By:  Puente                                            H.B. No. 336
       73R1689 CAG-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to powers of a school district to examine, and to take
    1-3  certain actions to prevent diminishment of, the property tax base
    1-4  of the district.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Section 22.08, Education Code, is amended by
    1-7  adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
    1-8        (j)  The trustees of a common or common consolidated school
    1-9  district may examine, analyze, and inspect property in the district
   1-10  and the property's uses and may challenge requests for tax
   1-11  exemptions on property within the district.
   1-12        SECTION 2.  Section 23.26, Education Code, is amended by
   1-13  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
   1-14        (e)  The trustees may examine, analyze, and inspect property
   1-15  in the district and the property's uses and may challenge requests
   1-16  for tax exemptions on property within the district.
   1-17        SECTION 3.  Section 361.067, Health and Safety Code, is
   1-18  amended to read as follows:
   1-19        Sec. 361.067.  Review of Permit Application by Other
   1-20  Governmental Entities.  (a)  If the department or the commission
   1-21  determines that a permit application submitted to it is
   1-22  administratively complete, it shall mail a copy of the application
   1-23  or a summary of its contents to:
   1-24              (1)  the Texas Air Control Board;
    2-1              (2)  the other state agency;
    2-2              (3)  the mayor and health authority of a municipality
    2-3  in whose territorial limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction the
    2-4  solid waste facility is located; <and>
    2-5              (4)  the county judge and the health authority of the
    2-6  county in which the facility is located; and
    2-7              (5)  the board of trustees of a school district in
    2-8  which the facility is located.
    2-9        (b)  Except as provided by Subchapter R, a <A> governmental
   2-10  entity to whom the information is mailed shall have a reasonable
   2-11  time, as prescribed by the state agency to which the application
   2-12  was originally submitted, to present comments and recommendations
   2-13  on the permit application before the agency acts on the
   2-14  application.
   2-15        SECTION 4.  Section 361.069, Health and Safety Code, is
   2-16  amended to read as follows:
   2-17        Sec. 361.069.  Determination of Land Use Compatibility.  The
   2-18  department or the commission in its discretion may, in processing a
   2-19  permit application, make a separate determination on the question
   2-20  of land use compatibility, and, if the site location is acceptable,
   2-21  may at another time consider other technical matters concerning the
   2-22  application.  The determination of land use compatibility does not
   2-23  affect the determination made by a school district under Subchapter
   2-24  R.  A public hearing may be held for each determination in
   2-25  accordance with Section 361.088.
   2-26        SECTION 5.  Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, is amended
   2-27  by adding Subchapter R to read as follows:
    3-1        SUBCHAPTER R.  SCHOOL DISTRICT AUTHORITY OVER LOCATION
    3-2                   OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY
    3-3        Sec. 361.601.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter, "school
    3-4  district" means a common, common consolidated, or independent
    3-5  school district in which 15 percent or more of the acreage
    3-6  comprising the district is exempt from ad valorem taxation.
    3-7        Sec. 361.602.  LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENTAL ACTION ON PERMIT
    3-8  APPLICATION.  (a)  The department may not approve an application
    3-9  for the issuance, amendment, extension, or renewal of a municipal
   3-10  solid waste permit if the department receives a copy of a
   3-11  resolution adopted by a school district in accordance with this
   3-12  subchapter disapproving of the proposed site for a municipal solid
   3-13  waste facility not later than the 90th day after the date the board
   3-14  of trustees of the school district receives a copy of the municipal
   3-15  solid waste permit application or a summary of its contents as
   3-16  provided by Section 361.067.
   3-17        (b)  The department may extend the period provided by
   3-18  Subsection (a) on request of the school district.
   3-19        (c)  The department may process a permit application in
   3-20  accordance with Subchapter C if a resolution authorized by this
   3-21  subchapter is not timely received.
   3-22        Sec. 361.603.  APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF SITE BY SCHOOL
   3-23  DISTRICT.  (a)  A school district by resolution may approve or
   3-24  disapprove a proposed site for a municipal solid waste facility in
   3-25  the district.
   3-26        (b)  A school district may provide conditions on its approval
   3-27  of a proposed site.  The conditions must be related to the land use
    4-1  factors considered under Section 361.604 and must be stated in the
    4-2  resolution approving the site.  The department shall include those
    4-3  conditions as permit requirements if the permit is granted.
    4-4        Sec. 361.604.  FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED.  (a)  A school
    4-5  district may disapprove the proposed site for a municipal solid
    4-6  waste facility only if the school district determines that the
    4-7  facility would be incompatible with existing uses of land in the
    4-8  vicinity or would diminish the property tax base of the district.
    4-9        (b)  In determining compatibility, the school district may
   4-10  consider only:
   4-11              (1)  zoning ordinances and the zoning of land in the
   4-12  vicinity of the proposed site;
   4-13              (2)  a regional or local solid waste management plan
   4-14  approved by the board of health under Chapter 363;
   4-15              (3)  the character of established land uses and the
   4-16  projected effects of the proposed facility on the aesthetic quality
   4-17  of the area, on historically or archaeologically significant
   4-18  structures or sites, or on schools, places of worship, cemeteries,
   4-19  or other sites or structures having significant social value;
   4-20              (4)  the number of individuals living or working in the
   4-21  vicinity of the proposed site;
   4-22              (5)  the projected long-term effects of the facility on
   4-23  development in the vicinity of the proposed site;
   4-24              (6)  the projected social and economic impact of the
   4-25  facility on the community;
   4-26              (7)  pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns in the
   4-27  vicinity of the proposed site;
    5-1              (8)  alternate locations for a municipal solid waste
    5-2  facility of the type identified in the permit application; and
    5-3              (9)  conditions or plans proposed by the permit
    5-4  applicant to mitigate, reduce, or eliminate any adverse impact of
    5-5  the proposed facility on the area.
    5-6        Sec. 361.605.  HEARING ON LAND USE.  (a)  A school district
    5-7  shall give an applicant for a municipal solid waste permit an
    5-8  opportunity for a public hearing concerning land use compatibility.
    5-9  A hearing held under this section shall be conducted as if the
   5-10  school district were an agency conducting a contested case hearing
   5-11  under the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article
   5-12  6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), unless otherwise provided
   5-13  by this subchapter.
   5-14        (b)  Not later than the 30th day before the date of a hearing
   5-15  under this section, the school district shall give the applicant
   5-16  and the department notice of the date, time, and place of the
   5-17  hearing.
   5-18        (c)  At the hearing, the applicant may submit evidence
   5-19  related to the factors considered by the school district and
   5-20  concerning plans or permit conditions to mitigate, reduce, or
   5-21  eliminate any adverse impact the proposed facility may have on the
   5-22  area.
   5-23        Sec. 361.606.  JUDICIAL REVIEW.  (a)  Not later than the 30th
   5-24  day after the date that a school district adopts a resolution
   5-25  disapproving or approving conditionally a proposed site for a
   5-26  municipal solid waste facility, the applicant may petition a
   5-27  district court in Travis County for review of the record of the
    6-1  hearing if the applicant participated in the hearing.
    6-2        (b)  The court may determine only whether the school
    6-3  district's determination or a condition imposed on approval is
    6-4  supported by substantial evidence.
    6-5        Sec. 361.607.  CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION.  (a)  A resolution
    6-6  adopted under this subchapter must contain a detailed statement of
    6-7  the reasons for the disapproval or the conditions placed on the
    6-8  approval.
    6-9        (b)  If a resolution does not contain a statement of reasons,
   6-10  or if the district court determines that the determination is not
   6-11  supported by substantial evidence, the department may approve the
   6-12  municipal solid waste permit as if the school district had not
   6-13  adopted the resolution.
   6-14        Sec. 361.608.  SCHOOL DISTRICT INACTION.  (a)  If a school
   6-15  district does not deliver to the department a copy of a resolution
   6-16  within the time provided under Section 361.602, the school district
   6-17  may not participate in an evidentiary proceeding concerning land
   6-18  use compatibility in a subsequent hearing on the application.
   6-19        (b)  This subchapter does not limit the authority of a school
   6-20  district to participate in public hearings and to submit for
   6-21  consideration evidence or other materials on technical issues
   6-22  relating to an application, and does not limit participation of
   6-23  other persons affected by the permit application.
   6-24        Sec. 361.609.  EMERGENCY ORDERS BY DEPARTMENT.  This
   6-25  subchapter does not limit the authority of the department to issue
   6-26  emergency orders under Section 361.301.
   6-27        SECTION 6.  Section 11.43(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
    7-1  follows:
    7-2        (a)  To receive an exemption, a person claiming the
    7-3  exemption, other than an exemption authorized by Section 11.11,
    7-4  11.12, 11.14, 11.15, 11.16, or 11.161 of this code, must apply for
    7-5  the exemption.  To apply for an exemption, a person must file an
    7-6  exemption application form with the chief appraiser for each
    7-7  appraisal district and the board of trustees of a school district
    7-8  in which the property subject to the claimed exemption has situs.
    7-9        SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   7-10        SECTION 8.  The importance of this legislation and the
   7-11  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   7-12  emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
   7-13  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   7-14  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.