HBA-AMW H.B. 3084 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3084
By: Burnam
Environmental Regulation
3/19/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) is required to
make information readily available for public access under public
information and open meetings law.  TNRCC's website currently provides
access to certain activities, but does not post minutes of advisory
committee, work group, or task force meetings, searchable information on
pending permit and enforcement actions, public complaints about and
compliance histories of regulated facilities, or information on emissions
and solid waste storage.  House Bill 3084 requires TNRCC to post this
information on its website. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3084 amends the Water Code to require the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to post on its Internet site: 

 _minutes of meetings of advisory committees, work groups, and task forces;

 _pending permit and enforcement actions in a format that is searchable by
county and by facility name; 

 _information regarding public complaints about, and the compliance history
of, each facility regulated by TNRCC; 

 _any information on emissions that TNRCC is reasonably able to post on the
site, including toxic release inventory and emissions inventory; and 

 _information regarding municipal solid waste storage.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.