By McDonald                                           H.B. No. 1550
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to criminal penalties provided for violations of rules
    1-3  adopted by the Texas Board of Health or its authorized agents
    1-4  regarding on-site sewage disposal systems.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  Section 366.091, Health and Safety Code, is
    1-7  amended to read as follows:
    1-8        Sec. 366.091.  Criminal Penalties.  (a)  A person commits an
    1-9  offense if the person violates Section 366.071.
   1-10        (b)  A person commits an offense if the person violates a
   1-11  rule adopted by the board under this chapter, or an order or
   1-12  resolution adopted by an authorized agent under Subchapter C in a
   1-13  county that is contiguous to an international border.
   1-14        (c) <(b)>  A person commits an offense if the person begins
   1-15  to construct, alter, repair, or extend an on-site sewage disposal
   1-16  system owned by another person before the owner of the system
   1-17  obtains a permit to construct, alter, repair, or extend the on-site
   1-18  sewage disposal system as required by Subchapter D.
   1-19        (d) <(c)>  An emergency repair to an on-site sewage disposal
   1-20  system without a permit in accordance with the rules adopted under
   1-21  Section 366.012(a)(1)(C) is not an offense under this section if a
   1-22  written statement describing the need for the repair is provided to
   1-23  the department or its authorized agent not later 72 hours after the
    2-1  repair is begun.
    2-2        (e) <(d)>  An offense under this section is a class c
    2-3  misdemeanor <punishable by a fine of not less than $50 or more than
    2-4  >þL$200ää unless it is shown on the trial of the defendant that the
    2-5  defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under this
    2-6  chapter, in which event the offense is punishable by:
    2-7              (1)  a fine of not less than $125 or more than $500;
    2-8              (2)  confinement in jail for not more than one month;
    2-9  or
   2-10              (3)  both the fine and confinement.
   2-11        (f) <(e)>  Each day of a continuing violation is a separate
   2-12  offense.
   2-13        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   2-14  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   2-15  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
   2-16  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   2-17  before that date.
   2-18        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   2-19  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   2-20  and that law is continued in effect for this purpose.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-22        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-23  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-24  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-25  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-1  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.