1-1 By: Jackson (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 1826
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 1995;
1-3 May 17, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
1-4 Resources; May 19, 1995, reported favorably, as amended, by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1; May 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Brown
1-7 Amend CSHB 1826, SECTION 1, by adding a new subsection (g) to read
1-8 as follows:
1-9 (g) A person who disposes of domestic waste through a
1-10 disposal system approved pursuant to this Section and who purchases
1-11 water from a regulated water supply system or public water system
1-12 through a master meter and who submeters the water pursuant to the
1-13 laws of this state is not a "water supply system" nor a "public
1-14 water system".
1-15 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-16 AN ACT
1-17 relating to the approval of disposal system plans by the Texas
1-18 Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
1-19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-20 SECTION 1. Section 26.034, Water Code, is amended to read as
1-21 follows:
1-22 Sec. 26.034. Approval of Disposal System Plans. (a) The
1-23 commission may, on a case-by-case basis, <shall> review and
1-24 approve plans and specifications for <all> treatment facilities,
1-25 sewer systems, and disposal systems that transport, treat, or
1-26 dispose of primarily domestic wastes.
1-27 (b) Before beginning construction, every person who proposes
1-28 to construct or materially alter the efficiency of any treatment
1-29 works to which this section applies shall submit completed plans
1-30 and specifications to the commission <for review and approval>.
1-31 (c) The commission by rule shall adopt standards to
1-32 determine which plans and specifications the commission will review
1-33 for approval. If the commission excludes certain plans and
1-34 specifications from review and approval, the commission shall
1-35 require that a registered professional engineer submit the plans to
1-36 the commission and make a finding that the plans and specifications
1-37 are in substantial compliance with commission standards and that
1-38 any deviation from those standards is based on the best
1-39 professional judgment of the registered professional engineer.
1-40 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the commission may
1-41 not require plans and specifications for a sewer system that
1-42 transports primarily domestic waste to be submitted to the
1-43 commission from:
1-44 (1) a municipality if:
1-45 (A) the municipality has its own internal
1-46 engineering review staff;
1-47 (B) the plans and specifications subject to
1-48 review are prepared by private engineering consultants; and
1-49 (C) the review is conducted by a registered
1-50 professional engineer who is an employee of or consultant to the
1-51 municipality separate from the private engineering consultant
1-52 charged with the design of the plans and specifications under
1-53 review; or
1-54 (2) an entity that is required by local ordinance to
1-55 submit the plans and specifications for review and approval to a
1-56 municipality.
1-57 (e) If the commission finds that a municipality's review and
1-58 approval process does not provide for substantial compliance with
1-59 commission standards, the commission shall require all plans and
1-60 specifications reviewed by the municipality under Subsection (d) to
1-61 be submitted to the commission for review and approval <The
1-62 commission shall approve the plans and specifications if they
1-63 conform to the waste discharge requirements and water quality
1-64 standards established by the commission>.
1-65 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
1-66 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-67 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-68 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-3 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-4 * * * * *