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Senate Bill 548 |
Senate Author: Nichols et al. |
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Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Darby et al. |
Senate Bill 548 adds a subchapter to the Transportation Code to establish an environmental review process for certain highway projects. The bill requires the Texas Transportation Commission to adopt rules to implement the process not later than March 1, 2012. The bill defines the roles and responsibilities of the Texas Department of Transportation and a participating local government sponsor in the preparation and review of environmental review documents and establishes certain review deadlines. The bill requires the department to report semiannually and annually to the commission and the legislature, respectively, on projects being processed. The bill authorizes the department, a county, a regional tollway authority, or a regional mobility authority to provide financial assistance to a state or federal agency to expedite an environmental review. The bill also requires the department by rule to establish a process to certify department employees to work on environmental review documents and procedures to coordinate the review of a transportation project by other state agencies. The bill amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to set a deadline for the Parks and Wildlife Department to respond to a request for comments from the department regarding a transportation project.
Senate Bill 548 takes effect September 1, 2011, except for provisions relating to the authorization to provide financial assistance to expedite an environmental review, which take effect June 17, 2011.