Texas Administrative Code › Title 31 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Part 1 - GENERAL LAND OFFICE › Chapter 26 - COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM › Subchapter A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 26.1 - Program for Special Management of Coastal Natural Resource Areas

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) The purpose of
				  the Texas Coastal Management Program (CMP) is to make more effective and
				  efficient use of public funds and to more effectively and efficiently manage
				  coastal natural resource areas (CNRAs) and the activities that may affect them.
				  The program is based on goals and policies that guide the use and development
				  of CNRAs, preserve and protect CNRAs, and improve government processes. Under
				  the Coastal Coordination Act, the commissioner of the General Land Office
				  (commissioner) is charged with adopting rules promulgating the CMP goals and
				  policies. The Coastal Coordination Act requires agency or subdivision actions
				  to comply with these goals and policies.
(b) The commissioner will exercise authority
				  pursuant to the Coastal Coordination Act in the following ways.
(1) The commissioner will study and review
				  the principal coastal problems of state concern. This review will include
				  examination of the current status and future trends of CNRAs; examination of
				  conflicts between competing uses of CNRAs; and examination of policy issues
				  with respect to local, state, or national interests and concerns related to
				  CNRAs. The commissioner will examine alternative regulatory and other
				  management approaches to these problems, identify data collection and research
				  needs, and foster public education and participation.
(2) The commissioner will coordinate the
				  performance of agencies, subdivisions, and programs by promulgating goals and
				  policies to guide and serve as the basis for consistency review of agency and
				  subdivision actions. The commissioner will examine the goals and policies in
				  this chapter annually to review the effectiveness of the program and will
				  propose revisions to the goals and policies, as necessary.
(3) The commissioner will coordinate the
				  measures required to resolve identified coastal problems and make coastal
				  management processes more visible, accessible, coherent, consistent, and
				  accountable by reviewing agency and subdivision actions for consistency with
				  the goals and policies in this chapter. Agency and subdivision actions subject
				  to consistency review are those set forth in Texas Natural Resources Code,
				  §
											33.2051 and
				  §
											33.2053. The
				  commissioner shall employ consistency review of agency and subdivision rules
				  and policies as the primary technique for ensuring that agency and subdivision
				  actions are consistent with the CMP goals and policies in this
				  chapter.
(4) The commissioner will
				  adopt guidance and procedural rules for the review of federal agency actions,
				  activities, and outer continental shelf plans that incorporated the provisions
				  of the federal regulations governing those reviews. The commissioner shall
				  employ consistency review to ensure that federal agency actions, activities,
				  and outer continental shelf plans are consistent with the CMP goals and
				  policies in this chapter.
(5) The
				  commissioner will implement a grants program to award funds to coastal local
				  governments and other qualified entities for the planning and implementation of
				  projects that address environmental problems affecting the coastal area, to
				  promote sustainable economic development, and otherwise further the CMP goals
				  and policies. The commissioner shall establish the procedures for making any
				  determination related to awarding a grant. For each year or for each grant
				  cycle, the commissioner shall promulgate guidance for the grants program
				  describing the deadlines, schedule, eligibility requirements, funding policies,
				  and approval process.