HB3249 - Relating to rules providing for certification of issues to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in contested cases referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings by the commission.

  89R14204 JRR-F     By: Darby H.B. No. 3249       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to rules providing for certification of issues to the   Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in contested cases   referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings by the   commission.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 2003.047(i), Government Code, is amended   to read as follows:          (i)  The office and the commission jointly shall adopt rules   providing for certification to the commission of an issue that   involves an ultimate finding of compliance with or satisfaction of   a statutory standard the determination of which is committed to the   discretion or judgment of the commission by law. Each agency shall   publish the jointly adopted rules. The rules must :                 (1)   address, at a minimum, the issues that are   appropriate for certification and the procedure to be used in   certifying the issue ; and                 (2)     provide that any issue raised by a party relating   to the scope of discovery under Subsection (g) shall be promptly   certified by the administrative law judge to the commission . [ Each   agency shall publish the jointly adopted rules. ]          SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives   a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as   provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this   Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this   Act takes effect September 1, 2025.