| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the provision of solid waste disposal services by |
|
|
certain counties; authorizing a fee. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 364.011(a-1), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a-1) A commissioners court by rule may regulate solid waste |
|
|
collection, handling, storage, and disposal by establishing a |
|
|
mandatory program under Section 364.034 in an area of the county |
|
|
located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality |
|
|
if: |
|
|
(1) the municipality does not provide solid waste |
|
|
disposal services in that area; and |
|
|
(2) the county[: |
|
|
[(A)] is adjacent to the United Mexican States |
|
|
and either: |
|
|
(A) [; (B)] has a population of less than |
|
|
300,000[;] and |
|
|
[(C)] contains a municipality with a population |
|
|
of 200,000 or more; or |
|
|
(B) has a population of more than 400,000 and |
|
|
contains at least two municipalities each of which has a population |
|
|
of 70,000 or more. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 364.034, Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) A public agency or a county may: |
|
|
(1) offer solid waste disposal service to persons in |
|
|
its territory, including, in the case of a county described by |
|
|
Section 364.011(a-1)(2)(B) or (a-2)(2) [364.011(a-2)(2)], an area |
|
|
of the county located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a |
|
|
municipality if the municipality does not provide solid waste |
|
|
disposal services in that area; |
|
|
(2) require the use of the service by those persons, |
|
|
except as provided by Subsection (a-1); |
|
|
(3) charge fees for the service; and |
|
|
(4) establish the service as a utility separate from |
|
|
other utilities in its territory. |
|
|
(b-1) If a county described by Section 364.011(a-1)(2)(B) |
|
|
contracts with a public or private entity to provide solid waste |
|
|
disposal services as authorized under Section 364.011(a-1) and |
|
|
Subsection (a) of this section, the contract must provide for solid |
|
|
waste disposal services for the entire unincorporated area of the |
|
|
county, not including areas in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of |
|
|
a municipality where the municipality provides waste disposal |
|
|
services. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 364, Health and Safety |
|
|
Code, is amended by adding Section 364.0343 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 364.0343. NOTICE AND HEARING OF CERTAIN FEES FOR SOLID |
|
|
WASTE DISPOSAL SERVICES. (a) This section applies to a county |
|
|
that: |
|
|
(1) regulates solid waste collection, handling, |
|
|
storage, and disposal by establishing a mandatory program under |
|
|
Section 364.011(a-1)(2)(B); and |
|
|
(2) provides in the program rules that this section |
|
|
applies to the collection of a fee under the program. |
|
|
(b) Before a county may impose the fee described by Section |
|
|
364.034, the commissioners court must hold a public hearing on the |
|
|
proposed fee. Not later than the 10th day before the date of the |
|
|
hearing, the county shall provide notice of the hearing that |
|
|
includes the date, time, and location of the hearing and a statement |
|
|
that an interested citizen of the county may testify at the hearing. |
|
|
The county: |
|
|
(1) shall deliver the notice: |
|
|
(A) by mail to each owner of real property that |
|
|
would be affected by the fee, at the address shown on the most |
|
|
recently certified tax roll of the district; |
|
|
(B) by posting the notice prominently on the |
|
|
county's Internet website from the date the notice is mailed until |
|
|
the public hearing is concluded; and |
|
|
(C) if the county maintains a public account on a |
|
|
social media platform, by posting the notice on the county's social |
|
|
media platform account; and |
|
|
(2) may publish notice of the hearing in a newspaper in |
|
|
addition to delivery of the notice by the methods required under |
|
|
this section. |
|
|
(c) As early as practicable in advance of a public hearing |
|
|
required by this section, the county shall post on the county's |
|
|
Internet website any written agenda and related supplemental |
|
|
written materials provided by the county to the commissioners in |
|
|
advance of the hearing for the commissioners' use during the |
|
|
hearing. The county may exclude written materials that the county |
|
|
attorney certifies are confidential or may be withheld from public |
|
|
disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code. |
|
|
(d) A public hearing held under this section must be on a |
|
|
weekday that is not a public holiday. At the hearing, the |
|
|
commissioners court shall afford adequate opportunity for |
|
|
proponents and opponents of the proposed fee to present their |
|
|
views. |
|
|
(e) Not later than the 60th day before the scheduled start |
|
|
date of the solid waste disposal services for which a fee is |
|
|
collected under this section, the county shall mail notice to each |
|
|
landowner whose real property will be benefited by the services. |
|
|
The notice must include: |
|
|
(1) a statement that: |
|
|
(A) the county has adopted an order to require |
|
|
the use of county solid waste disposal services under Section |
|
|
364.034 and to collect a fee; and |
|
|
(B) the landowner may qualify under Section |
|
|
364.034(g) for an exemption from the application of the |
|
|
requirement; and |
|
|
(2) instructions for completing and submitting the |
|
|
documentation required for the exemption under Section 364.034(g). |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 364.0345, Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 364.0345. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO USE REQUIRED |
|
|
SERVICE IN CERTAIN AREAS. (a) The commissioners court of a county |
|
|
described by Section 364.011(a-1)(2)(B) or (a-2)(2) |
|
|
[364.011(a-2)(2)] that requires the use of a county solid waste |
|
|
disposal service under Section 364.034 in the extraterritorial |
|
|
jurisdiction of a municipality may adopt orders to enforce the |
|
|
requirement, including an order establishing a civil or |
|
|
administrative penalty in an amount reasonable and necessary to |
|
|
ensure compliance with the requirement. |
|
|
(b) A county described by Section 364.011(a-1)(2)(B) may |
|
|
not impose a civil penalty under Subsection (a) of this section on a |
|
|
person in an amount that exceeds 10 percent of the person's |
|
|
delinquent annual service charge. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 791.037(b), Government Code, is amended |
|
|
to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) This section applies only to a county: |
|
|
(1) with a population of more than 1.5 million in which |
|
|
more than 75 percent of the population resides in a single |
|
|
municipality; or |
|
|
(2) that is located adjacent to the United Mexican |
|
|
States, has a population of more than 400,000, and contains at least |
|
|
two municipalities each of which has a population of 70,000 or more. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |