How do I identify my permitting authority — TCEQ regional office, county, river authority, or city (the Authorized Agent system)?

A "permitting authority" is the TCEQ executive director or an "authorized agent," defined as a local governmental entity delegated authority by the executive director to implement and enforce the Health & Safety Code Ch. 366 rules; a local governmental entity can be a municipality, county, river authority, or special district (including groundwater conservation, soil and water conservation, and public health districts) (30 TAC §285.2 definitions). Delegation runs through 30 TAC §285.10: the entity adopts an order/ordinance/resolution, TCEQ reviews it, and if the program is delegated to a municipality the authorized agent's jurisdiction is limited to the city's incorporated area (30 TAC §285.10). To find yours, use TCEQ's "Search for local permitting authority" lookup or call the OSSF program at 512-239-3799 (TCEQ OSSF Program Contacts); real-world examples of each type include Brazos County Health District, which permits all OSSFs in Brazos County except inside Wixon Valley city limits (Brazos County Health District), the Angelina & Neches River Authority, the authorized agent for Angelina and San Augustine counties plus the Sam Rayburn control zone (ANRA OSSF Overview), and the San Jacinto River Authority, which permits OSSFs within 2,075 feet of Lake Conroe (SJRA). Collin County explains the city-vs-county split directly: check TCEQ's authorized-agent list for your city, and if the city is not listed, the county is the authorized agent (Collin County Development Services).

Reviewed August 2026. Links go to the sources this answer was checked against.