Gas Station Permits & Licensing in Houston

A gas station is two businesses under one roof, and each has its own permit stack. The forecourt answers to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Department of Agriculture and the fire marshal. The store answers to the Comptroller, TABC, the Texas Lottery, USDA and the health department. Calibre Licensing Services has filed this combination for gas stations across the Houston area for ten years, and the order below is the one that gets a station open without a gap between the fuel delivery and the first sale.

The fuel-side permits

TCEQ underground storage tank registration and delivery certificate

Every underground tank that holds motor fuel must be registered with TCEQ. For a new station, TCEQ asks for a construction notification at least 30 days before the tanks go in, and the tanks must be registered on form TCEQ-00724 within 30 days after fuel is first placed in them. Registration is filed through the STEERS online system; paper forms are accepted but slower, and forms with a revision date earlier than August 2025 are no longer accepted. TCEQ stopped charging annual registration fees in 2007, but it will not issue or renew anything for an owner with unpaid fees or penalties.

The document that matters day to day is the fuel delivery certificate. A supplier may not deliver motor fuel into a tank without one. The owner self-certifies that the tanks, piping, release detection and corrosion protection meet TCEQ rules, provides proof of financial assurance, and renews the certificate every year. New and replacement tanks receive a temporary delivery authorization once the construction notice is received; it expires 90 days after the first delivery, by which time the full registration and self-certification must be in. When a station changes hands, the new owner must update the registration and the certificate, and suppliers check the name on it.

Texas Department of Agriculture fuel dispenser registration

Fuel pumps are commercial weighing and measuring devices, and TDA requires each one to be registered under the station's device registration certificate. The certificate runs one year from issue and must be renewed each year; TDA mails a renewal notice about 45 days before expiration. Fees are set per device and per product type on TDA's current schedule, and an unregistered device carries a penalty on top of the registration fee. TDA also inspects pump accuracy and fuel quality, and the registration must reflect every nozzle on the lot.

Fire department operational permit for motor fuel dispensing

Inside Houston city limits, the Houston Fire Department's Life Safety Bureau requires an operational permit to dispense flammable or combustible liquids at a motor fuel dispensing facility, issued through the Houston Permitting Center, plus a separate construction permit to install or alter tanks and dispensers. In unincorporated Harris County the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office issues the operational permits under the county fire code, including a flammable and combustible liquids permit, and the county's Certificate of Compliance takes the place of the city certificate of occupancy. Fort Bend County and the suburban cities run their own fire marshal programs. Permit fees are set by each office's current schedule, linked below.

The store-side permits

1. Entity, EIN and assumed name. The LLC comes first so every permit, the fuel supply agreement and the bank account carry the same name. See our LLC guide.
2. Texas sales tax permit from the Comptroller. Required before the first taxable sale, and a prerequisite document for TABC, tobacco, lottery and the health permit.
3. Certificate of occupancy from the Houston Permitting Center, or the Certificate of Compliance from Harris County outside the city.
4. Tobacco and e-cigarette permits from the Comptroller, $180 each per location, tobacco first because the e-cigarette permit requires it.
5. TABC Wine and Malt Beverage Retailer's Off-Premise Permit (BQ) for beer and wine. The longest item: city and county certification, newspaper notice, posted sign and a personal history sheet for every owner.
6. Texas Lottery license, with fingerprinting for every owner and a business bank account for ticket settlements.
7. SNAP / EBT authorization from USDA, once the shelves meet the staple-food stocking rule.
8. Food dealer's permit if the store runs a roller grill, coffee station, fountain drinks, fresh food or a deli. Sealed packaged snacks alone do not trigger it.
9. Hemp registration from DSHS if the store sells consumable hemp products, and any county operational permits that apply to the site.

Permit by permit

Buying an existing station

Almost nothing transfers. The tanks stay registered, but TCEQ needs the ownership change filed and a delivery certificate in the buyer's name before the supplier will deliver. The fire permit, the TDA device registration, the sales tax permit, tobacco, TABC, lottery, SNAP and the food permit are all issued to the operator and are reapplied for by the buyer. The order matters because each application asks for the one before it; our guide to buying a store in Texas lays out the sequence and how to keep selling through the handover.

What we do

• Map the full stack for your address, city or county, and confirm which fire marshal and health authority apply.
• File the TCEQ construction notice, tank registration and self-certification, and the TDA device registration.
• Prepare the fire department operational permit application with the Permitting Center or the County Fire Marshal.
• File the store-side permits in order: sales tax, tobacco and e-cigarette, TABC, lottery, SNAP and the food permit.
• Track every renewal date on one calendar: the delivery certificate, the pump registration, the fire permit, tobacco by May 31 of even years, TABC every two years.

Frequently asked questions

Last reviewed October 2026. Fees and rules change; we verify each one against the agency at the time of filing.