|
House Bill 2694 |
House Author: Smith, Wayne |
|
Effective: 9-1-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Huffman |
House Bill 2694 amends provisions of the Water Code, Natural Resources Code, and Health and Safety Code relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The bill continues TCEQ until September 1, 2023, prohibits a member of the commission from accepting a contribution to a campaign for election to an elected office, abolishes the On-site Wastewater Treatment Research Council, and transfers the council's authority to award grants for on-site sewage research to TCEQ. TCEQ, on the bill's effective date, is required to assume the administration of all grants of the On-site Wastewater Treatment Research Council in existence on that date and to assume all contracts held by that agency, including all rights and obligations associated with those contracts.
In addition to across-the-board sunset provisions and other provisions, House Bill 2694 authorizes the executive director of TCEQ to directly award a contract for scientific and technical environmental services or engineering services under certain conditions and revises provisions relating to dam safety pertaining to an agreement with or exemption for the owner of a dam.
House Bill 2694 transfers from TCEQ to the Railroad Commission of Texas the requirement to issue, on request from an applicant for a permit for a disposal well, a letter of determination stating the total depth of surface casing required for a well drilled into oil or gas bearing rock. The bill requires the railroad commission to work cooperatively with appropriate state agencies to study and evaluate electronic access to geologic data and surface casing depth necessary to protect usable groundwater in Texas and to establish groundwater protection requirements for operations within the railroad commission's jurisdiction, including requirements relating to the depth of surface casing for wells.
House Bill 2694 revises and updates provisions relating to public education and assistance and the office of public interest counsel; provisions governing standards for evaluating and using compliance history, including additional procedural requirements; and provisions pertaining to enforcement policies. The bill increases the penalties for certain violations and updates provisions setting out fees imposed on the delivery of a petroleum product on withdrawal from bulk of that product. The bill authorizes TCEQ to impose an administrative penalty against a person who delivers any regulated substance into an underground storage tank regulated under a provision establishing an owner's or operator's duty to ensure certification of a tank before delivery. The bill provides an affirmative defense to the imposition of this penalty.
House Bill 2694 sets out administrative procedures on a permit amendment application for certain electric generating facilities that expire on the sixth anniversary of the date the administrator adopts standards for existing electric generating facilities under the federal Clean Air Act unless a stay of the rules is granted.
House Bill 2694 sets out provisions relating to water rights, including procedures that govern water rights during a period of drought or other emergency shortage of water and actions the executive director of TCEQ may take under such an emergency. The bill also sets out provisions requiring the executive director of TCEQ to complete a technical review of certain water management plans submitted on an application to amend a plan. Current law authorizes the executive director of TCEQ to appoint one watermaster for each water division and provides that the executive director has the powers of a watermaster in a district in which the watermaster position is vacant. The bill clarifies the executive director's duties in regard to a water basin in which no watermaster has been appointed. The bill creates the low-level radioactive waste disposal compact commission account and sets out provisions for funding the account and appropriating those funds. The bill requires the state agency with jurisdiction over rates charged by water and sewer utilities to provide, at a reasonable cost, electronic copies of specified information. If the Office of Public Utility Counsel requests this information, it must be provided to the office at no cost. Current law requires certain entities to collect a fee for each on-site wastewater treatment permit application processed and previous law required the proceeds from this fee to be deposited to the credit of the on-site wastewater treatment research account. The bill instead requires the proceeds to be deposited to the credit of the water resources management account. In addition, the bill revises certain contested case hearing procedures relating to notice, discovery, and the required participation of the executive director of TCEQ.