1-1 By: Saunders (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister) H.B. No. 2043
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1993;
1-3 April 27, 1993, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Natural Resources; May 18, 1993, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0;
1-6 May 18, 1993, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE VOTE
1-8 Yea Nay PNV Absent
1-9 Sims x
1-10 Truan x
1-11 Armbrister x
1-12 Barrientos x
1-13 Bivins x
1-14 Brown x
1-15 Carriker x
1-16 Lucio x
1-17 Montford x
1-18 Ratliff x
1-19 Shelley x
1-20 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2043 By: Armbrister
1-21 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-22 AN ACT
1-23 relating to the rulemaking process of the Texas Water Commission;
1-24 permitting of certain disposal wells; and permitting of certain
1-25 waste management facilities.
1-26 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-27 SECTION 1. Section 5.103(c), Water Code, is amended to read
1-28 as follows:
1-29 (c) Rules shall be adopted in the manner provided by the
1-30 Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article 6252-13a,
1-31 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). As provided by that Act, the
1-32 commission must adopt rules when adopting, repealing, or amending
1-33 any agency statement of general applicability that interprets or
1-34 prescribes law or policy or describes the procedure or practice
1-35 requirements of an agency. The commission shall follow its own
1-36 rules as adopted until it changes them in accordance with that Act.
1-37 SECTION 2. Section 27.015, Water Code, is amended by
1-38 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
1-39 follows:
1-40 (a) A person making application to the commission for a
1-41 disposal well permit under this chapter shall submit with the
1-42 application a letter from the railroad commission concluding
1-43 <stating> that drilling or using the disposal well and injecting
1-44 industrial and municipal waste into the subsurface stratum will not
1-45 endanger or injure any known oil or gas formation.
1-46 (c) The commission shall find that there will be no
1-47 impairment of oil or gas mineral rights if the railroad commission
1-48 has issued a letter under Subsection (a) that concludes that
1-49 drilling and using the disposal well will not endanger or injure
1-50 any known oil or gas formation.
1-51 SECTION 3. Section 361.0791, Health and Safety Code, is
1-52 amended to read as follows:
1-53 Sec. 361.0791. Public Meeting and Notice Requirement.
1-54 (a) Notwithstanding other law, the commission shall hold a public
1-55 meeting on an application for a new hazardous waste management
1-56 facility in the county in which the proposed hazardous waste
1-57 management facility is to be located. The commission, on request
1-58 of a person affected or as otherwise required by commission rule,
1-59 shall hold a public meeting on an application for a Class 3
1-60 modification or a major amendment to an existing facility's
1-61 hazardous waste permit.
1-62 (b) Notwithstanding other law, the commission shall hold a
1-63 public meeting on an application for a new municipal solid waste
1-64 management facility in the county in which the proposed municipal
1-65 solid waste facility is to be located.
1-66 (c) A public meeting held as part of a local review process
1-67 under Section 361.063 meets the requirement of Subsection (a) or
1-68 (b) if notice is provided as required by this section.
2-1 (d) <(c)> A public meeting under this section is not a
2-2 contested case hearing under the Administrative Procedure and Texas
2-3 Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-4 (e) <(d)> If a meeting is required under Subsection (a), not
2-5 less than once each week during the three weeks preceding a public
2-6 meeting, the applicant shall publish notice of the meeting in the
2-7 newspaper of the largest general circulation that is published in
2-8 the county in which the proposed facility is to be located or, if
2-9 no newspaper is published in the county, in a newspaper of general
2-10 circulation in the county. The applicant shall provide the
2-11 commission, department, or Texas Air Control Board, as appropriate,
2-12 an affidavit certifying that the notice was given as required by
2-13 this section. Acceptance of the affidavit creates a rebuttable
2-14 presumption that the applicant has complied with this section.
2-15 (f) <(e)> The published notice may not be smaller than 96.8
2-16 square centimeters or 15 square inches with the shortest dimension
2-17 at least 7.6 centimeters or three inches and shall contain, at a
2-18 minimum, the following information:
2-19 (1) the permit application number;
2-20 (2) the applicant's name;
2-21 (3) the proposed location of the facility; and
2-22 (4) the location and availability of copies of the
2-23 permit application.
2-24 (g) <(f)> The applicant shall pay the cost of notice
2-25 required to be provided under this section. The commission by rule
2-26 may establish procedures for payment of those costs.
2-27 SECTION 4. Section 361.081(b), Health and Safety Code, is
2-28 amended to read as follows:
2-29 (b) The applicant must certify to the department or
2-30 commission that the mailings were deposited as required by
2-31 Subsection (a). Acceptance of the certification creates a
2-32 rebuttable presumption that the applicant has complied with this
2-33 section. Substantial compliance with the notice requirements of
2-34 Subsection (a) is sufficient for the commission to exercise
2-35 jurisdiction over an application for a solid waste facility.
2-36 SECTION 5. Section 361.111, Health and Safety Code, is
2-37 amended to read as follows:
2-38 Sec. 361.111. COMMISSION SHALL <DEPARTMENT MAY> EXEMPT
2-39 CERTAIN MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT FACILITIES. (a) The
2-40 commission shall <department may> exempt from permit requirements a
2-41 municipal solid waste management facility that<:>
2-42 <(1)> is used in the transfer of municipal solid waste
2-43 to a solid waste processing or disposal facility from:
2-44 (1) a municipality <service area> with a population of
2-45 less than 50,000;
2-46 (2) a county with a population of less than 85,000;
2-47 (3) a facility used in the transfer of municipal solid
2-48 waste that will transfer 125 tons per day or less; and
2-49 (4) a materials recovery facility that recycles for
2-50 reuse more than 10 percent of its incoming nonsegregated waste
2-51 stream if the remaining nonrecyclable waste is transferred to a
2-52 permitted landfill not more than 50 miles from the materials
2-53 recovery facility. <5,000 to a solid waste processing or disposal
2-54 site; and>
2-55 (b) The facility must comply <(2) complies> with design and
2-56 operational requirements established by commission <board of
2-57 health> rule that are necessary to protect the public's health and
2-58 the environment.
2-59 (c) To qualify for this exemption, the applicant must hold a
2-60 public meeting on the siting of the facility in the municipality or
2-61 county where the facility is to be located.
2-62 SECTION 6. Section 5.103, Water Code, as amended by this
2-63 Act, applies to all rules of the Texas Water Commission in
2-64 existence on the effective date of this Act and to all rules of the
2-65 Texas Water Commission or the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
2-66 Commission adopted after that date.
2-67 SECTION 7. Section 27.015, Water Code, as amended by this
2-68 Act, applies to an application on which a final decision is
2-69 rendered by the Texas Water Commission or the Texas Natural
2-70 Resource Conservation Commission on or after the effective date of
3-1 this Act.
3-2 SECTION 8. Section 361.0791, Health and Safety Code, as
3-3 amended by this Act, applies only to an application for a permit
3-4 under Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, that is
3-5 received by the Texas Water Commission or the Texas Natural
3-6 Resource Conservation Commission on or after the effective date of
3-7 this Act.
3-8 SECTION 9. Section 361.081(b), Health and Safety Code, as
3-9 amended by this Act, is intended to clarify existing law and
3-10 applies to an application for a permit under Subchapter C, Chapter
3-11 361, Health and Safety Code, that is:
3-12 (1) received by the Texas Water Commission or the
3-13 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission on or after the
3-14 effective date of this Act; or
3-15 (2) pending before the Texas Water Commission or the
3-16 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission on the effective
3-17 date of this Act.
3-18 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-24 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-25 * * * * *
3-26 Austin,
3-27 Texas
3-28 May 18, 1993
3-29 Hon. Bob Bullock
3-30 President of the Senate
3-31 Sir:
3-32 We, your Committee on Natural Resources to which was referred H.B.
3-33 No. 2043, have had the same under consideration, and I am
3-34 instructed to report it back to the Senate with the recommendation
3-35 that it do not pass, but that the Committee Substitute adopted in
3-36 lieu thereof do pass and be printed.
3-37 Sims,
3-38 Chairman
3-39 * * * * *
3-40 WITNESSES
3-41 FOR AGAINST ON
3-42 ___________________________________________________________________
3-43 Name: Bob Gregory x
3-44 Representing: TX CHAP OF NATL SOLID WASTE MA
3-45 City: Austin
3-46 -------------------------------------------------------------------
3-47 Name: Walter Fisher x
3-48 Representing: TX MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
3-49 City: Austin
3-50 -------------------------------------------------------------------
3-51 Name: Jim Haley x
3-52 Representing: TX WATER COMMISSION
3-53 City: Austin
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