1-1 By: Ratliff S.B. No. 271
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed January 19, 1995; January 23, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 March 7, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; March 7, 1995,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 271 By: Ratliff
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the applicant-violator system of the Texas Surface Coal
1-11 Mining and Reclamation Act.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 6, Texas Surface Coal
1-14 Mining and Reclamation Act (Article 5920-11, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-15 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-16 (b) The process of making and amending rules and issuing
1-17 permits shall be pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act
1-18 (Chapter 2001, Government Code) <and Texas Register Act, as
1-19 amended>. The Administrative Procedure Act does not apply to
1-20 actions by the commission to suspend or rescind an improvidently
1-21 issued permit as authorized by Section 21a of this Act, except that
1-22 a permittee who is the subject of a suspension or rescission notice
1-23 issued by the commission under Section 21a of this Act may file an
1-24 appeal for administrative review of the notice as provided by
1-25 commission rules, and such review shall be governed by the
1-26 Administrative Procedure Act.
1-27 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 21, Texas Surface Coal
1-28 Mining and Reclamation Act (Article 5920-11, Vernon's Texas Civil
1-29 Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-30 (c) The applicant shall file, with his or her application, a
1-31 schedule listing any and all notices of violations of this Act, the
1-32 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, as amended (30
1-33 U.S.C. Section 1201), and any other law, rule, or regulation of the
1-34 United States, or the State of Texas, or of any department or
1-35 agency in the United States pertaining to air or water
1-36 environmental protection incurred by the applicant in connection
1-37 with any surface coal mining operation <within the state> during
1-38 the three-year period prior to the date of application, and <shall
1-39 include in> the schedule shall indicate<,> the final resolution of
1-40 any such notice of violation. The schedule required by this
1-41 subsection shall include notices of violations of federal
1-42 regulations or federal or state programs adopted under the Surface
1-43 Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, as amended (30 U.S.C.
1-44 Section 1201). If the schedule or other information available to
1-45 the commission indicates that any surface coal mining operation
1-46 owned or controlled by the applicant is currently in violation of
1-47 this Act or other laws referred to in this subsection, the permit
1-48 shall not be issued until the applicant submits proof that the
1-49 violation has been corrected or is in the process of being
1-50 corrected to the satisfaction of the commission, department, or
1-51 agency that has jurisdiction over the violation <or that the notice
1-52 of violation is being contested by the applicant>, and no permit
1-53 shall be issued to any applicant after a finding by the commission,
1-54 after opportunity for hearing, that the applicant, or the operator
1-55 specified in the application, controls or has controlled mining
1-56 operations with a demonstrated pattern of wilful violations of this
1-57 Act or other laws referred to in this subsection of such nature and
1-58 duration with such resulting irreparable damage to the environment
1-59 as to indicate an intent not to comply with this Act or other laws
1-60 referred to in this subsection.
1-61 SECTION 3. The Texas Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act
1-62 (Article 5920-11, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by
1-63 adding Section 21a to read as follows:
1-64 Sec. 21a. SUSPENSION OR RESCISSION OF IMPROVIDENTLY ISSUED
1-65 PERMITS. The commission is authorized to adopt and enforce rules
1-66 relating to suspension or rescission of improvidently issued
1-67 permits that are consistent with and no less effective than federal
1-68 regulations adopted under the Surface Mining Control and
2-1 Reclamation Act of 1977, as amended (30 U.S.C. Section 1201).
2-2 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-3 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-8 * * * * *