1. (a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to provide procedures for any interested person to request the Texas Board of Health (board) to adopt a rule.

2. (b) Form of the petition.

   1. (1) The petition must be in writing.

   2. (2) The petition must contain the following:

      1. (A) the petitioner's name, address, and organization or affiliation, if any;
      2. (B) a plain and brief description about why a rule or change to an existing rule is needed, required or desirable, including the public good to be served and any affect on those who would be required to comply with the rule;
      3. (C) to the extent feasible to the petitioner, an estimated fiscal impact of the rule on state and local government, separately stated, for each of the first five years of its implementation; and, to the extent feasible to the petitioner, an estimated economic impact on persons required to comply with the rule for each of the first five years the rules are in effect;
      4. (D) a statement of the board's authority to adopt the proposed rule;
      5. (E) if the petition proposes to amend an existing rule, the text of the existing rule, with proposed changes clearly indicated within the existing text; and
      6. (F) if the petition is for a new rule, the proposed text of the new rule.

3. (c) The petition must be addressed to the Commissioner of Health, and be mailed or hand delivered to the Texas Department of Health, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756.

   1. (1) The commissioner will review the petition for compliance with the requirements in subsection (b) of this section. The petition may be refused if these requirements are not met.
   2. (2) If the requirements of subsection (b) are met, the commissioner will bring the petition to the board.

4. (d) The board must deny or accept the petition in whole or in part and initiate the rulemaking process within 60 days from the date of submission of the petition by the petitioner.

   1. (1) If the board denies the petition, the commissioner will notify the petitioner in writing of the board's action to deny and state the reason(s) for the denial.
   2. (2) If the board accepts the petition, the commissioner will refer the petition to the appropriate program to initiate the rulemaking process under Government Code, Chapter §2001, Subchapter B.

Source Note:The provisions of this §351.2 adopted to be effective December 17, 2002, 27 TexReg 11743; transferred effective September 1, 2004, as published in the Texas Register September 17, 2004, 29 TexReg 9013.