. The following form, or an equivalent
as stated in subsection (b)(3) of this section, shall be posted.  
<p>
<p>
Figure: 25 TAC &#167;289.203(i)  
<p>
<p>
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.
<p>
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on May
18, 1998.
<P>
TRD-9808090
<P>
<p>
Susan K. Steeg
<p>
<p>
General Counsel
<p>
<p>
Texas Department of Health
<p>
<p>
Effective date: June 7, 1998
<p>
<p>
Proposal publication date: February 20, 1998
<p>
<p>
For further information, please call: (512) 458-7236
<p>
<HR>
<p>
<a name=600><B>25 TAC &#167;289.204</B><P>
<p>
The Texas Department of Health (department), by majority
vote of the Texas Board of Health (board) on May 15, 1998, enters this order
finally adopting an amendment to &#167;289.204, concerning fees for certificates
of registration, radioactive material(s) licenses, emergency planning and
implementation, and other regulatory services, without changes to the proposed
text as published in the February 27, 1998, issue of the 
<I>Texas Register
</I>
 (23 TexReg 1891), and therefore the section will not
be republished.  
<p>
<p>
The amendment to &#167;289.204 adds a definition to clarify a license category,
assesses additional fees for licenses that contain authorizations for more
than one license category, deletes the provision for proration of fees, restructures
the method by which fees for certificates of registration are assessed, and
separates the fees for evaluation of sealed sources and devices into fees
for initial evaluations and amendments requiring re-evaluation. The amendment
also increases the majority of license fees by 50% to correct an imbalance
in the percentage of costs recovered from certificate of registration fees
versus license fees when compared to the percentage of program costs charged
against certification of registration activities versus license activities.
This amendment is part of the department's ongoing evaluation of program fees
to comply with the provisions of Health and Safety Code &#167;401.301.  
<p>
<p>
The department made no changes to the text of the proposed rule.  
<p>
<p>
The following comments were received concerning the proposed section. Following
each comment is the department's response.  
<p>
<p>
Comment: Concerning &#167;289.204, one commenter suggested that the increased
fees were apparently initiated to further shift the funding of the Bureau
of Radiation Control to those entities possessing sources of radiation. The
commenter noted that this may not adversely affect entities that can easily
pass on costs of these fees to the ultimate consumers of the benefits of radiation.
However, for medical programs, these increases will have to come from cuts
from some other internal funds and will not be recovered. The commenter recommended
that the proposed increases not be instituted for medical and/or state-funded
institutions.  
<p>
<p>
Response: The department acknowledged the commenter's statements. The department
 is directed to recover as close to 100% of its regulatory costs, including
 indirect costs, as possible. The issue of exempting certain entities, such
 as state-funded insti