1. (a) Nomination. Any group or individual, public or private, and public agencies may submit a property in public ownership to the commission for official designation as a State Archeological Landmark. The nomination must be submitted to the commission on a form approved by the commission, and the commission will determine whether the nomination is in order and acceptable, and when the nomination will be placed on the agenda of one of the commission's public meetings.

   1. (1) Any third-party private individual or a private group that desires to nominate a building or site owned by a political subdivision as a State Archeological Landmark must complete and return to the commission a nomination form, and must give notice of the nomination at the individual's or group's own expense, in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city, town, or county in which the building or site is located. If no newspaper of general circulation is published in the city, town, or county, the notice must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in an adjoining or neighboring county that is circulated in the county of the applicant's residence. The notice must:

      1. (A) be printed in 12-point boldface type;
      2. (B) include the exact location of the building or site; and
      3. (C) include the name of the group or individual nominating the building or site.
      4. (D) An original copy of the notice and an affidavit of publication signed by the newspaper's publisher must be submitted to the commission with a nomination form. The commission will not consider a site owned by a political subdivision for designation as a State Archeological Landmark unless the notice and affidavit required by this section are attached to a nomination form. This notification must be received by both the commission and the public agency a minimum of 60 days prior to a regularly scheduled public meeting of the commission at which the nomination may be considered. All decisions regarding when a nomination will be considered by the commission will be made by the executive director of the commission.
   2. (2) If the commission's staff wishes to nominate a site or historic building or structure for State Archeological Landmark designation it must give the public agency that owns the property a written notification that a nomination will be considered by the commission at one of its regularly scheduled public meetings. This notification must be received by the public agency a minimum of 15 days prior to the regularly scheduled public meeting of the commission at which the nomination is scheduled to be presented. The commission must also send the public agency complete site information on the proposed nomination.
2. (b) Evaluation. The commission's staff will review the property and determine if it is eligible according to the criteria for evaluation specified in Sections 26.7-26.10 of this title (relating to Criteria for Evaluating Historic Structures; Criteria for Evaluating Archeological Sites; Criteria for Evaluating Caches and Collections; and Criteria for Evaluating Shipwrecks).
3. (c) Interim protection and notification. Once a valid nomination for a landmark building or structure has been received and the commission's staff determines the property is eligible for designation, no project work may be undertaken on the property without a permit issued by the commission unless or until the commission denies the nomination or designation. Information regarding this protection will be included in the commission's notice on the nomination to the property owner.
4. (d) Presentation of nominations. Following staff evaluation and recommendations, nominations will be presented to the Antiquities Advisory Board. Written notice of the presentation will be sent to the owner. The Antiquities Advisory Board will review each nomination, the staff recommendations related to each nomination, and any testimony given by the owner of the property and the public at large. The Antiquities Advisory Board will then pass on its recommendations regarding each nomination to the commission. The chair of the Antiquities Advisory Board, or one of the other commission members who serve on the board, will present the nomination and recommendations to the commission at one of its public meetings.
5. (e) Comment period. No vote on final designation may be taken by the commission for a minimum period of 30 days, during which time all concerned parties may present evidence in support of or against designation of the property. Comments should address the property's merits in light of the criteria specified in Sections 26.7-26.10 of this title (relating to Criteria for Evaluating Historic Structures; Criteria for Evaluating Archeological Sites; Criteria for Evaluating Caches and Collections; and Criteria for Evaluating Shipwrecks).
6. (f) Presentation of designation and designation vote. After the minimum comment period of 30 days has elapsed, the commission may consider the property for designation at one of its public meetings. The owners of the property will be informed of the agenda by written notice at least 15 calendar days in advance of the meeting date. Anyone may present evidence or testify at the meeting when the final decision is to be made. The commission may then vote to designate, to deny designation, to request further information, or to make any other appropriate decision.
7. (g) Additional evidence. If designation of a property is denied, interested parties may present additional evidence at any time for the commission's reconsideration. The evidence will be considered by the commission at one of its meeting dates.
8. (h) Additional hearings. Any owner of a property designated as a State Archeological Landmark who is aggrieved by the designation procedure as applied to his or her property will receive a full evidentiary hearing upon request, or the formal designation can be removed by action of the commission.
9. (i) Notification of designation. Written notification of the commission's decision on designation of a property as a State Archeological Landmark will be forwarded to the owner.
10. (j) Listing of State Archeological Landmarks. If a property is officially designated as a State Archeological Landmark, the property will be listed in the commission's inventory and may be marked with the standard State Archeological Landmark marker, if deemed appropriate by the commission. A current list of all historic structures, sites, and objects so designated will be maintained in the office of the commission.
11. (k) Privileged or restricted information. The location of archeological sites is not public information. However, information on sites may be disclosed to qualified professionals as provided for under Title 13, Part 2, Chapter 24 of the Texas Administrative Code.

Source Note:The provisions of this §26.12 adopted to be effective August 28, 2002, 27 TexReg 7789.