By Hilbert H.B. No. 2441
74R7532 JMM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the amendment, extension, or renewal of a permit for a
1-3 solid waste facility.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 361.088, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Subsections (e)-(h) to read as follows:
1-7 (e) If a person affected by an application for amendment,
1-8 extension, or renewal of a permit is granted a hearing or the
1-9 commission requests a hearing on the commission's own motion, the
1-10 scope of the hearing shall be limited to:
1-11 (1) the applicant's compliance record during the
1-12 current term of the permit;
1-13 (2) whether the applicant is indebted to the state for
1-14 a fee, tax, fine, or assessment;
1-15 (3) whether the applicant made a false or misleading
1-16 statement in connection with an original or renewal application;
1-17 and
1-18 (4) whether the applicant has demonstrated compliance
1-19 with any new regulatory requirements applicable to the permitted
1-20 facility or related to new or expanded operations addressed in the
1-21 application.
1-22 (f) Before an application to amend, extend, or renew a
1-23 permit may be denied, in whole or part, the commission must find,
1-24 after an opportunity for a hearing, that:
2-1 (1) a significant violation exists and the permit
2-2 applicant has not made a substantial attempt to correct the
2-3 violation;
2-4 (2) the applicant is indebted to the state for a fee,
2-5 tax, fine, or assessment imposed under this title or under a rule
2-6 of the commission;
2-7 (3) the applicant made a false or misleading statement
2-8 in connection with an original or renewal application; or
2-9 (4) the applicant:
2-10 (A) is unable to demonstrate compliance with any
2-11 new regulatory requirement applicable to the permitted facility or
2-12 related to a new or expanded operation addressed in the
2-13 application; and
2-14 (B) does not propose a reasonable schedule for
2-15 meeting the new requirement.
2-16 (g) The commission may not conduct a hearing on the
2-17 amendment of a permit unless the application, on its face:
2-18 (1) proposes an increase of waste management capacity
2-19 or the amount of waste processed in excess of 25 percent of the
2-20 existing permitted capacity;
2-21 (2) proposes an aerial expansion of an existing
2-22 facility; or
2-23 (3) proposes a major or substantive modification of
2-24 the permitted facility's design, operations, or procedures that
2-25 invokes significant regulatory review or the rights of a person
2-26 affected by the proposed amendment.
2-27 (h) The commission may, as appropriate, conduct a public
3-1 meeting on an application to amend a permit instead of a hearing.
3-2 Information obtained at a public meeting may not be grounds for the
3-3 denial of an application to amend a permit unless the commission
3-4 finds, after an opportunity for a hearing, the existence of a
3-5 ground listed in Subsection (f).
3-6 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
3-7 applies only to an application to amend, extend, or renew a permit
3-8 filed on or after that date. An application to amend, extend, or
3-9 renew a permit that is filed before the effective date of this Act
3-10 is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
3-11 filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-12 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.