Temporary Emergency Suspension of Certain VSF Technical Requirements
Response to Severe Weather Disaster Declaration, Spring 2024
To help with disaster recovery after recent severe weather and major damage in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has temporarily lifted some rules for setting up licensed Vehicle Storage Facilities (VSFs). This change allows VSFs to quickly open temporary storage lots when their main facilities are full.
This suspension applies only to currently licensed VSFs. It lets you use an extra temporary lot to store vehicles that are damaged, destroyed, flooded, or abandoned due to nonconsent tows. This applies only in counties included in Governor Abbott’s Disaster Declaration from April 30, 2024, and its updates on May 2, 7, 15, 20, 26, and 30, 2024, as listed below. It also covers any new counties added to the disaster declaration later.
The suspension will stay in place until the Office of the Governor ends it or the April 30, 2024, disaster declaration is lifted or expires.
Licensed VSFs must email the address of each temporary storage lot, along with their license ID number, to towing@tdlr.texas.gov.
If you have any questions or need help, please call (800) 803-9202 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CST or email towing@tdlr.texas.gov.
The specific technical requirements in suspension are:
85.1000 - Technical Requirements—Facility Fencing Requirements;
85.1001 - Technical Requirements—Storage Lot Surface;
85.1002 - Technical Requirements– Storage Lot Lighting;
85.1003 - Technical Requirements—Storage Lot Signs
The specific counties in which the suspension is effective are:
Anderson, Angelina, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Baylor, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Brazos, Brown, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Clay, Coleman, Colorado, Comal, Concho, Cooke, Collin, Coryell, Delta, Denton, DeWitt, Dickens, Eastland, Ellis, Falls, Fayette, Freestone, Galveston, Gillespie, Gonzales, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hardin, Harris, Haskell, Hays, Henderson, Hill, Hood, Houston, Hunt, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Karnes, Kaufman, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Knox, Lamar, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Llano, Madison, Mason, McCulloch, McLennan, Medina, Menard, Milam, Mills, Montgomery, Montague, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Saba, Shelby, Smith, Somervell, Sutton, Tarrant, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Van Zandt, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wichita, Williamson, and Wilson Counties.