S.B. No. 639
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the public meeting and notice and hearing requirements
1-2 for proposed solid waste management facilities and to
1-3 administrative and technical completeness of permit applications
1-4 for those facilities.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 361.068, Health and Safety Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 361.068. <WHEN APPLICATION IS> ADMINISTRATIVELY
1-9 COMPLETE APPLICATION. (a) A permit application is
1-10 administratively complete when:
1-11 (1) a complete permit application form and the report
1-12 and fees required to be submitted with a permit application have
1-13 been submitted to the department or the commission; and
1-14 (2) the permit application is ready for technical
1-15 review in accordance with the rules of the <board of health or>
1-16 commission.
1-17 (b) Once a determination that an application is
1-18 administratively and technically complete has been made and the
1-19 permit application has become the subject of a contested case under
1-20 Section 3, Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article
1-21 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes):
1-22 (1) the commission may not revoke the determination
1-23 that an application is administratively or technically complete;
2-1 (2) the commission may request additional information
2-2 from the applicant only if the information is necessary to clarify,
2-3 modify, or supplement previously submitted material provided that
2-4 all parties may engage in discovery against all other parties, as
2-5 provided by applicable law; and
2-6 (3) a request for additional information does not
2-7 render the application incomplete.
2-8 (c) Subsection (b) does not:
2-9 (1) preclude an informal disposition of a contested
2-10 case by stipulation, agreed settlement, consent order, or default;
2-11 or
2-12 (2) restrict the right of any party to conduct
2-13 discovery against any applicable party under other law.
2-14 SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 361.137, Health and
2-15 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-16 (b) The commission by rule shall establish the fee for
2-17 permit applications at an amount that is reasonable to recover the
2-18 demonstrable costs of processing an application and developing a
2-19 draft permit, but that is not less than $2,000 nor more than
2-20 $50,000. An additional fee may not be assessed for a draft permit
2-21 returned for further processing unless the application is
2-22 withdrawn.
2-23 SECTION 3. Section 361.0791, Health and Safety Code, is
2-24 amended to read as follows:
2-25 Sec. 361.0791. PUBLIC MEETING AND NOTICE REQUIREMENT.
3-1 (a) Notwithstanding other law, the commission shall hold a public
3-2 meeting on an application for a new hazardous waste management
3-3 facility in the county in which the proposed hazardous waste
3-4 management facility is to be located. The commission, on request
3-5 of a person affected or as otherwise required by commission rule,
3-6 shall hold a public meeting on an application for a Class 3
3-7 modification or a major amendment to an existing facility's
3-8 hazardous waste permit.
3-9 (b) Notwithstanding other law, the commission shall hold a
3-10 public meeting on an application for a new municipal solid waste
3-11 management facility in the county in which the proposed municipal
3-12 solid waste management facility is to be located.
3-13 (c) A public meeting held as part of a local review process
3-14 under Section 361.063 meets the requirement of Subsection (a) or
3-15 (b) if notice is provided as required by this section.
3-16 (d) <(c)> A public meeting under this section is not a
3-17 contested case hearing under the Administrative Procedure and Texas
3-18 Register Act (Article 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
3-19 (e) <(d)> If a meeting is required under Subsection (a), not
3-20 less than once each week during the three weeks preceding a public
3-21 meeting, the applicant shall publish notice of the meeting in the
3-22 newspaper of the largest general circulation that is published in
3-23 the county in which the proposed facility is to be located or, if
3-24 no newspaper is published in the county, in a newspaper of general
3-25 circulation in the county. The applicant shall provide the
4-1 commission, department, or Texas Air Control Board, as appropriate,
4-2 an affidavit certifying that the notice was given as required by
4-3 this section. Acceptance of the affidavit creates a rebuttable
4-4 presumption that the applicant has complied with this section.
4-5 (f) <(e)> The published notice may not be smaller than 96.8
4-6 square centimeters or 15 square inches with the shortest dimension
4-7 at least 7.6 centimeters or three inches and shall contain, at a
4-8 minimum, the following information:
4-9 (1) the permit application number;
4-10 (2) the applicant's name;
4-11 (3) the proposed location of the facility; and
4-12 (4) the location and availability of copies of the
4-13 permit application.
4-14 (g) <(f)> The applicant shall pay the cost of notice
4-15 required to be provided under this section. The commission by rule
4-16 may establish procedures for payment of those costs.
4-17 SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 361.081, Health and
4-18 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
4-19 (b) The applicant must certify to the department or
4-20 commission that the mailings were deposited as required by
4-21 Subsection (a). Acceptance of the certification creates a
4-22 rebuttable presumption that the applicant has complied with this
4-23 section. Substantial compliance with the notice requirements of
4-24 Subsection (a) is sufficient for the commission to exercise
4-25 jurisdiction over an application for a solid waste facility.
5-1 SECTION 5. Section 361.0234, Health and Safety Code, is
5-2 amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
5-3 (c) The assessments and rules adopted under Sections
5-4 361.0232 and 361.0234 shall not be retroactively applied to any
5-5 application that was declared administratively and technically
5-6 complete and for which public hearings had commenced prior to the
5-7 original effective date of those sections.
5-8 SECTION 6. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
5-9 section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
5-10 application for a permit under Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health
5-11 and Safety Code, that is received by the Texas Water Commission or
5-12 its successor on or after the effective date of this Act and to an
5-13 application for a permit that is subject to Subsection (c), Section
5-14 361.0234, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
5-15 (b) The change in law made by Subsection (b), Section
5-16 361.081, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, applies to
5-17 an application for a permit under Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health
5-18 and Safety Code, that is:
5-19 (1) received by the Texas Water Commission or its
5-20 successor on or after the effective date of this Act; or
5-21 (2) pending before the Texas Water Commission or its
5-22 successor on the effective date of this Act.
5-23 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
5-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-3 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-4 passage, and it is so enacted.