H.B. No. 1951
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to illegal dumping; providing a criminal penalty.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 365.011, Health and Safety Code, is
    1-5  amended by adding Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
    1-6              (9)  "Solid waste" has the meaning assigned by Section
    1-7  361.003.
    1-8        SECTION 2.  Section 365.012, Health and Safety Code, is
    1-9  amended to read as follows:
   1-10        Sec. 365.012.  ILLEGAL DUMPING <Disposal of Litter>; Criminal
   1-11  Penalties.  (a)  A person commits an offense if the person disposes
   1-12  or allows or permits the disposal of litter or other solid waste at
   1-13  a place that is not an approved solid waste site, including a place
   1-14  on or within 300 feet of a public highway, on a right-of-way, on
   1-15  other public or private property, or into inland or coastal water
   1-16  of the state.
   1-17        (b)  A person commits an offense if the person receives
   1-18  litter or other solid waste for disposal at a place that is not an
   1-19  approved solid waste site, regardless of whether the litter or
   1-20  other solid waste or the land on which the litter or other solid
   1-21  waste is disposed is owned or controlled by the person.
   1-22        (c)  A person commits an offense if the person transports
   1-23  litter or other solid waste to a place that is not an approved
   1-24  solid waste site for disposal at the site.
    2-1        (d)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor
    2-2  if the litter or other solid waste to which the offense applies
    2-3  weighs 15 pounds or less or has a volume of 13 gallons or less.
    2-4        (e)  An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
    2-5  if the litter or other solid waste to which the offense applies
    2-6  weighs more than 15 pounds but less than 500 pounds or has a volume
    2-7  of more than 13 gallons but less than 100 cubic feet.
    2-8        (f)  An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
    2-9  if:
   2-10              (1)  the litter or other solid waste to which the
   2-11  offense applies weighs 500 pounds or more or has a volume of 100
   2-12  cubic feet or more; or
   2-13              (2)  the litter or other solid waste is disposed for a
   2-14  commercial purpose and weighs more than five pounds or has a volume
   2-15  of more than 13 gallons.
   2-16        (g)  If it is shown on the trial of the defendant for an
   2-17  offense under this section that the defendant has previously been
   2-18  convicted of an offense under this section, the punishment for the
   2-19  offense is increased to the punishment for the next highest
   2-20  category.
   2-21        (h)  A municipality or county may offer a reward of $50 for
   2-22  reporting a violation of this section that results in a prosecution
   2-23  under this section.
   2-24        (i)  The offenses prescribed by this section include the
   2-25  unauthorized disposal of litter or other solid waste in a dumpster
   2-26  or similar receptacle.
   2-27        (j)  This section does not apply to the disposal of, or
    3-1  temporary storage for future disposal of, litter or other solid
    3-2  waste by a person on land owned by that person, or by that person's
    3-3  agent.
    3-4        SECTION 3.  Sections 365.014(b) and (c), Health and Safety
    3-5  Code, are amended to read as follows:
    3-6        (b)  A person who dumps more than five pounds or 13 gallons
    3-7  of litter or other solid waste from a commercial vehicle in
    3-8  violation of this subchapter is presumed to be dumping the litter
    3-9  or other solid waste for a commercial purpose.
   3-10        (c)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under
   3-11  Section 365.012 that:
   3-12              (1)  the storage, processing, or disposal took place on
   3-13  land owned or leased by the defendant;
   3-14              (2)  the defendant received the litter or other solid
   3-15  waste from another person;
   3-16              (3)  the defendant, after exercising due diligence, did
   3-17  not know and reasonably could not have known that litter or other
   3-18  solid waste was involved; and
   3-19              (4)  the defendant did not receive, directly or
   3-20  indirectly, compensation for the receipt, storage, processing, or
   3-21  treatment.
   3-22        SECTION 4.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   3-23  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   3-24  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
   3-25  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   3-26  before that date.
   3-27        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
    4-1  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
    4-2  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
    4-3        SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    4-4        SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
    4-5  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    4-6  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    4-7  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    4-8  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.