BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2944 By: Dukes 04-25-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) charges a fee to landfills for each unit of trash accepted. The landfill then charges a fee to the individual or entity whose trash it accepts. As a public service, some landfills take certain trash for free (e.g., natural disaster debris or crack house destruction debris). However, the TNRCC is still required to charge the fee to the landfill, even though the landfill collects no fee from the city or county involved. PURPOSE HB 2944 would prohibit the TNRCC from collecting a fee when a disposal facility has donated the cost of disposal for trash from the effects of a natural or man-made disaster, or from structures which have been contributing to criminal activity. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1: Amends Section 361.013, Health and Safety Code, as follows: (a) Replaces "department" with "commission"; adds references to Subsection (f) and (h) as exceptions from a fee being charged on solid waste that is disposed of in this state. (h) Is added to include solid waste resulting from a public entity's effort to protect the community from effects of a natural or man-made disaster or from structures contributing to drug-trafficking or other crimes into the list of exemptions from disposal fees. Stipulates the condition that the disposal facility accepting this waste has donated to a political subdivision the cost of disposing the waste. SECTION 2: Effective date: September 1, 1995. SECTION 3: Emergency Clause COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The committee substitute is a Legislative Council draft of the original bill with no substantial changes. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION HB 2944 was considered by the House Committee on Environmental Regulation in a public hearing on April 25, 1995. The committee considered a complete substitute. Robert A. Miller, representing Waste Management of Texas, testified in favor of the bill. Without objection the committee adopted the committee substitute to HB 2944. HB 2944 was reported favorably as substituted with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of five (5) ayes, no (0) nays, no (0) pnv, and four (4) absent.