73R7495 JJT-F
By Saunders H.B. No. 2435
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2435:
By Jackson C.S.H.B. No. 2435
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to municipal solid waste source reduction and recycling
1-3 goals.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 361.421, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by amending Subdivisions (2) and (9)-(11) and adding
1-7 Subdivision (12) to read as follows:
1-8 (2) "Composting" means the controlled biological
1-9 decomposition of organic materials through microbial activity.
1-10 Depending on the specific application, composting can serve as both
1-11 a volume reduction and a waste treatment measure. A beneficial
1-12 organic composting activity is an appropriate waste management
1-13 solution that shall divert compatible materials from the solid
1-14 waste stream that cannot be recycled into higher grade uses and
1-15 convert these materials into a useful product that is put to
1-16 beneficial reuse <can serve> as a soil amendment or mulch.
1-17 (9) "Source reduction" means an activity or process
1-18 that avoids the creation of municipal solid waste in the state by
1-19 reducing waste at the source and includes:
1-20 (A) redesigning a product or packaging so that
1-21 less material is ultimately disposed of;
1-22 (B) changing a process for producing a good or
1-23 providing a service so that less material is disposed of; or
2-1 (C) changing the way a material is used so that
2-2 the amount of waste generated is reduced.
2-3 (10) "State agency" means a department, commission,
2-4 board, office, council, or other agency in the executive branch of
2-5 government that is created by the constitution or a statute of this
2-6 state and has authority not limited to a geographical portion of
2-7 the state. The term does not include a university system or
2-8 institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
2-9 Education Code.
2-10 (11) <(10)> "Virgin material" means a raw material
2-11 used in manufacturing that has not yet become a product.
2-12 (12) <(11)> "Yard waste" means leaves, grass
2-13 clippings, yard and garden debris, and brush, including clean woody
2-14 vegetative material not greater than six inches in diameter, that
2-15 results from landscaping maintenance and land-clearing operations.
2-16 The term does not include stumps, roots, or shrubs with intact root
2-17 balls.
2-18 SECTION 2. Section 361.422, Health and Safety Code, is
2-19 amended to read as follows:
2-20 Sec. 361.422. STATE SOURCE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING GOAL.
2-21 (a) It is the state's goal to reduce <achieve> by January 1, 1994,
2-22 <the recycling of at least 40 percent of> the amount of <state's
2-23 total> municipal solid waste disposed of in this state by at least
2-24 40 percent through source reduction and recycling <stream>.
2-25 (b) In this section, "total municipal solid waste stream"
3-1 means the sum of the state's total municipal solid waste that is
3-2 disposed of as solid waste, measured in tons, and the total number
3-3 of tons of recyclable material that has been diverted or recovered
3-4 from the total municipal solid waste and recycled.
3-5 (c) The <By January 1, 1992, the> department shall establish
3-6 rules and reporting requirements through which progress toward
3-7 achieving the established source reduction and recycling goals can
3-8 be measured. The rules may take into consideration those ongoing
3-9 community source reduction and recycling programs where substantial
3-10 progress has already been achieved. The department may also
3-11 establish a limit on the amount of credit that may be given to
3-12 certain high-volume materials in measuring recycling progress.
3-13 (d) For the purpose of measuring progress toward the
3-14 municipal solid waste reduction goal, the department shall use the
3-15 weight of the total municipal solid waste stream in 1991 as a
3-16 baseline for comparison. To compute progress toward the municipal
3-17 solid waste reduction goal for a year, the department shall
3-18 compute:
3-19 (1) the total number of tons of recyclable material
3-20 that have been diverted or recovered from the total municipal solid
3-21 waste stream in that year and recycled; and
3-22 (2) the actual or estimated amount by which the total
3-23 municipal solid waste stream has been reduced through source
3-24 reduction.
3-25 (e) To compute the amount of waste reduced through source
4-1 reduction, the department may use the results of studies, surveys,
4-2 or reports of source reduction activities undertaken by businesses,
4-3 communities, or other sources of municipal solid waste. The
4-4 department may estimate the amount of waste reduced through source
4-5 reduction by adjusting the total municipal solid waste stream in
4-6 the comparison year for changes in economic activity that
4-7 contributes to municipal solid waste, for changes in population,
4-8 and for other relevant changes between the baseline year and the
4-9 comparison year. The department may attribute the difference
4-10 between the actual and the adjusted total municipal solid waste
4-11 stream to source reduction activities.
4-12 SECTION 3. The heading to Subchapter N, Chapter 361, Health
4-13 and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
4-14 SUBCHAPTER N. WASTE REDUCTION <RECYCLING> PROGRAMS;
4-15 DISPOSAL FEES
4-16 SECTION 4. This Act does not affect the transfer of powers,
4-17 duties, rights, or obligations made by Chapter 3, Acts of the 72nd
4-18 Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1991.
4-19 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-25 passage, and it is so enacted.