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TCEQ occupational licensing section: 180‑day renewal window, military reciprocity changes and ethics petition stakeholder meeting
Summary
TCEQ Occupational Licensing staff told the Drinking Water Advisory Work Group on Oct. 14 that a law effective Sept. 1, 2025, extends the renewal-application window to 180 days after license expiration and that an Oct. 20 stakeholder meeting will discuss an ethics continuing‑education petition.
TCEQ’s Occupational Licensing staff briefed the Drinking Water Advisory Work Group on Oct. 14 about recent legislative changes and upcoming stakeholder engagement.
Theresa (Occupational Licensing) said a bill that went into effect Sept. 1, 2025, extends the time to submit license-renewal applications from 30 to 180 days after expiration. Licenses remain three-year terms and continuing-education requirements must be completed during the license validity period. Theresa said late fees increase in steps: 1.5 times the regular fee for days 1–89 past expiration, and two times the regular fee for days 90–180. The law permits license holders to perform activities requiring the license for up to 90 days after expiration (an enforcement discretion), but the license is still shown as expired in TCEQ’s system during that period.
Staff also described military reciprocity changes (referenced as House Bill 5,629 and Senate Bill 18 18 in the meeting) that will allow a provisional license valid for 180 days when an application cannot be completed immediately; reciprocity will be assessed against the scope of an out-of-state license rather than a strict apples‑to‑apples comparison. Theresa said application fees for new licenses filed by eligible military applicants will be waived for initial applications; renewal fees remain payable.
An ethics continuing-education petition is scheduled for stakeholder discussion at 10 a.m. Oct. 20; the petition proposes requiring multiple hours of ethics CE during a license validity period, and the Occupational Licensing team invited written and anonymous comments via the occupational-licensing web page. Theresa said other rule memorializations from the 80th Legislature will be implemented through the rulemaking process with stakeholder meetings, proposal and adoption agendas, and comment periods expected through spring/summer 2026.
On fingerprinting and criminal-history processes, staff said fingerprint-based submissions are preferred and have been successful, but DPS audit requirements force additional acknowledgement and attestation forms when applicants self‑attest instead of using fingerprinting. Theresa offered to provide data on fingerprinting uptake if requested.
Evidence in the record: staff announced the Oct. 20 stakeholder meeting for the ethics petition, explained the 180‑day renewal window and fee structure, summarized military reciprocity changes, and described DPS acknowledgement forms tied to fingerprinting.
