TO:	Honorable Charles Perry, Chair, Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB471 by Springer (Relating to the imposition of a fee by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the investigation of certain complaints.), As Introduced

The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined because the revenue that would be generated from new unknown fees would depend on the number of individuals that would be subject to those fees and the fee amounts. There would be an indeterminate gain to the General Revenue Fund.

The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to establish a new fee that would be assessed on persons making more than three complaints in a calendar year that did not result in enforcement action by TCEQ or local enforcement officials before closing the file on the prior complaint.

The bill would require the TCEQ to establish a fee amount for each type of complaint that would be less than or equal to the cost to the agency of investigating most complaints of that type. The bill would also authorize TCEQ to waive the fee for good cause.

Based on information provided by TCEQ, it is assumed that any costs associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.

Based on information provided by the Comptroller of Public Accounts and TCEQ, this analysis assumes there would be an increase in revenue deposited to the credit of the General Revenue Fund due to the new fee assessments. However, the amount of revenue that would be generated cannot be determined because the revenue that would be generated from new unknown fees would depend on the number of individuals that would be subject to those fees and the fee amounts.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 88TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 12, 2023