(a) The Texas Education Agency (TEA) division responsible for hearings and appeals shall notify an independent hearing examiner by email that he or she has been assigned a hearing. The independent hearing examiner shall, by return email or facsimile to the division within 72 hours, acknowledge the assignment and indicate whether he or she is able to accept the assignment. The division shall notify the parties to the hearing of the assignment.(b) If the independent hearing examiner is unable to accept the assignment, the independent hearing examiner shall notify the TEA division responsible for hearings and appeals by telephone, email, or facsimile as soon as possible within 72 hours after the assignment.(c) Failure to comply with subsection (b) of this section shall result in the case being assigned to another independent hearing examiner.