BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1826 By: Jackson (Brown) Natural Resources 05-19-95 Senate Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND Currently, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission is required to review and approve all plans and specifications for certain wastewater treatment or disposal systems before construction of those systems can begin. Some larger municipalities already submit plans to a political subdivision and have their own internal engineering staff. This results in a duplication of efforts at the state and local levels. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 1826 authorizes the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to set rules governing wastewater treatment plans and specifications and review compliance to those standards on a case-by-case basis. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission in SECTION 1 (Section 26.034(c), Water Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 26.034, Water Code, as follows: Sec. 26.034. APPROVAL OF DISPOSAL SYSTEM PLANS. (a) Authorizes, rather than requires, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), on a case-by-case basis, to review and approve plans and specifications for treatment facilities, sewer systems, and disposal systems that transport, treat, or dispose of primary domestic wastes. (b) Makes a nonsubstantive change. (c) Requires TNRCC, by rule, to adopt standards to determine which plans and specifications TNRCC will review for approval. Requires TNRCC, if TNRCC excludes certain plans and specifications from review and approval, to require that a registered professional engineer submit the plans to TNRCC and make a finding that the plans and specifications are in substantial compliance with TNRCC standards and that any deviation from those standards is based on the best professional judgment of the registered professional engineer. (d) Prohibits TNRCC from requiring plans and specifications for a sewer system that transports primarily domestic waste to be submitted to TNRCC from a municipality under certain conditions. (e) Requires TNRCC, if TNRCC finds that a municipality's review and approval process does not provide for substantial compliance with TNRCC standards, to require all plans and specifications reviewed by the municipality under Subsection (d) to be submitted to TNRCC for review and approval. Deletes existing Subsection (c). (g) Provides that a person who disposes of domestic waste through a disposal system approved pursuant to this section and who purchases water from a regulated water supply system or public water system through a master meter and who submeters the water pursuant to the laws of this state is not a "water supply system" or a "public water system." SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.