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House Bill 1609 |
House Author: Chisum |
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Effective: 9-1-05 |
Senate Sponsor: Seliger |
House Bill 1609 amends the Health and Safety Code to modify requirements for public meetings related to landfills and to add exemptions from groundwater protection regulations for certain landfills in arid areas. Previous law required the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to hold public meetings on applications for new solid or hazardous waste facilities or major modifications to existing facilities. House Bill 1609 amends the law to make the public meetings optional. The bill authorizes the commission to exempt small municipal solid waste landfills in arid areas from requirements for groundwater protection design, operation, monitoring, and corrective action if there is no evidence of contamination. The bill also authorizes such a landfill to dispose of less than 20 tons of construction or demolition waste in addition to the municipal solid waste normally received by the unit.
House Bill 1609 authorizes a public meeting, rather than requiring a permit hearing, on a permit application for the development of land over a closed municipal solid waste landfill. However, the bill requires the commission to hold a public meeting if it is requested by a member of the legislature who represents the general area for the proposed development or if the commission’s executive director determines that there is substantial public interest in the proposed development.