SECTION 16.41. Application Protest Process

(a) The office shall publish on the office's website criteria and requirements for submitting a challenge under this section. An application protest may only be made on the following basis:

(1) the applicant is ineligible to receive an award;

(2) the application contains broadband serviceable locations that are not eligible to receive funding because of an existing federal commitment to deploy qualifying broadband service to the location; or

(3) the project is ineligible to receive or should not receive an award based on the criteria prescribed by the office as provided by §16.40(a) of this subchapter.

(b) A protest submitted under this section shall be submitted electronically in the manner and on the forms prescribed by the office and shall be accompanied by all relevant supporting documentation. The protesting party bears the burden to establish that an applicant or project should not receive or is ineligible for an award based on the criteria prescribed by the office.

(c) The office shall review the protest and make a determination as to whether the protest should be upheld. The office shall provide notice of its determination to each affected applicant, including the right, if any, to submit an amended application under subsection (d) of this section.

(d) If the office upholds a protest on the basis that one or more broadband serviceable locations are not eligible to receive funding under the criteria prescribed by the office, an applicant may amend and resubmit an application without the challenged locations and re-scope the application or project area if, after the protest is upheld:

(1) the remaining number of broadband serviceable locations in the project area is greater than 50% of the original number of locations in the project area; or

(2) the remaining number of broadband serviceable locations in the project area is less than 50% of the original number of locations in the project area and the office permits, at its sole discretion, the applicant to amend the application.

(e) If an amended application without the challenged locations is not received by the office by the 30th day after receiving notice of the determination under subsection (c) of this section, the office may remove the application from grant funding consideration.

(f) A determination made by the office under this section is not a contested case for purposes of Government Code, Chapter 2001.

Source Note: The provisions of this §16.41 adopted to be effective February 19, 2023, 48 TexReg 685; amended to be effective March 24, 2024, 49 TexReg 1956