By Dukes                                        H.B. No. 1839

      75R399 MI-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to restrictions on the location of facilities that store

 1-3     bulk fuel.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 753, Health and Safety Code, is amended

 1-6     by adding Section 753.0041 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 753.0041.  RESTRICTION ON LOCATION OF BULK FUEL STORAGE

 1-8     FACILITY.  (a)  A person may not construct a new bulk fuel storage

 1-9     facility within 1,320 feet of a structure that is a residence,

1-10     school, or place of worship.

1-11           (b)  The measurement of distance required by Subsection (a)

1-12     shall be made to an established residence, school, or place of

1-13     worship that is in use or held for use when an application for

1-14     approval of construction is filed with a state or local government

1-15     or, if no state or local approval is required, when written notice

1-16     of intent to construct the facility is given to the county judge

1-17     for the county in which the facility is to be located.  The

1-18     restrictions imposed by Subsection (a) do not apply to a residence,

1-19     school, or place of worship located on property owned by the owner

1-20     of the new bulk fuel storage facility.

1-21           (c)  The measurement of distance required by Subsection (a)

1-22     shall be taken from a point on a perimeter around the proposed bulk

1-23     fuel storage facility nearest to the residence, school, or place of

1-24     worship.  The perimeter shall be 100 feet from the nearest edge of

 2-1     the unit used to store bulk fuel in the proposed bulk fuel storage

 2-2     facility.

 2-3           (d)  For the subsequent areal or capacity expansion of a bulk

 2-4     fuel storage facility that was required to comply with Subsection

 2-5     (a), distances shall be measured from a residence, school, or place

 2-6     of worship only if the structure was in place at the time the

 2-7     distance was measured for the original bulk fuel storage facility.

 2-8           (e)  A court having jurisdiction to issue injunctions may

 2-9     enjoin the violation or threatened violation of this section.

2-10     Venue is in the county in which the facility is or will be located.

2-11     The county attorney or other attorney representing the county may

2-12     initiate the action.

2-13           (f)  For purposes of this section, "bulk fuel storage

2-14     facility" means all land, including structures, appurtenances, and

2-15     other improvements on the land, where gasoline, diesel fuel,

2-16     aviation fuel, or kerosene are stored or blended in bulk for

2-17     distribution by tank car, tank vehicle, container, or pipeline with

2-18     a total storage capacity of 40,000 gallons or more and includes all

2-19     land appurtenant to the facility.

2-20           (g)  This section does not apply in a county with a

2-21     population of 125,000 or less.

2-22           SECTION 2.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 240, Local Government Code,

2-23     is amended by adding Section 240.906 to read as follows:

2-24           Sec. 240.906.  LAND USE REGULATION FOR CERTAIN STORAGE

2-25     FACILITIES.  (a)  The commissioners court of a county in which a

2-26     new bulk fuel storage facility regulated under Chapter 753, Health

2-27     and Safety Code, is located or is to be constructed may adopt and

 3-1     enforce rules that prohibit the future construction of a residence,

 3-2     school, or place of worship within 1,320 feet of the bulk fuel

 3-3     storage facility, as measured under Section 753.0041, Health and

 3-4     Safety Code.

 3-5           (b)  If the commissioners court adopts a prohibition

 3-6     authorized by this section, a person injured by air or water

 3-7     pollution caused by a facility described by Subsection (a) may sue

 3-8     a person who constructed a residence, school, or place of worship

 3-9     in violation of the rule if the injury occurred in or on the

3-10     grounds that surround a structure that is:

3-11                 (1)  within 1,320 feet of the new bulk fuel storage

3-12     facility;

3-13                 (2)  used for residential, school, or worship purposes;

3-14     and

3-15                 (3)  constructed after the initial construction of the

3-16     new bulk fuel storage facility.

3-17           (c)  For purposes of this section, a person constructs:

3-18                 (1)  a residence, if the person builds the residence

3-19     for resale by the person or for residential occupancy by the

3-20     person;

3-21                 (2)  a school, if the person is the school district

3-22     that builds the school; or

3-23                 (3)  a place of worship, if the person is the religious

3-24     organization that builds the place of worship.

3-25           (d)  This section does not apply in a county with a

3-26     population of 125,000 or less.

3-27           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

 4-1     applies only to a new bulk fuel storage facility on which

 4-2     construction is begun on or after that date.  This Act does not

 4-3     apply to the areal or capacity expansion of a hazardous substance

 4-4     or bulk fuel storage facility constructed before September 1, 1997.

 4-5           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

 4-6     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 4-7     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 4-8     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 4-9     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.