By Jackson H.B. No. 1239
75R4575 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the voluntary cleanup program.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 361.133(b) and (c), Health and Safety
1-5 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (b) The fund consists of money collected by the commission
1-7 from:
1-8 (1) fees imposed on the owner or operator of an
1-9 industrial solid waste or hazardous waste facility for commercial
1-10 and noncommercial management or disposal of hazardous waste or
1-11 commercial disposal of industrial solid waste under Section 361.136
1-12 and fees imposed under Section 361.138;
1-13 (2) interest and penalties imposed under Section
1-14 361.140 for late payment of a fee or late filing of a report;
1-15 (3) money paid by a person liable for facility cleanup
1-16 and maintenance under Section 361.197;
1-17 (4) the interest received from the investment of this
1-18 fund, in accounts under the charge of the treasurer, to be credited
1-19 pro rata to the hazardous and solid waste remediation fee fund;
1-20 (5) monies transferred from other agencies under
1-21 provisions of this code or grants or other payments from any person
1-22 made for the purpose of remediation of facilities under this
1-23 chapter or the investigation, cleanup, or removal of a spill or
1-24 release of a hazardous substance;
2-1 (6) fees imposed under Section 361.604; and
2-2 (7) federal grants received for the implementation or
2-3 administration of state voluntary cleanup programs or federal
2-4 brownfields initiatives.
2-5 (c) The commission may use the money collected and deposited
2-6 to the credit of the fund under this section, including interest
2-7 credited under Subsection (b)(4), only for:
2-8 (1) necessary and appropriate removal and remedial
2-9 action at sites at which solid waste or hazardous substances have
2-10 been disposed if funds from a liable person, independent third
2-11 person, or the federal government are not sufficient for the
2-12 removal or remedial action;
2-13 (2) necessary and appropriate maintenance of removal
2-14 and remedial actions for the expected life of those actions if:
2-15 (A) funds from a liable person have been
2-16 collected and deposited to the credit of the fund for that purpose;
2-17 or
2-18 (B) funds from a liable person, independent
2-19 third person, or the federal government are not sufficient for the
2-20 maintenance;
2-21 (3) expenses concerning compliance with:
2-22 (A) the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
2-23 Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. Section 9601 et
2-24 seq.) as amended;
2-25 (B) the federal Superfund Amendments and
2-26 Reauthorization Act of 1986 (10 U.S.C. Section 2701 et seq.); and
2-27 (C) Subchapters F and I;
3-1 (4) expenses concerning the regulation and management
3-2 of household hazardous substances and the prevention of pollution
3-3 of the water resources of the state from the uncontrolled release
3-4 of hazardous substances;
3-5 (5) expenses concerning the cleanup or removal of a
3-6 spill, release, or potential threat of release of a hazardous
3-7 substance where immediate action is appropriate to protect human
3-8 health and the environment; and
3-9 (6) expenses concerning implementation of the
3-10 voluntary cleanup program under Subchapter S or federal brownfields
3-11 initiatives.
3-12 SECTION 2. Section 361.605(b), Health and Safety Code, is
3-13 amended to read as follows:
3-14 (b) If an application is rejected because it is not complete
3-15 or accurate, the executive director, not later than the 45th day
3-16 after receipt of the application, shall provide the person with a
3-17 list of all information needed to make the application complete or
3-18 accurate. A person may resubmit an application once without
3-19 submitting an additional application fee if the person resubmits
3-20 the application not later than the 45th day after the date the
3-21 executive director issues notice that the application has been
3-22 rejected.
3-23 SECTION 3. Sections 361.609(b), (c), and (d), Health and
3-24 Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-25 (b) The certificate of completion shall:
3-26 (1) acknowledge the protection from liability provided
3-27 by Section 361.610;
4-1 (2) indicate the proposed future land use; and
4-2 (3) include a legal description of the site and the
4-3 name of the site's owner at the time the application to participate
4-4 in the voluntary cleanup program was filed.
4-5 (c) [The executive director shall file a copy of the
4-6 certificate of completion in the real property records of the
4-7 county in which the site is located.]
4-8 [(d)] If the executive director determines that the person
4-9 has not successfully completed a voluntary cleanup approved under
4-10 this subchapter, the executive director shall notify the person who
4-11 undertook the voluntary cleanup and the current owner of the site
4-12 that is the subject of the cleanup of this determination.
4-13 SECTION 4. Section 361.610, Health and Safety Code, is
4-14 amended to read as follows:
4-15 Sec. 361.610. PERSONS RELEASED FROM LIABILITY. (a) A
4-16 person who is not a responsible party under Section 361.271 or
4-17 361.275(g) at the time the person applies to perform a voluntary
4-18 cleanup:
4-19 (1) does not become a responsible party solely because
4-20 the person signs the application; and
4-21 (2) is released, on certification under Section
4-22 361.609, from all liability to the state for cleanup of areas of
4-23 the site covered by the certificate [certification], except for
4-24 releases and consequences that the person causes.
4-25 (b) A person who is not a responsible party under Section
4-26 361.271 or 361.275(g) at the time the commission issues a
4-27 certificate of completion under Section 361.609 is released, on
5-1 issuance of the certificate, from all liability to the state for
5-2 cleanup of areas of the site covered by the certificate, except for
5-3 releases and consequences that the person causes.
5-4 (c) The release from liability provided by this section does
5-5 not apply to a person who:
5-6 (1) acquires [is not effective if] a certificate of
5-7 completion [is acquired] by fraud, misrepresentation, or knowing
5-8 failure to disclose material information; [.]
5-9 (2) knows at the time the person [(c) If a
5-10 certificate of completion for a site is issued by the commission,
5-11 an owner who] acquires an interest in the [property on which the]
5-12 site for which the certificate of completion was issued that the
5-13 certificate was acquired in a manner provided by Subdivision (1);
5-14 or
5-15 (3) [is located or a lender who makes a loan secured
5-16 by that property after the date of issuance of the certificate is
5-17 released from all liability for cleanup of contamination released
5-18 before the date of the certificate for the areas covered by the
5-19 certificate unless the owner or lender was originally included as a
5-20 responsible party under Section 361.271 or 361.275(g). A release
5-21 of liability does not apply to a person who] changes land use from
5-22 the use specified in the certificate of completion if the new use
5-23 may result in increased risks to human health or the environment.
5-24 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-25 (b) A person to whom notice of rejection of an application
5-26 is issued under Section 361.605, Health and Safety Code, before the
5-27 effective date of this Act may resubmit the application once
6-1 without submitting an additional application fee if the person
6-2 resubmits the application not later than October 15, 1997.
6-3 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.