- (a) Unless otherwise provided by statute or by the provisions of this chapter, this chapter will govern the processes followed by the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in handling all adjudicative matters referred to the Office, including contested cases under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), Texas Government Code Annotated, Chapter 2001. Administrative License Suspension cases initiated by the Department of Public Safety are governed by Chapter 159 of this title (relating to Rules of Procedure for Administrative License Suspension Hearings), and by sections of this chapter made applicable to those cases by Chapter 159.
- (b) Subject to further review and possible modification or deletion of this subsection, SOAH adopts by this reference those procedural rules of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) in effect January 1, 1998, which address the formal contested case process in matters referred by those agencies, and which are not inconsistent with applicable law. This adoption does not include any PUC or TNRCC rules addressing the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes at SOAH, which processes will be governed by the Governmental Dispute Resolution Act (GDRA), 75th Legislature, Chapter 934, §1, 1997, Texas General Laws 2932 (to be codified at Texas Government Code, Chapter 2008); SOAH rule provisions pertaining to ADR; and interagency contracts, memoranda of understanding, or other written agreements with referring entities.
Source Note:The provisions of this §155.1 adopted to be effective January 2, 1998, 22 TexReg 12719.