(a) Upon a request by the applicant at any time before the application is referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), the executive director shall allow the withdrawal of the application and shall file a written acknowledgment of the withdrawal with the chief clerk. If the application has been scheduled for a commission meeting, the chief clerk shall remove it from the commission's agenda. For purposes of this rule, an application is referred to SOAH when the commission votes during a public meeting for referral or when the executive director or the applicant file a request to refer with the chief clerk under §55.210 of this title (relating to Direct Referrals).(b) Applications filed before September 1, 2015, for which chief clerk mailed the executive director's preliminary decision and notice of a draft permit under §39.419 of this title (relating to Notice of Application and Preliminary Decision) that are subsequently withdrawn by the applicant are governed by the commission's rules as they existed immediately before September 1, 2015, and those rules are continued in effect for that purpose if the application is refiled with the commission and the executive director determines the resubmitted application is substantially similar to the withdrawn application. For purposes of making this determination, the executive director may consider the following information contained in the withdrawn application and the refiled application:(1) the name of the applicant;(2) the location or proposed location of the construction, activity or discharge, to be authorized by the application;(3) the air contaminants to be emitted;(4) the area to be served by a wastewater treatment facility;(5) the volume and nature of the wastewater to be treated by a wastewater treatment facility;(6) the volume and type of waste to be disposed;(7) changes in methods of treatment or disposal of waste; or(8) any other factor the executive director determines is relevant to this determination.