Skip to Content
Questions or Comments: chiefclk@tceq.texas.gov

Commission Work Sessions

An introduction to commission work sessions.

General Information

Commission work sessions are informal meetings of the agency leadership where potential rules, policy issues, national issues, and other issues of interest to the commission are discussed. Work sessions may also be used by the commissioners to provide guidance to staff about policy direction and priorities. Like commission meetings, work sessions require the attendance of at least two commissioners and are therefore subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act

Aside from the commissioners, typical work-session participants include the general counsel, the executive director, the deputy executive director, appropriate deputy directors, agency staff, and the public (see Public Comment section below). Issues may be referred to a work session by any commissioner, their executive assistants, the general counsel, executive director, deputy executive director, or the respective deputy director.

Agency staff members present the items. The commissioners may respond to staff by asking questions, discussing their points of view, providing direction or instructions, or requesting more information. The commissioners may also identify future work-session items during the meeting.

We hold most work sessions in Building E, Room 201S on the main TCEQ campus in Austin. They usually start at 9:30 a.m.

Schedule

The commissioners generally schedule a work session every month and hold them as necessary. The latest version of the schedule is available on the Upcoming Commission Work Sessions page. If you wish to be e-mailed when the schedule changes or a new agenda is published, you can subscribe to the Upcoming Commission Work-Session Agendas mailing list. All upcoming commission work session dates may be canceled or rescheduled at any time. Please confirm dates and times prior to attending.

Agendas and Backup Materials

Work-session agendas must receive approval no fewer than eight calendar days prior to the work session. Once the commissioners have approved an agenda, we publish it on both the Secretary of State's Open Meetings page and the Upcoming Commission Work Sessions page (in the "Session Agenda" column of the schedule table).

Work-session agendas contain links to backup materials available online or in person at the Office of the Chief Clerk. See the Commission Work-Session Backup Materials page for more information.

Public Comment

Work sessions are focused on discussion between commissioners and staff, and public comment on most agenda items is accepted only at the discretion of the commissioners. However, there may be a general public comment item on a work-session agenda. During this scheduled period the commissioners receive comments from the public on matters within the jurisdiction of the TCEQ, with the exception of pending permitting matters or other contested cases which are subject to the ex parte prohibition found in Texas Government Code, Section 2001.061 .

If you wish to comment during this period, you may register at the work session. In the interest of time, we limit speakers to three minutes each, and limit the entire comment period to one hour. Note that in months when no commission work session is held, the public comment period will be added to a commission meeting agenda instead. You can find the latest agendas for those meetings on the Commissioners' Agendas page.

Minutes

We post the minutes from each work session on the Commission Work-Session Minutes (Marked Work Sessions) page. The minutes note which commissioners were present at the sessions and what, if any, action they took on each agenda item.

Recordings

We maintain audio recordings of all work sessions. You can obtain copies of recordings up to a year old by calling the Office of the Chief Clerk at 512-239-3300. You can obtain copies of older recordings by calling the TCEQ's Central File Room at 512-239-2900.

In addition, you can watch videos on YouTube of work-sessions from Nov. 1, 2018.

Contact

For more information on commission work sessions, please contact:

Mehgan Taack, Section Manager
Office of the Chief Clerk
Phone: 512-239-3300
Fax: 512-239-3311
E-Mail: chiefclk@tceq.texas.gov