ACG H.B. 3164 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION C.S.H.B. 3164 By: Gallego 4-18-97 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND The Legislature previously required the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (commission) to conduct a survey of closed landfills in the state. The TNRCC has completed a survey, locating approximately 3,900 closed landfills. These landfills, half of which were never permitted, are scattered throughout the state, with the largest concentrations in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Southeast Texas areas. With the completion of the survey, the agency has begun to review the data collected to determine the number of sites that pose a threat to public health and safety because of their location and the type of waste that was deposited. In some instances, this review will need to include site inspections. Closed or abandoned landfills can pose an imminent threat to the public's health and safety, usually due to the migration of explosive gases into neighboring buildings or the contamination of water supplies. It is necessary for the commission to be able to respond immediately to these situations. Current statutory authority allocates municipal solid waste disposal fee revenues to the commission for various uses and to local governments for grants. Current funding to the commission is not in proportion to the cost of response to situations that threaten health and safety. PURPOSE C.S.H.B. 3164 will authorize the use of municipal solid waste disposal fee revenues for responses to closed landfills that represent a threat to public health and safety. The bill will also exempt that revenue from the current requirement that allocates an equal amount of revenue to local grant projects and the commission. 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 361.014, Health & Safety Code as follows: Section 361.014(a)(5) updates statutory references Section 361.014(a)(9) allows municipal solid waste fee revenues to be used for addressing closed or abandoned solid waste disposal sites; deletes authority to use these monies for superfund solid waste sites. Section 361.014(d) allows the commission to assess and respond to closed or abandoned municipal solid waste disposal sites in certain circumstances. SECTION 2. Allows municipal solid waste tipping fees to be used as provided by this bill for the fiscal biennium ending August 31, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute removes all references to "unauthorized tire dumps" which were included in the original. The filed version amends Section 361.014(b), but the substitute does not. SECTION 2 of the substitute is new language not included in the filed version.