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.