ACG H.B. 2604 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION H.B. 2604 By: Allen 4-15-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND At the time of passage of the Waste Reduction Policy Act of 1991 (Senate Bill 1099) it did not apply nor was it intended to apply to small facilities at electric utilities with either small quantities of hazardous waste or no hazardous waste at all. In fact, the subchapter does not apply to any energy production facility regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed adding electric utilities to the list of facilities subject to Section 313 Title III, Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (Section 313). If that happens, it will trigger a part of the state law which will immediately draw these small facilities into the state requirement to prepare a source reduction and waste minimization plan even though they may not generate any hazardous waste. These plans will be in addition to the federal planning requirements under the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. PURPOSE HB 2604 will change certain reporting requirements so that they are not duplicative or redundant of existing federal requirements. These changes will not affect delegation of any federal program nor do they affect federal reporting under Section 313. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 361.504 (a)(3), Health and Safety Code, to exclude a facility with a standard classification code of 49 from this Subchapter. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.