Temporary Suspension of PIA Requirements
In accordance with Texas Government Code Section 552.2325, TCEQ has temporarily suspended the requirements of the Public Information Act beginning on Feb. 1 and ending on Feb. 7, or at such time that power and virtual private network (VPN) connectivity is fully restored if earlier than Feb. 7.
Severe winter storms beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 31, caused a historic icing event that necessitated remote telework due to the closure of numerous TCEQ offices, including TCEQ headquarters. On Wednesday, Feb. 1, TCEQ began experiencing agency-wide technical issues with its VPN and large numbers of TCEQ staff began experiencing power outages at their homes.
The closure of headquarters, power outages, and VPN connectivity issues qualify TCEQ for a suspension period per Tex. Gov. Code Section 552.2325(a)(1)(B), as power failure and interruption of communication facilities are catastrophes that prevent TCEQ staff from accessing, both physically and electronically, the information necessary to process PIA requests.
For more information, see TCEQ’s catastrophe notice on the Texas Attorney General’s website.