By Maxey H.B. No. 2553
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the recycling or disposition of certain solid waste and
1-3 municipal curbside recycling programs.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 361.422, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-7 (d) The commission by rule shall require a municipal solid
1-8 waste landfill that serves a population of more than 50,000 to
1-9 install scales to weigh waste received by the facility and to make
1-10 biennial reports to the department of the weight of waste, measured
1-11 in tons, that the facility receives.
1-12 SECTION 2. Subchapter N, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
1-13 Code, is amended by adding Section 361.432 to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 361.432. MUNICIPAL CURBSIDE RECYCLING PICKUP. (a) A
1-15 municipality with a population of more than 50,000 shall operate or
1-16 contract for the curbside collection of recyclable solid waste
1-17 under a program in which residents may voluntarily participate.
1-18 (b) The municipality's program must provide for collection
1-19 of recyclable materials separated from other municipal solid waste
1-20 by the resident disposing of the solid waste. The collection must
1-21 be performed in front of or in an alley abutting a residential
1-22 address. The municipality shall provide for a reasonable
1-23 collection process for commercial or industrial addresses.
2-1 (c) The municipality's program shall be established for at
2-2 least seven of the following recyclable materials:
2-3 (1) aluminum;
2-4 (2) ferrous metals;
2-5 (3) brown glass;
2-6 (4) clear glass;
2-7 (5) colored glass;
2-8 (6) paper;
2-9 (7) corrugated cardboard;
2-10 (8) plastics; or
2-11 (9) yard waste.
2-12 (d) If a municipality is unable to contract for the sale or
2-13 disposition for recycling of at least seven of the materials listed
2-14 in Subsection (c), the municipality may petition the department for
2-15 a waiver from the requirement for specific materials. The
2-16 department may issue or renew a waiver for one year if the
2-17 municipality has made a good faith effort to find a means to
2-18 recycle the materials for which the waiver is sought.
2-19 (e) The department shall assist municipalities in finding
2-20 markets for recyclable or recycled materials and to find persons
2-21 with whom to contract for the collection, storage, sale, recycling,
2-22 or disposition of recyclable materials.
2-23 (f) The municipality's program shall include a public
2-24 education program designed to make municipal residents aware of,
2-25 and how to participate in, the recycling program and to promote the
3-1 voluntary separation of recyclable materials.
3-2 (g) A contract entered into by a municipality for the
3-3 collection, storage, sale, recycling, or disposition of recyclable
3-4 materials under this section is not subject to any state
3-5 competitive bidding law.
3-6 SECTION 3. (a) The rules of the Texas Natural Resource
3-7 Conservation Commission adopted under Section 361.422(d), Health
3-8 and Safety Code, as added by Section 1 of this Act, shall require
3-9 scales for a landfill permitted on or before the effective date of
3-10 this Act to be installed not later than January 1, 1994, and shall
3-11 require the initial biennial report required by that subsection to
3-12 be filed with the commission not later than June 30, 1994.
3-13 (b) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission shall
3-14 require a landfill that is not permitted on the effective date of
3-15 this Act to install a scale as required by Section 361.422(d),
3-16 Health and Safety Code, as added by Section 1 of this Act, before
3-17 the landfill begins operation.
3-18 SECTION 4. (a) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-19 Commission shall report to the legislature the state's progress in
3-20 achieving the state's recycling goal provided by Section 361.422,
3-21 Health and Safety Code, not later than January 31, 1994.
3-22 (b) The report shall include a finding by the executive
3-23 director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
3-24 that:
3-25 (1) the state has met the goal provided by that
4-1 section; or
4-2 (2) the state has not met the goal provided by that
4-3 section.
4-4 SECTION 5. (a) Section 2 of this Act takes effect only if
4-5 the executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
4-6 Commission finds under Section 4 of this Act that the state has not
4-7 met the goal provided by Section 361.422, Health and Safety Code.
4-8 (b) If Section 2 of this Act takes effect, a municipality
4-9 required to operate or contract for a recycling program under
4-10 Section 361.432, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act,
4-11 shall begin collection under the program not later than May 1,
4-12 1995, and shall begin the public education program not later than
4-13 60 days before collection begins.
4-14 SECTION 6. Except as provided by Section 5 of this Act, this
4-15 Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-16 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-17 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-18 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-19 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-20 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.