1-1 By: Ritter (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister) H.B. No. 3121
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2001;
1-3 April 27, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 10, 2001, reported favorably by
1-5 the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 10, 2001, sent to
1-6 printer.)
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation for property
1-10 used to control pollution.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 11.31, Tax Code, is amended by amending
1-13 Subsections (d)-(g) and adding Subsections (h)-(j) to read as
1-14 follows:
1-15 (d) Following submission of the information required by
1-16 Subsection (c), the executive director of the Texas Natural
1-17 Resource Conservation Commission shall determine if the facility,
1-18 device, or method is used wholly or partly as a facility, device,
1-19 or method for the control of air, water, or land pollution. As
1-20 soon as practicable, the executive director shall send notice by
1-21 regular mail to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district for
1-22 the county in which the property is located that the person has
1-23 applied for a determination under this subsection. The [If the]
1-24 executive director shall issue a letter to the person stating the
1-25 executive director's determination of whether [determines that] the
1-26 facility, device, or method is used wholly or partly to control
1-27 pollution[, the director shall issue a letter to the person stating
1-28 that determination] and, if applicable, the proportion of the
1-29 property [installation] that is pollution control property. The
1-30 executive director shall send a copy of the letter by regular mail
1-31 to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district for the county in
1-32 which the property is located.
1-33 (e) Not later than the 20th day after the date of receipt of
1-34 the letter issued by the executive director, the person seeking the
1-35 exemption or the chief appraiser may appeal the executive
1-36 director's determination to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
1-37 Commission. The commission shall consider the appeal at the next
1-38 regularly scheduled meeting of the commission for which adequate
1-39 notice may be given. The person seeking the determination and the
1-40 chief appraiser may testify at the meeting. The commission may
1-41 remand the matter to the executive director for a new determination
1-42 or deny the appeal and affirm the executive director's
1-43 determination. On issuance of a new determination, the executive
1-44 director shall issue a letter to the person seeking the
1-45 determination and provide a copy to the chief appraiser as provided
1-46 by Subsection (d). A new determination of the executive director
1-47 may be appealed to the commission in the manner provided by this
1-48 subsection. A proceeding under this subsection is not a contested
1-49 case for purposes of Chapter 2001, Government Code.
1-50 (f) The commission [Texas Natural Resource Conservation
1-51 Commission] may charge a person seeking a determination that
1-52 property is pollution control property an additional fee not to
1-53 exceed its administrative costs for processing the information,
1-54 making the determination, and issuing the letter required by this
1-55 section.
1-56 (g) The commission shall [may] adopt rules to implement this
1-57 section. Rules adopted under this section must:
1-58 (1) establish specific standards for considering
1-59 applications for determinations;
1-60 (2) be sufficiently specific to ensure that
1-61 determinations are equal and uniform; and
1-62 (3) allow for determinations that distinguish the
1-63 proportion of property that is used to control, monitor, prevent,
1-64 or reduce pollution from the proportion of property that is used
2-1 to produce goods or services.
2-2 (h) The executive director may not make a determination that
2-3 property is pollution control property unless the property meets
2-4 the standards established under rules adopted under this section.
2-5 (i) [(f)] A person seeking an exemption under this section
2-6 shall provide to the chief appraiser a copy of the letter issued by
2-7 the executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
2-8 Commission under Subsection (d) determining that the facility,
2-9 device, or method is used wholly or partly as pollution control
2-10 property. The chief appraiser shall accept a final determination
2-11 by the [copy of the letter from the] executive director as
2-12 conclusive evidence that the facility, device, or method is used
2-13 wholly or partly as pollution control property.
2-14 (j) [(g)] This section does not apply to a facility, device,
2-15 or method for the control of air, water, or land pollution that was
2-16 subject to a tax abatement agreement executed before January 1,
2-17 1994.
2-18 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-19 * * * * *