1-1  By:  Dukes (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                   H.B. No. 2944
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1995;
    1-3  May 12, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
    1-4  Resources; May 19, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:
    1-5  Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-7                                AN ACT
    1-8  relating to solid waste disposal fees.
    1-9        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-10        SECTION 1.  Section 361.013, Health and Safety Code, is
   1-11  amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding new Subsections (h)
   1-12  and (i) to read as follows:
   1-13        (a)  Except as provided by Subsections <Subsection> (e)
   1-14  through (i), the commission <department> shall charge a fee on all
   1-15  solid waste that is disposed of within this state.  The fee is
   1-16  $1.25 per ton received for disposal at a landfill if the solid
   1-17  waste is measured by weight.  If the solid waste is measured by
   1-18  volume, the fee for compacted solid waste is 40 cents per cubic
   1-19  yard or, for uncompacted solid waste, 25 cents per cubic yard
   1-20  received for disposal at a landfill.  The commission <department>
   1-21  shall set the fee for sludge or similar waste applied to the land
   1-22  for beneficial use on a dry weight basis and for solid waste
   1-23  received at an incinerator or a shredding and composting facility
   1-24  at half the fee set for solid waste received for disposal at a
   1-25  landfill.  The commission <department> may charge comparable fees
   1-26  for other means of solid waste disposal that are used.
   1-27        (h)  The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a)
   1-28  on solid waste resulting from a public entity's effort to protect
   1-29  the public health and safety of the community from the effects of a
   1-30  natural or man-made disaster or from structures that have been
   1-31  contributing to drug trafficking or other crimes if the disposal
   1-32  facility at which that solid waste is offered for disposal has
   1-33  donated to a municipality, county, or other political subdivision
   1-34  the cost of disposing of that waste.
   1-35        (i)  The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a)
   1-36  for:
   1-37              (1)  the disposal of Class I industrial solid waste or
   1-38  hazardous waste subject to the assessment of fees under Section
   1-39  361.136; or
   1-40              (2)  the disposal of an industrial solid waste for
   1-41  which no permit may be required under Section 361.090.
   1-42        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   1-43        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   1-44  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   1-45  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   1-46  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   1-47  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
   1-48                               * * * * *