Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Austin Texas Memorandum To: Permits Division Directors/Permit Engineers/Regional Directors From: Lawrence E. Pewitt, P.E., Director Permits Program Date: July 5, 1990 Subject: Regulation VI Revisions, effective date. The effective date for the newly-adopted revisions to Regulation VI is July 23, 1990. The revisions are as follows: 1. 116.1(c) now 116.110(d) Permit Requirements All applications for permit or permit amendment with an estimated capital cost of the project above 2 million dollars, and not subject to any exemption contained in the Texas Engineering Practice Act (TEPA), shall be submitted under seal of a registered professional engineer. However, nothing in this subsection shall limit or affect any requirement which may apply to the practice of engineering under TEPA or the actions of the Texas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers. For purposes of this subsection, the estimated capital cost is defined in S116.11(b) now 116.141(a) of this title, concerning permit fees. 2. 116.3(a)(1)(B) now 116.117(a) Considerations for Granting Permits to Construct and Operate Permit to Construct-Reformatted to add a distance limit for most proposed lead smelters. 3. 116.6(a)(5) now 116.211(a)(6) Exempted Facilities No person shall circumvent by artificial limitations the requirements of 116.1 now 116.110 of this chapter, concerning Permit Requirements. Items 2 and 3 above need little or no further explanation; however, Item 1 pertaining to requiring that certain applications be submitted under seal of a registered professional engineer has already raised questions on the exact meaning of the phrase, "submitted under seal ... ". According to the Board of Registration a "seal', consists of three parts: (a) the seal itself clearly showing the registration number, (b) a signature and (c) a date, all three of which must be clearly discernable and in close proximity. The seal should NOT be impressed over the signature as was the practice some years ago. It is not necessary that all pages of an application be "sealed". A seal on the cover letter which references the application, title page of the application or application form itself is sufficient to satisfy this regulation requirement. This, of course, makes the professional engineer responsible for the entire package. If this is not the case then it must be clearly evident just what the engineer is responsible for, with statements like "Calculations by...... " or "Reviewed by...... " or "This application is hereby certified to meet all rules and regulations of the TACB", etc. Please direct attention to these requirements, in particular, applications for permit or permit amendment received on or after July 23, 1990, to ensure that all professional engineer seal requirements are met. cc: Mr. Steve Spaw, P.E., Executive Director Mr. James C. Myers, P.E., Deputy Director, Regulatory Operations