§97.104. Petitions for Adoption or Amendment of Rules.
(a) An interested party may submit a petition to the Department to adopt or amend a rule pursuant to Government Code, <*>2001.021. The petition must be in writing, must be directed to the commissioner, and must include:
(1) a brief explanation of the proposed rule or of the proposed amendment to the rule;
(2) the full text of the proposed rule, or, if the petition is to amend an existing rule, the text of the rule that clearly identifies any words to be added or deleted from the existing text by underlining new language and striking through language to be deleted; and
(3) any additional information the commissioner may request.
(b) If the petition complies with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the Department shall notify the applicant that the petition has been accepted for filing and will be processed in accordance with subsection (c) of this section. If the petition does not comply, the Department shall notify the applicant in writing of the deficiencies and give the applicant an opportunity to cure them by filing an amended petition. If the applicant does not file an amended petition curing the deficiencies by 5:00 p.m. on the 15th day following the date that the Department mailed a notice of deficiencies to the applicant, the petition shall be deemed denied for the reasons stated in the deficiency notice without the necessity of further action.
(c) Within 60 days of the date that a petition is accepted for filing, the Department must either deny the petition for reasons stated in writing or initiate a rulemaking proceeding.