Amend CSHB 2912 (Committee Printing) as follows:
(1) On page 34, between lines 15 and 16, insert the
following section, appropriately numbered:
SECTION ____. New Subchapter O, Chapter 5, Water Code, is
amended by adding Section 5.6645 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.6645. PUBLIC MEETING AND NOTICE FOR SOLID WASTE
FACILITIES. (a) An applicant for a permit under Chapter 361,
Health and Safety Code, for a new facility that accepts municipal
solid wastes shall hold a public meeting in the county in which the
proposed facility is to be located. The meeting must be held
before the 45th day after the date the application is filed.
(b) The applicant shall publish notice of the public meeting
at least once each week during the three weeks preceding the
meeting. The notice must be published in the newspaper of the
largest general circulation that is published in the county in
which the proposed facility is to be located. If a newspaper is
not published in the county, the notice must be published in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county.
(c) The applicant shall present to the commission an
affidavit certifying that the notice was published as required by
Subsection (b). The commission's acceptance of the affidavit
raises a presumption that the applicant has complied with
Subsection (b).
(d) The published notice may not be smaller than 96.8 square
centimeters or 15 square inches with the shortest dimension not
less than 7.5 centimeters or 3 inches. The notice must contain at
least the following information:
(1) the permit application number;
(2) the applicant's name;
(3) the proposed location of the facility; and
(4) the location and availability of copies of the
application.
(e) The applicant shall pay the cost of the notice required
under this section. The commission by rule may establish a
procedure for payment of those costs.
(f) The meeting shall include a discussion of:
(1) the compatibility of the proposed facility with
relevant state or regional solid waste management plans;
(2) other sites considered for the proposed facility
and the process for selecting the site identified in the
application;
(3) potential benefits to the local community of
constructing the proposed facility, including:
(A) employment opportunities and related job
training to ensure that residents of the host community can compete
for skilled and semiskilled employment at the facility;
(B) contributions by the facility to the
community infrastructure, including road maintenance, park
development, and litter control; and
(C) fair and reasonable compensation to owners
of real property less than 2,640 feet from the facility for any
decrease in the assessed value of the property attributable to the
siting of the facility; and
(4) effects the facility may have on local residents,
places of worship, schools, day-care centers, or surface water
bodies used to supply public drinking water.
(g) The applicant shall mail to the commission a report of
the proceedings of the meeting, including summaries of the
information discussed and input received at the meeting. The
report must be postmarked not later than the 30th day after the
date the meeting concludes.
(2) On page 73, between lines 16 and 17, insert the
following article, with the article and sections appropriately
numbered:
ARTICLE __. RESTRICTIONS ON SITING, EXPANSION, OR OPERATION OF
CERTAIN FACILITIES
SECTION ____. Section 361.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) It is the state's policy to ensure that new solid waste
facilities are not located disproportionately in low-income,
minority, or other communities and that the adverse effects of
solid waste facilities on the communities in which they are located
are minimized, while ensuring that the state has adequate solid
waste management capacity.
SECTION ____. Section 361.020(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall develop a strategic state solid
waste plan for all solid waste under its jurisdiction. The
commission shall develop a strategic plan for the reduction of
solid waste. The strategic plan shall include provisions to:
(1) ensure that new solid waste facilities are not
located disproportionately in low-income, minority, or other
communities to minimize the adverse effects of solid waste
facilities on those communities; and
(2) require the consideration of the effect the
presence of multiple sources of pollution and other nuisances may
have on the community surrounding a solid waste facility.
SECTION ____. Section 361.0201(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The plan shall:
(1) describe the capacity in the state to manage
municipal waste through existing treatment or disposal facilities
and identify all existing municipal solid waste management
facilities in the state, their capacity, and their projected
remaining useful life; <and>
(2) analyze the state's capacity requirements over the
planning periods specified in Section 361.020(c); and
(3) assess historical trends regarding the siting of
solid waste facilities in low-income, minority, and other
communities.
SECTION ____. Section 361.0216, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 361.0216. OFFICE OF POLLUTION PREVENTION. The office
of pollution prevention is created in the executive office of the
commission to direct and coordinate all source reduction, <and>
waste minimization, and environmental justice activities of the
commission.
SECTION ____. Subchapter B, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.034 to read as follows:
Sec. 361.034. REPORT. The commission shall submit a report
not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year as required by
Section 5.178(b), Water Code, that includes an evaluation of the
implementation of the state's policy of ensuring that:
(1) new solid waste facilities are not located
disproportionately in low-income, minority, or other communities;
and
(2) the adverse effects of solid waste facilities on
the communities in which they are located are minimized.
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 5.130 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.130. CONSIDERATION OF CUMULATIVE RISKS. (a) In an
administrative proceeding involving the siting, expansion, or
operation of a facility in the local area in which other facilities
are located, an affected party may offer, and the commission shall
consider, evidence relating to cumulative risks, including:
(1) the effect of releases, emissions, or discharges
from the facility and from other facilities in the area;
(2) the potential for exposure to a particular
substance by means of multiple pathways; and
(3) the combined level of noise, odor, and other
impacts from the facility and other facilities in the area.
(b) The commission shall:
(1) develop and implement policies to protect the
public from cumulative risks, particularly in:
(A) low-income or minority communities; and
(B) communities in which permitted facilities
are concentrated; and
(2) give priority to monitoring and enforcement in
areas in which permitted facilities are concentrated.
(c) The commission shall adopt rules as necessary to
accomplish the purposes of this section.
SECTION ____. Section 5.178(b), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The report due by December 1 of an even-numbered year
shall include, in addition:
(1) the commission's recommendations for necessary and
desirable legislation; and
(2) the following reports:
(A) the assessments and reports required by
Sections 361.0219(c), 361.0232, 361.034, <361.485,> 361.510,
371.063, and 382.141, Health and Safety Code; and
(B) the reports required by Section 26.0135(d)
of this code and Section 5.02, Chapter 133, Acts of the 69th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1985.
(3) renumber the articles and sections of the committee
substitute accordingly.