The General Land Office (Land Office) will evaluate potential projects for funding from the coastal erosion response account based on a two-stage evaluation process as described in this section, including an initial evaluation of project goal summaries followed by a further evaluation of preferred alternatives.

1. (1) Initial evaluation of project goal summaries submitted to the Land Office by potential project partners.

   1. (A) A potential project partner seeking funds from the coastal erosion response account must submit a project goal summary to the Land Office no later than December 1 of the first year of the state fiscal biennium in which funding is sought; provided that the Land Office in its discretion may accept a project summary that will address an emergency situation after December 1. The project goal summary must include the following:

      1. (i) the name of the entity that will be the potential project partner and the name, mailing address, email address, facsimile number, and telephone number of the person who will represent the potential project partner and be the primary point of contact with the Land Office;
      2. (ii) the location and geographic scope of the erosion problem;
      3. (iii) a description of the erosion problem and the severity of erosion in the area;
      4. (iv) the economic impacts of erosion in the area;
      5. (v) a description of how public infrastructure and resources or private property have been impacted or threatened by erosion in the area;
      6. (vi) the natural resource impacts of erosion in the area;
      7. (vii) the estimated cost to complete the erosion response project;
      8. (viii) whether the project will incorporate the beneficial use of dredged materials;
      9. (ix) potential cosponsors and sources of funding with an estimated percentage of the project to funded with non-state funds;
      10. (x) whether the potential partner can make a binding funding commitment of at least 15% of the total estimated project cost;
      11. (xi) a description of an emergency erosion situation the project is intended to address, if any; and
      12. (xii) the desired outcome or goals of the project for which funding is sought from the coastal erosion response account.

   2. (B) The Land Office will accept project goal summaries by:

      1. (i) mail sent to the General Land Office, Attn: Director, Coastal Resources Program Area, Coastal Stewardship Division, P.O. Box 12873, Austin, TX 78711-2873;
      2. (ii) fax sent to (512) 475-0680; or
      3. (iii) email sent to coastalprojects@glo.state.tx.us.

   3. (C) The Land Office will evaluate project goal summaries received based on the following criteria:

      1. (i) the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of the proposed project;
      2. (ii) the economic impacts of erosion in the area of the proposed project;
      3. (iii) the effect of the proposed project on public infrastructure or resources threatened by erosion;
      4. (iv) the effect of the proposed project on natural resources threatened by erosion;
      5. (v) the effect of the proposed project on private property threatened by erosion;
      6. (vi) if the project is located within the jurisdiction of a local government that administers a beach/dune program, whether the local government is adequately administering its duties under the Open Beaches Act (Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 61) and the Dune Protection Act (Texas Natural Resources Code, Chapter 63);
      7. (vii) whether the project will provide for beneficial use of beach-quality sand dredged in constructing and maintaining navigation inlets and channels of the state; and
      8. (viii) whether funding can be leveraged with sources other than the coastal erosion response account; and
      9. (ix) whether the potential project partner has already made or received a binding commitment to fund all or a portion of a given project.

   4. (D) After evaluation of proposed projects according to the criteria detailed in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph, the Land Office will further evaluate project goal summaries received based on the following priority criteria:

      1. (i) whether funding the proposed project will contribute to balance in the geographic distribution of benefits for coastal erosion response projects in Texas that are proposed or have received funding from the coastal erosion response account;
      2. (ii) whether federal and local financial participation in the project is maximized;
      3. (iii) whether the project achieves efficiencies and economies of scale;
      4. (iv) the relative severity of erosion in each area;
      5. (v) the needs in other critical coastal erosion areas;
      6. (vi) whether the proposed project will address an emergency erosion situation in the area; and
      7. (vii) the cost of the proposed project in relation to the amount of money available in the coastal erosion response account.

   5. (E) The Land Office will conduct the initial evaluation in consultation and coordination with the potential project partner, as deemed necessary by the Land Office. Based on the initial evaluation, the Land Office will designate proposed projects as either priority projects or alternate projects.

      1. (i) If, as a result of the initial evaluation, the Land Office designates a potential project as an alternate project, the potential project partner will be notified in writing. The Land Office will retain the project goal summary and may reevaluate it if future conditions warrant funding the project in the current state fiscal biennium. The project goal summary must be resubmitted by the potential project partner for consideration for funding in a subsequent state fiscal biennium.
      2. (ii) If the Land Office's initial evaluation results in a designation of a proposed project as a priority project, the Land Office will invite the potential project partner to continue to work cooperatively with the Land Office by becoming a qualified project partner.

2. (2) Evaluation of preferred alternatives with qualified project partners for priority projects.

   1. (A) The Land Office and potential project partner for a priority project must enter into a project cooperation agreement to continue the evaluation process. Upon entering into a project cooperation agreement, the potential project partner will become a qualified project partner. The Land Office and qualified project partner will cooperatively evaluate alternatives for addressing the erosion problem(s) identified in the project goal summary of a priority project.
   2. (B) The project cooperation agreement with the qualified project partner will explicitly define the activities to be undertaken by the Land Office and the qualified project partner in the evaluation of alternatives. Funds expended by a qualified project partner in conformance with the project cooperation agreement can be used to offset the qualified project partner's cost-sharing requirement. The Land Office may, at its sole discretion, fund studies or activities that are part of the alternatives-evaluation process.

   3. (C) During the alternatives-evaluation process, the Land Office will evaluate projects based on the following criteria:

      1. (i) the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of preferred alternative projects in meeting the goals of the project goal summary; and
      2. (ii) whether the qualified project partner has already made or received a binding commitment to fund all or a portion of a given project.
   4. (D) The Land Office will determine whether a qualified project partner should receive funds from the coastal erosion response account based on the final prioritization of preferred alternatives according to the considerations detailed in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.

Source Note:The provisions of this §15.41 adopted to be effective July 9, 2003, 28 TexReg 5196.