By: Armbrister S.B. No. 1464
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to permits for certain facilities regulated by the Texas
1-2 Natural Resources Conservation Commission.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 361.003, Health and Safety Code is
1-5 amended by adding subsections 9, 14, 26, 28, 29, 30, 34, 37, and
1-6 44, and renumbering subsections as required.
1-7 (1) "Apparent recharge zone" means that recharge zone
1-8 designated on maps prepared or compiled by, and located in the
1-9 officers of, the commission.
1-10 (2) "Board" means the Texas Natural Resource
1-11 Conservation Commission.
1-12 (3) "Class I industrial solid waste" means an
1-13 industrial solid waste or mixture of industrial solid waste,
1-14 including hazardous industrial waste, that because of its
1-15 concentration or physical or chemical characteristics:
1-16 (A) is toxic, corrosive, flammable, a strong
1-17 sensitizer or irritant, or a generator of sudden pressure by
1-18 decomposition, heat, or other means; and
1-19 (B) poses or may pose a substantial present or
1-20 potential danger to human health or the environment if improperly
1-21 processed, stored, transported, or otherwise managed.
1-22 (4) "Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste"
1-23 means any Class I industrial solid waste that has not been
2-1 identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of
2-2 the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal
2-3 Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation
2-4 and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.).
2-5 (5) "Commercial hazardous waste management facility"
2-6 means any hazardous waste management facility that accepts
2-7 hazardous waste or PCBs for a charge, except a captured facility or
2-8 a facility that accepts waste only from other facilities owned or
2-9 effectively controlled by the same person, where "captured
2-10 facility" means a manufacturing or production facility that
2-11 generates an industrial solid waste or hazardous waste that is
2-12 routinely stored, processed, or disposed of on a shared basis in an
2-13 integrated waste management unit owned, operated by, and located
2-14 within a contiguous manufacturing complex.
2-15 (6) "Commission" means the Texas Natural Resource
2-16 Conservation Commission.
2-17 (7) "Commissioner" means the executive director of the
2-18 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
2-19 (8) "Composting" means the controlled biological
2-20 decomposition of organic solid waste under aerobic conditions.
2-21 (9) "Continuous on-site, physical construction
2-22 program" means excavation, movement of earth, erection of forms or
2-23 structures, or similar activity on the same or geographically
2-24 contiguous property which may be divided by public or private
2-25 right(s)-of-way, provided the entrace and exit between the
3-1 properties is at a cross-roads intersection, and access is by
3-2 crossing as opposed to going along, the right(s)-of-way,
3-3 noncontiguous properties owned by the same person but connect by a
3-4 right-of-way which the person controls and to which the public does
3-5 not have access. A continuous on-site, physical construction
3-6 program has commenced and continued if continuous on-site
3-7 activities are conducted to prepare the existing "HWM" facility to
3-8 accept hazardous waste. Exclusions to the requirement of a
3-9 continuous on-site, physical construction program are:
3-10 (A) new statutory requirements or regulations.
3-11 The standards or regulations on which the permit was based have
3-12 changed by statute, through promulgation of new or amended
3-13 standards or regulation, or by judicial decision after the permit
3-14 was issued; or
3-15 (B) Act of God, strike, flood or material
3-16 shortage or other events over which the owner or operator has
3-17 little or no control and which there is no reasonably available
3-18 remedy; or
3-19 (C) legal and/or religious holidays; or
3-20 (D) physical construction activities during
3-21 non-daylight hours or weekends; or
3-22 (E) design alterations to comply with new
3-23 statutory requirements or regulations.
3-24 (10) <(9)> "Department" means the Texas Natural
3-25 Resource Conservation Commission.
4-1 (11) <(10)> "Disposal" means the discharging,
4-2 depositing, injecting, dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of
4-3 solid waste or hazardous waste, whether containerized or
4-4 uncontainerized, into or on land or water so that the solid waste
4-5 or hazardous waste or any constituent thereof may be emitted into
4-6 the air, discharged into surface water or groundwater, or
4-7 introduced into the environment in any other manner.
4-8 (12) <(11)> "Environmental response law" means the
4-9 federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
4-10 Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. Sections 9601 through 9675, as
4-11 amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of
4-12 1986.
4-13 (13) <(12)> "Executive director" means the executive
4-14 director of the commission.
4-15 (14) "Existing hazardous waste management (HWM)
4-16 facility" or "existing facility" means a facility which was in
4-17 operation or for which construction commenced on or before November
4-18 19, 1980. A facility has commenced construction if:
4-19 (A) the owner or operator has obtained the
4-20 Federal, State and local approvals or permits necessary to begin
4-21 physical construction; and either
4-22 (i) a continuous on-site, physical
4-23 construction program has begun; or
4-24 (ii) the owner or operator has entered
4-25 into contractual obligations which cannot be canceled or modified
5-1 without substantial loss for physical construction of the facility
5-2 to be completed within a reasonable time.
5-3 (15) <(13)> "Garbage" means solid waste that is
5-4 putrescible animal and vegetable waste materials from the handling,
5-5 preparation, cooking, or consumption of food, including waste
5-6 materials from markets, storage facilities, and the handling and
5-7 sale of produce and other food products.
5-8 (16) <(14)> "Hazardous substance":
5-9 (A) means:
5-10 (i) a substance designated under Section
5-11 311(b)(2)(A) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended
5-12 (33 U.S.C. Section 1321);
5-13 (ii) an element, compound, mixture,
5-14 solution, or substance designated under Section 102 of the
5-15 environmental response law;
5-16 (iii) a hazardous waste having the
5-17 characteristics identified under or listed under Section 3001 of
5-18 the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section
5-19 6921), excluding waste, the regulation of which under the federal
5-20 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) has been
5-21 suspended by Act of Congress;
5-22 (iv) a toxic pollutant listed under
5-23 Section 307(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33
5-24 U.S.C. Section 1317);
5-25 (v) a hazardous air pollutant listed under
6-1 Section 112 of the federal Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.
6-2 Section 7412); and
6-3 (vi) any imminently hazardous chemical
6-4 substance or mixture with respect to which the administrator of the
6-5 Environmental Protection Agency has taken action under Section 7 of
6-6 the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Section 2606); but
6-7 (B) does not include:
6-8 (i) petroleum, which means crude oil or
6-9 any fraction of crude oil that is not otherwise specifically listed
6-10 or designated as a hazardous substance under Paragraphs (i) through
6-11 (vi) of Subdivision (A);
6-12 (ii) natural gas, natural gas liquids,
6-13 liquefied natural gas, or synthetic gas usable for fuel mixtures of
6-14 natural gas and synthetic gas; or
6-15 (iii) waste materials that result from
6-16 activities associated with the exploration development or
6-17 production of oil or gas or geothermal resources or any other
6-18 substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas
6-19 under Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code.
6-20 (17) <(15)> "Hazardous waste" means solid waste
6-21 identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of
6-22 the United States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal
6-23 Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation
6-24 and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et
6-25 seq.).
7-1 (18) <(16)> "Hazardous waste management facility"
7-2 means all contiguous land, including structures, appurtenances, and
7-3 other improvements on the land, used for processing, storing, or
7-4 disposing of hazardous waste. The term includes a publicly or
7-5 privately owned hazardous waste management facility consisting of
7-6 processing, storage or disposal operational hazardous waste
7-7 management units such as one or more landfills, surface
7-8 impoundments, waste piles, incinerators, boilers, and industrial
7-9 furnaces, including cement kilns, injection wells, salt dome waste
7-10 containment caverns, land treatment facilities, or a combination of
7-11 units.
7-12 (19) <(17)> "Hazardous waste management unit" means a
7-13 landfill, surface impoundment, waste pile, industrial furnace,
7-14 incinerator, cement kiln, injection well, container, drum, salt
7-15 dome waste containment cavern, or land treatment unit, or any other
7-16 structure, vessel, appurtenance, or other improvement on land used
7-17 to manage hazardous waste.
7-18 (20) <(18)> "Industrial furnace" includes cement
7-19 kilns, lime kilns, aggregate kilns, phosphate kilns, coke ovens,
7-20 blast furnaces, smelting, melting, or refining furnaces including
7-21 pyrometallurgical devices such as cupolas, reverberator furnaces,
7-22 sintering machines, roasters or foundry furnaces, titanium dioxide
7-23 chloride process oxidation reactors, methane reforming furnaces,
7-24 pulping liquor recovery furnaces, combustion devices used in the
7-25 recovery of sulfur values from spent sulfuric acid, and other
8-1 devices the commission may list.
8-2 (21) <(19)> "Industrial solid waste" means solid waste
8-3 resulting from or incidental to a process of industry or
8-4 manufacturing, or mining or agricultural operations.
8-5 (22) <(20)> "Local government" means:
8-6 (A) a county;
8-7 (B) a municipality; or
8-8 (C) a political subdivision exercising the
8-9 authority granted under Section 361.165.
8-10 (23) <(21)> "Management" means the systematic control
8-11 of the activities of generation, source separation, collection,
8-12 handling, storage, transportation, processing, treatment, recovery,
8-13 or disposal of solid waste.
8-14 (24) <(22)> "Motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned
8-15 by Section 2(b), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways
8-16 (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
8-17 (25) <(23)> "Municipal solid waste" means solid waste
8-18 resulting from or incidental to municipal, community, commercial,
8-19 institutional, or recreational activities, and includes garbage,
8-20 rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned
8-21 automobiles, and other solid waste other than industrial solid
8-22 waste.
8-23 (26) "New HWM facility" means a Hazardous Waste
8-24 Management facility which began operation on or for which
8-25 construction commenced after November 19, 1980.
9-1 (27) <(24)> "Notice of intent to file an application"
9-2 means the notice filed under Section 361.063.
9-3 (28) "Off-site" means any site which is not on-site.
9-4 (29) "On-site" means on the same or geographically
9-5 contiguous property which may be divided by public or private
9-6 right(s)-of-way, provided the entrance and exit between the
9-7 properties is at a cross-roads intersection, and access is by
9-8 crossing as opposed to going along, the right(s)-of-way.
9-9 Noncontiguous properties owned by the same person but connected by
9-10 a right-of-way which the person controls and to which the public
9-11 does not have access, is also considered on-site property.
9-12 (30) "Owner or operator" means the owner or operator
9-13 of any facility or activity subject to regulation under RCRA.
9-14 (31) <(25)> "PCBs" or "polychlorinated biphenyl
9-15 compounds" means compounds subject to Title 40, Code of Federal
9-16 Regulations, Part 761.
9-17 (32) <(26)> "Person" means an individual, corporation,
9-18 organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency,
9-19 business trust partnership, association or any other legal entity.
9-20 (33) <(27)> "Person affected" means a person who
9-21 demonstrates that the person has suffered or will suffer actual
9-22 injury or economic damage and, if the person is not a local
9-23 government:
9-24 (A) is a resident of a county or a county
9-25 adjacent or contiguous to the county in which a solid waste
10-1 facility is to be located; or
10-2 (B) is doing business or owns land in the county
10-3 or adjacent or contiguous county.
10-4 (34) "Physical construction" means excavation,
10-5 movement of earth, erection of forms or structures, or similar
10-6 activity to prepare an HWM facility to accept hazardous waste.
10-7 (35) <(28)> "Processing" means the extraction of
10-8 materials from or the transfer volume reduction, conversion to
10-9 energy, or other separation and preparation of solid waste for
10-10 reuse or disposal. The term includes the treatment or
10-11 neutralization of hazardous waste designed to change the physical,
10-12 chemical, or biological character or composition of a hazardous
10-13 waste so as to neutralize the waste, recover energy or material
10-14 from the waste, render the waste nonhazardous or less hazardous,
10-15 make it safer to transport store or dispose of, or render it
10-16 amenable for recovery or storage or reduce its volume. The term
10-17 does not include activities concerning those materials exempted by
10-18 the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
10-19 Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the
10-20 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 as amended (42
10-21 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) unless the commission or department
10-22 determines that regulation of the activity under this chapter is
10-23 necessary to protect human health or the environment.
10-24 (36) <(29)> "Radioactive waste" means waste that
10-25 requires specific licensing under Chapter 401 and the rules adopted
11-1 by the board of health under that law.
11-2 (37) "RCRA" means the Solid Waste Disposal Act as
11-3 amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976
11-4 (Pub.L. 94-580, as amended by Pub.L. 95-609 and Pub.L. 96-482, 42
11-5 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.).
11-6 (38) <(30)> "Recycling" means the legitimate use reuse
11-7 or reclamation of solid waste.
11-8 (39) <(31)> "Release" means any spilling, leaking,
11-9 pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting,
11-10 escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment.
11-11 The term does not include:
11-12 (A) a release that results in an exposure to a
11-13 person solely within a workplace concerning a claim that the person
11-14 may assert against the person's employer;
11-15 (B) an emission from the engine exhaust of a
11-16 motor vehicle, rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping
11-17 station engine;
11-18 (C) a release of source, by-product, or special
11-19 nuclear material from a nuclear incident as those terms are defined
11-20 by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section
11-21 2011 et seq.), if the release is subject to requirements concerning
11-22 financial protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory
11-23 Commission under Section 170 of that Act;
11-24 (D) for the purposes of Section 104 of the
11-25 environmental response law, or other response action, a release of
12-1 source, by-product, or special nuclear material from a processing
12-2 site designated under Section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium
12-3 Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. Sections
12-4 7912 and 7942); and
12-5 (E) the normal application of fertilizer.
12-6 (40) <(32)> "Remedial action" means an action
12-7 consistent with a permanent remedy taken instead of or in addition
12-8 to a removal action in the event of a release or threatened release
12-9 of a hazardous waste into the environment to prevent or minimize
12-10 the release of hazardous waste so that the hazardous waste does not
12-11 migrate to cause an imminent and substantial danger to present or
12-12 future public health and safety or the environment. The term
12-13 includes:
12-14 (A) actions at the location of the release
12-15 including storage, confinement, perimeter protection using dikes,
12-16 trenches, or ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of
12-17 released hazardous waste or contaminated materials, recycling or
12-18 reuse, diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive waste,
12-19 dredging or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking
12-20 containers, collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or
12-21 incineration, provision of alternate water supplies, and any
12-22 monitoring reasonably required to assure that those actions protect
12-23 the public health and safety or the environment; and
12-24 (B) the costs of permanent relocation of
12-25 residents, businesses, and community facilities if the
13-1 administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
13-2 or the executive director determines that, alone or in combination
13-3 with other measures, the relocation:
13-4 (i) is more cost-effective than and
13-5 environmentally preferable to the transportation, storage,
13-6 treatment, destruction, or secure disposition off-site of hazardous
13-7 waste; or
13-8 (ii) may otherwise be necessary to protect
13-9 the public health or safety.
13-10 (41) <(33)> "Removal" includes:
13-11 (A) cleaning up or removing released hazardous
13-12 waste from the environment;
13-13 (B) taking necessary action in the event of the
13-14 threat of release of hazardous waste into the environment;
13-15 (C) taking necessary action to monitor assess
13-16 and evaluate the release or threat of release of hazardous waste;
13-17 (D) disposing of removed material;
13-18 (E) erecting a security fence or other measure
13-19 to limit access;
13-20 (F) providing alternate water supplies,
13-21 temporary evacuation, and housing for threatened individuals not
13-22 otherwise provided for;
13-23 (G) acting under Section 104(b) of the
13-24 environmental response law;
13-25 (H) providing emergency assistance under the
14-1 federal Disaster Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et
14-2 seq.); or
14-3 (I) taking any other necessary action to prevent
14-4 minimize or mitigate damage to the public health and welfare or the
14-5 environment that may otherwise result from a release or threat of
14-6 release.
14-7 (42) <(34)> "Rubbish" means nonputrescible solid waste
14-8 excluding ashes that consists of:
14-9 (A) combustible waste material including paper,
14-10 rags, cartons, wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, yard
14-11 trimmings, leaves, and similar materials; and
14-12 (B) noncombustible waste materials, including
14-13 glass, crockery, tin cans, aluminum cans, metal furniture, and
14-14 similar materials that do not burn at ordinary incinerator
14-15 temperatures (1,600 to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).
14-16 (43) <(35)> "Sanitary landfill" means a controlled
14-17 area of land on which solid waste is disposed of in accordance with
14-18 standards, rules, or orders established by the board of health or
14-19 the commission.
14-20 (44) "Site" means the land or water area where any
14-21 facility or activity is physically located or conducted, including
14-22 adjacent land used in connection with the facility or activity.
14-23 (45) <(36)> "Sludge" means solid, semisolid, or liquid
14-24 waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial
14-25 wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air
15-1 pollution control facility excluding the treated effluent from a
15-2 wastewater treatment plant.
15-3 Subdivision (37) expires on delegation of Resource
15-4 Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad
15-5 Commission of Texas
15-6 (46) <(37)> This subdivision expires on delegation of
15-7 the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the
15-8 Railroad Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42
15-9 U.S.C. Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a) "solid
15-10 waste" means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste
15-11 treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution
15-12 control facility, and other discarded material, including solid,
15-13 liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from
15-14 industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural
15-15 operations and from community and institutional activities. The
15-16 term:
15-17 (A) does not include:
15-18 (i) solid or dissolved material in
15-19 domestic sewage or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return
15-20 flows, or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit
15-21 issued under Chapter 26, Water Code;
15-22 (ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other
15-23 natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill land if the
15-24 object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the
15-25 construction of surface improvements; or
16-1 (iii) waste materials that result from
16-2 activities associated with the exploration, development, or
16-3 production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other
16-4 substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas
16-5 under Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code, unless the waste
16-6 substance or material resets from activities associated with
16-7 gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids processing
16-8 plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants, and
16-9 is hazardous waste as defined by the administrator of the United
16-10 States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid
16-11 Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and
16-12 Recovery Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.); and
16-13 (B) does include hazardous substances for the
16-14 purposes of Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280 and 361.343
16-15 through 361.345.
16-16 Subdivision (38) is effective on delegation of the Resource
16-17 Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad
16-18 Commission of Texas
16-19 (47) <(38)> This subdivision is effective on
16-20 delegation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act authority
16-21 to the Railroad Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of
16-22 42 U.S.C. Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid
16-23 waste" means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste
16-24 treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution
16-25 control facility, and other discarded material, including solid,
17-1 liquid, semi-solid or contained gaseous material resulting from
17-2 industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural
17-3 operations and from community and institutional activities. The
17-4 term:
17-5 (A) does not include:
17-6 (i) solid or dissolved material in
17-7 domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation
17-8 return flows, or industrial discharges subject to regulation by
17-9 permit issued under Chapter 26, Water Code;
17-10 (ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other
17-11 natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill land if the
17-12 object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the
17-13 construction of surface improvements; or
17-14 (iii) waste materials that result from
17-15 activities associated with the exploration, development or
17-16 production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other
17-17 substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas
17-18 under Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code; and
17-19 (B) does include hazardous substances, for the
17-20 purposes of Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280 and 361.343
17-21 through 361.345.
17-22 (48) <(39)> "Solid waste facility" means all
17-23 contiguous land including structures, appurtenances, and other
17-24 improvements on the land used for processing, storing, or disposing
17-25 of solid waste. The term includes a publicly or privately owned
18-1 solid waste facility consisting of several processing, storage, or
18-2 disposal operational units such as one or more landfills, surface
18-3 impoundments, or a combination of units.
18-4 (49) <(40)> "Solid waste technician" means an
18-5 individual who is trained in the practical aspects of the design,
18-6 operation, and maintenance of a solid waste facility in accordance
18-7 with standards, rules, or orders established by the board of health
18-8 or commission.
18-9 (50) <(41)> "Storage" means the temporary holding of
18-10 solid waste after which the solid waste is processed disposed of,
18-11 or stored elsewhere.
18-12 <(42) (Blank).>
18-13 <(43) (Blank).>
18-14 (51) <(44)> "Pollution" means the alteration of the
18-15 physical, thermal, chemical, or biological quality of, or the
18-16 contamination of, any land or surface or subsurface water in the
18-17 state that renders the land or water harmful, detrimental or
18-18 injurious to humans, animal life, vegetation, or property or to
18-19 public health, safety, or welfare or impairs the usefulness or the
18-20 public enjoyment of the land or water for any lawful or reasonable
18-21 purpose.
18-22 SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act is effective September
18-23 1, 1995.
18-24 SECTION 3. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
18-25 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
19-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
19-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
19-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is suspended.