What Engineers Submit to TCEQ and Why Your Application Gets Rejected

What does TCEQ check first?

Completeness, then compliance. TCEQ's instructions for Form TCEQ-20094 describe an administrative review first. Each item is checked for a complete answer, and names and addresses are verified with the Texas Secretary of State and the US Postal Service. A technical review against Chapter 210 follows.

The same instructions say an altered or reordered form will not be processed. For permits, 30 TAC §281.3(a) sets ten working days for the administrative completeness review.

What rainfall goes into the water balance?

Average rainfall for the water balance, and a 25-year design year for storage. They are two different calculations, and the rule gives each its own rainfall.

Under 30 TAC §309.20(b)(3), the water balance for a land application permit uses the average yearly rainfall and its monthly distribution, with crop evapotranspiration developed month by month. The separate effluent storage study uses a design rainfall year with a return frequency of at least 25 years, or the highest annual rainfall in the last 25 years of record.

Swap them and both answers go wrong. A water balance run on the wet year understates what the crop can take. A storage study run on the average year undersizes the pond.

On our 210E reuse project near Martindale, Texas, which irrigates off site, the storage reservoir was designed to §309.20 with 25-year worst-case precipitation data.

A 210E system that irrigates follows §210.24, applied through §210.56(f)(1). It asks for irrigation demand documented from the vegetation and the land area, with average monthly precipitation in the water balance.

What site data does the reviewer expect?

Maps, wells, soils and buffers, drawn to scale and tied to land you control. For a land application permit, §309.20(a) asks for:

• a USGS 7.5-minute topographic map with the exact boundaries of the application area;
• a scale drawing and legal description showing facilities, buffer zones, water wells and adjacent owners;
• any faults or sinkholes on the site;
• a soils survey, using NRCS surveys where available;
• every water well within half a mile of the site boundary.

Section 309.20(b)(4) adds root-zone soil samples for pH, total nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and conductivity.

A 210E site has its own distances. Under §210.56(f)(4), industrial reclaimed water may not be applied within 250 feet of a private water well or 500 feet of a public supply well. Spray may not reach private property outside the irrigation area (§210.24(d)(5)), and storage stays out of the floodway under §210.23(a).

How specific does the waste stream description need to be?

Stream by stream, with volumes. Section 7 of Form TCEQ-20094 asks for each type of industrial wastewater, such as cooling tower blowdown or floor wash water, with the volume generated and the volume proposed for reuse. It also asks whether any stream is one §210.54 bars from coverage.

The streams decide the level. Under §210.53(b), Level II covers, among other cases, water above the Table 1 thresholds, water used off site and industrial reclaimed water that contains any amount of domestic wastewater.

If sewage is in the stream, read three more rules. §210.52(3) calls that commingled wastewater. §210.56(a)(1) says the paragraph (3) waiver, which frees a producer from holding "a permit for treatment and disposal," does not apply to commingled water. It puts that water under the domestic reclaimed water rules in Subchapters A to C instead.

One of those rules, §210.2(e), amended in 2025, says a reclaimed water producer must hold a TPDES permit, a TLAP or a Subchapter P authorization before building and running the treatment facility. Settle the path with TCEQ before design. Our 210E authorization work starts with that question.

What treatment documentation holds up in review?

Calculations at your flows, not a brochure. A Level II authorization carries default limits in §210.56(d): total organic carbon of 55 mg/L, sampled monthly by grab, and pH from 6.0 to 9.0, sampled weekly. The executive director may add limits or monitoring. Commingled water must also meet the reclaimed water quality standards in §210.33.

Effluent testing comes from a laboratory meeting 30 TAC Chapter 25. For a plant not yet built, TCEQ's instructions put the testing requirements into the authorization, with results reviewed before reuse begins.

For a domestic plant, 30 TAC §217.32 sets the flow basis, including a peak of at least four times design flow without site data. Under §217.10, the sealed engineering report carries every calculation and assumption that shows the design complies, due within 30 days of TCEQ's written request.

A manufacturer's sheet says what a unit does under the maker's conditions. The report has to show it at your design flow, your peak and your waste.

What does the reuse plan need to name?

Every party, the use site, the volume and a disposal method that is not the reuse itself. §210.55(b) lists the minimum:

• legal names and addresses of the producer, provider and user, and a contact;
• the facility and use site locations;
• the end use and the waste source;
• the primary disposal method used instead of reuse;
• the volume and how often it is applied;
• testing results, and the Edwards Aquifer location and liner certification where they apply.

TCEQ's instructions close two loopholes. The primary disposal method cannot be the reuse itself, and added storage does not count as one.

Off-site use adds §210.4(a): a binding agreement that tells the user its duties, the provider's authority to stop a noncompliant use, and an operation and maintenance plan. Irrigated acreage comes from the water balance for your crop, soil and climate, not from a statewide rule of thumb.

What happens after a notice of deficiency?

A deadline starts. On a 210E application, the application contact has 30 days to respond. TCEQ's instructions say authorization may be denied if no answer comes or the answer is inadequate.

For a wastewater permit, §281.18 requires at least one certified-mail notice giving 30 days before an incomplete application is returned. For industrial or municipal waste, TCEQ may grant up to 60 more days on proof.

In technical review, §281.19(b) extends the review period by the days the added data takes. Answer every item, in the order asked, with the calculation attached.

Is your file ready to submit?

Every answer should be yes. Any no is a likely notice of deficiency.

1. Is every item answered, on the unaltered form?
2. Do the legal names match the Secretary of State filings exactly?
3. Does the water balance use average rainfall, and the storage study the 25-year design year?
4. Does the site drawing show every well and buffer, with the distances met?
5. Is each waste stream listed with its volume, including any domestic wastewater?
6. Is the primary disposal method something other than the reuse or more storage?
7. Are the laboratory reports attached, or the testing plan stated for a plant not yet built?

This is general education on the TCEQ rules and form cited here as published in October 2026. TCEQ decides each application, so check the current versions with your engineer before you file.

Frequently asked questions

What triggers a notice of deficiency on a 210E application?

An unanswered item, an answer TCEQ cannot verify, or a technical gap against Chapter 210.

I'm a civil engineer in Texas writing my first land application technical report. Which rainfall goes in the water balance and which goes in the storage study?

Under §309.20(b)(3), the water balance uses the average yearly rainfall and its monthly distribution. The storage study uses a design year with a return frequency of at least 25 years, or the highest annual rainfall in the last 25 years of record.

I'm developing a mixed-use project in Texas, and our sewage will mix with a small industrial stream. Can we still apply for a 210E?

Under §210.53(b)(2) you can apply for Level II. Commingled water is also subject to the domestic reclaimed water rules in Subchapters A to C, including §210.2(e). Confirm with TCEQ early what your treatment plant needs.

Can a developer answer a deficiency notice without an engineer?

The application contact can respond, but technical items need the calculations behind them. For a domestic plant, information TCEQ requests for the engineering report must be prepared, signed and sealed by an engineer.

Related resources

• Water Balance Studies Under 30 TAC §309.20: What They Require and Who Prepares Them
• How to Work With TCEQ Reviewers: What Slows Approvals and What Speeds Them Up
• 210E Public Notice Requirements: What TCEQ Actually Requires Before Approval
• How to Size a Wastewater Storage Reservoir for a Texas Reuse Project

Is your TCEQ application stuck on a notice of deficiency?

We read the notice against the rule, build the missing calculations and site data, and answer every item in one response.

We specialize in:

• 210E and Chapter 210 reuse authorizations
• TPDES and TLAP permit applications
• Water balance and effluent storage studies
• Wastewater treatment and reuse system design
• Notice of deficiency responses
• Site feasibility and due diligence

Modern Engineering Solutions, McKinney, Texas. Contact: (214) 833-6748 or mod-eng.com