By Chisum                                             H.B. No. 3129
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the authority of the Texas Board of Health and the
 1-3     Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to grant exemptions
 1-4     from requirements relating to the regulation of sources of
 1-5     radiation.
 1-6           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-7           SECTION 1.  Sections 401.003(12) and (26), Health and Safety
 1-8     Code, are amended to read as follows:
 1-9                 (12)  "General license" means a license issued under
1-10     department or commission rules for which an application is not
1-11     required to be filed to transfer, dispose of, acquire, own,
1-12     possess, or use quantities of or devices or equipment that make use
1-13     of by-product, source, special nuclear, or other radioactive
1-14     material.
1-15                 (26)  "Naturally occurring radioactive material waste"
1-16     or "NORM waste" means solid, liquid, or gaseous material or
1-17     combination of materials, excluding source material, special
1-18     nuclear material, and by-product material, that:
1-19                 (A)  in its natural physical state spontaneously emits
1-20     radiation; and
1-21                 (B)  is discarded or unwanted[; and]
 2-1                 [(C)  is not exempt by department rule adopted under
 2-2     Section 401.106].
 2-3           SECTION 2.  Section 401.104(b), Health and Safety Code, is
 2-4     amended to read as follows:
 2-5           (b)  The commission by rule shall provide for general or
 2-6     specific licensing for the disposal of radioactive material except
 2-7     by-product material defined by Section 401.003(3)(B).
 2-8           SECTION 3.  Section 401.106, Health and Safety Code, is
 2-9     amended to read as follows:
2-10           Sec. 401.106.  EXEMPTION FROM LICENSING, [OR] REGISTRATION,
2-11     OR DISPOSAL REQUIREMENTS.  (a)  The board by rule may exempt a
2-12     source of radiation or a kind of use or user from the licensing or
2-13     registration requirements, within its jurisdiction as defined in
2-14     Section 401.011(a), [provided by this chapter] if the board finds
2-15     that the exemption of that source of radiation or kind of use or
2-16     user will not constitute a significant risk to the public health
2-17     and safety and the environment.
2-18           (b)  The commission by rule may grant an exemption from a
2-19     requirement of this chapter relating to the disposal of radioactive
2-20     substances, within its jurisdiction as defined in Section
2-21     401.011(b), if the commission finds that the exemption will not
2-22     constitute a significant risk to the public health and safety and
2-23     the environment.
2-24           (c)  A person may request the department or commission, as
2-25     appropriate, to determine whether the person is entitled to an
 3-1     exemption under rules adopted under this section.  The department
 3-2     or commission shall issue a letter to the person stating its
 3-3     determination.  A determination under this subsection is not a
 3-4     contested case under Chapter 2001, Government Code.
 3-5           SECTION 4.  Section 401.301, Health and Safety Code, is
 3-6     amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
 3-7           (d)  The department may collect a fee from each person who
 3-8     requests a determination under Section 401.106(c).  The board by
 3-9     rule shall set the fee in an amount that does not exceed the
3-10     department's expenses related to the determination.
3-11           SECTION 5.  Subchapter K, Chapter 401, Health and Safety
3-12     Code, is amended by adding Section 401.4135 to read as follows:
3-13           Sec. 401.4135.  EXEMPTION DETERMINATION FEE.  The commission
3-14     may collect a fee from each person who requests a determination
3-15     under Section 401.106(c).  The commission by rule shall set the fee
3-16     in an amount that does not exceed the commission's expenses related
3-17     to the determination.  A fee collected under this section shall be
3-18     deposited to the credit of the waste management account and may be
3-19     used by the commission for expenses incurred in administering this
3-20     chapter.
3-21           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-22     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 4-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 4-2     passage, and it is so enacted.