1-1 By: Counts (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 1283
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House March 24, 1999;
1-3 March 25, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Natural Resources; April 16, 1999, reported favorably by the
1-5 following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 16, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to general permits for the discharge of wastewater.
1-9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10 SECTION 1. Section 26.040, Water Code, is amended by
1-11 amending Subsections (a), (b), and (e), adding a new Subsection
1-12 (f), relettering existing Subsections (f)-(k), and amending
1-13 existing Subsection (g), relettered as Subsection (h), to read as
1-14 follows:
1-15 (a) The commission may issue a general permit to authorize
1-16 the discharge of waste into or adjacent to waters in the state by
1-17 category of dischargers in a particular geographical area of the
1-18 state or in the entire state if the dischargers in the category
1-19 discharge storm water or:
1-20 (1) engage in the same or substantially similar types
1-21 of operations;
1-22 (2) discharge the same types of waste;
1-23 (3) are subject to the same requirements regarding
1-24 effluent limitations or operating conditions;
1-25 (4) are subject to the same or similar monitoring
1-26 requirements; and
1-27 (5) are, in the commission's opinion, more
1-28 appropriately regulated under a general permit than under
1-29 individual permits based on commission findings that:
1-30 (A) the general permit has been drafted to
1-31 assure that it can be readily enforced and that the commission can
1-32 adequately monitor compliance with the terms of the general permit;
1-33 and
1-34 (B) the category of discharges covered by the
1-35 general permit will not include a discharge of[:]
1-36 [(i)] pollutants that will cause
1-37 significant adverse effects to water quality[; or]
1-38 [(ii) more than 500,000 gallons into
1-39 surface water during any 24-hour period].
1-40 (b) The commission shall publish notice of a proposed
1-41 general permit in a daily or weekly newspaper of general
1-42 circulation in the area affected by the activity that is the
1-43 subject of the proposed general permit and in the Texas Register.
1-44 For a statewide general permit, the commission shall designate one
1-45 or more newspapers of statewide or regional circulation and shall
1-46 publish notice of the proposed statewide general permit in each
1-47 designated newspaper in addition to the Texas Register. The notice
1-48 must include an invitation for written comments by the public to
1-49 the commission regarding the proposed general permit and shall be
1-50 published not later than the 30th day before the commission adopts
1-51 the general permit. The commission by rule may require additional
1-52 notice to be given.
1-53 (e) A general permit may provide that a [A] discharger who
1-54 is not covered by an individual permit may obtain authorization to
1-55 discharge waste under a general permit by submitting to the
1-56 commission written notice of intent to be covered by the general
1-57 permit. A general permit shall specify the deadline for submitting
1-58 and the information required to be included in a notice of intent.
1-59 A general permit may authorize a discharger to [may] begin
1-60 discharging under the general permit immediately on filing a
1-61 complete and accurate notice of intent, or it may specify a date or
1-62 period of time [on the 31st day] after the commission receives the
1-63 discharger's notice of intent on which the discharger may begin
1-64 discharging unless the executive director before that time notifies
2-1 the discharger that it is not eligible for authorization under the
2-2 general permit.
2-3 (f) A general permit may authorize a discharger to discharge
2-4 without submitting a notice of intent if the commission finds that
2-5 a notice of intent requirement would be inappropriate.
2-6 (g) Authorization to discharge under a general permit does
2-7 not confer a vested right. After written notice to the discharger,
2-8 the executive director may suspend a discharger's authority to
2-9 discharge under a general permit and may require a person
2-10 discharging under a general permit to obtain authorization to
2-11 discharge under an individual permit as required by Section 26.027
2-12 or other law.
2-13 (h) [(g)] A general permit may be issued for a term not to
2-14 exceed five years. After notice and comment as provided by
2-15 Subsections (b)-(d), a general permit may be amended, revoked, or
2-16 canceled by the commission or renewed by the commission for an
2-17 additional term or terms not to exceed five years each. A general
2-18 permit remains in effect until amended, revoked, or canceled by the
2-19 commission or, unless renewed by the commission, until expired. If
2-20 before a general permit expires the commission proposes to renew
2-21 that general permit, that general permit remains in effect until
2-22 the date on which the commission takes final action on the proposed
2-23 renewal.
2-24 (i) [(h)] The commission may through a renewal or amendment
2-25 process for a general permit add or delete requirements or
2-26 limitations to the permit. The commission shall provide a
2-27 reasonable time to allow a discharger covered by the general permit
2-28 to make the changes necessary to comply with the additional
2-29 requirements.
2-30 (j) [(i)] The commission may impose a reasonable and
2-31 necessary fee under Section 26.0291 on a discharger covered by a
2-32 general permit.
2-33 (k) [(j)] The issuance, amendment, renewal, suspension,
2-34 revocation, or cancellation of a general permit or of authority to
2-35 discharge under a general permit is not subject to Subchapters C-F,
2-36 Chapter 2001, Government Code.
2-37 (l) [(k)] The commission may adopt rules as necessary to
2-38 implement and administer this section.
2-39 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-40 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-41 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-42 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-43 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-44 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-45 * * * * *