1. (a) For the purposes of this chapter, a conflict of interest is a circumstance arising out of existing or past activities, business interests, contractual relationships, or organizational structure of an entity, or a familial or domestic living relationship between a department employee and an employee of the entity, and because of which:

   1. (1) the entity's objectivity in performing the scope of work sought by the department is or might be affected; or
   2. (2) the entity's performance of services on behalf of the department or participation in an agreement with the department provides or may reasonably appear to provide an unfair competitive advantage to the entity or to a third party.

2. (b) A for-profit entity, including a sole proprietorship, has a conflict of interest if:

   1. (1) an individual who held a position at or above the level of district engineer, division director, or office director solicits business from or attempts to influence a decision of the commission or department on behalf of that entity within one year after the date of the individual's separation from the department; or
   2. (2) a former department employee whose last salary from the department was at or above the minimum amount prescribed for salary group A17 of the state position classification salary schedule performs work on behalf of that entity regarding a specific investigation, application, request for ruling or determination, contract, claim, or judicial or other proceeding in which the former employee participated, whether through personal involvement or within the former employee's official responsibility, while employed by the department.
3. (c) Subsection (b)(1) of this section does not apply to a position that is designated as an interim position.
4. (d) For the purpose of subsection (b)(2) of this section, an individual participated in a matter if the individual made a decision or recommendation on the matter, approved, disapproved, or gave advice on the matter, conducted an investigation related to the matter, or took a similar action related to the matter.
5. (e) Before submitting a bid or undertaking some other interaction with the department, a for-profit entity or a former employee of the department to whom subsection (b) of this section applies may request from the department a determination of whether the interaction would constitute a conflict of interest under subsection (b) of this section. Such a request must be made in writing and must contain a concise explanation of the relevant facts. The department will not respond to a request under this subsection before consulting with the Office of General Counsel. The department will issue a written determination in response to a valid request made under this subsection as soon as practicable.
6. (f) Subsection (b)(1) of this section applies only to an individual whose employment with the department ends on or after the date that paragraph takes effect.

Source Note:The provisions of this §10.6 adopted to be effective January 6, 2011, 35 TexReg 11951; amended to be effective May 17, 2012, 37 TexReg 3606; amended to be effective February 20, 2014, 39 TexReg 999.