By:  Ogden                                            S.B. No. 1339
         2001S0657/2                            
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to requiring owners or operators of poultry operations to
 1-3     implement and maintain certified water quality management plans.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 26.302, Water Code, is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           Sec. 26.302.  REGULATION OF POULTRY FACILITIES.  (a)  A
 1-8     person who owns or operates a poultry facility shall ensure that
 1-9     the facility has adequate means or is adequately equipped to handle
1-10     and dispose of poultry carcasses, poultry litter, and other poultry
1-11     waste regardless of whether the person owns the poultry.
1-12           (b)  A person who owns or operates a poultry facility shall
1-13     implement and maintain a water quality management plan for the
1-14     facility that is certified by the State Soil and Water Conservation
1-15     Board under Section 201.026, Agriculture Code.
1-16           (c)  The commission may bring a cause of action to remedy or
1-17     prevent a violation of this section.
1-18           SECTION 2.  (a)  As soon as practicable after the effective
1-19     date of this Act, the State Soil and Water Conservation Board and
1-20     the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission shall adopt
1-21     rules regarding the certification of water quality management plans
1-22     for poultry facilities and other rules as necessary to implement
1-23     and administer Section 26.302, Water Code, as amended by this Act.
1-24           (b)  An owner or operator of a poultry operation required to
1-25     implement and maintain a certified water quality management plan
 2-1     under Section 26.302, Water Code, as amended by this Act, shall
 2-2     apply for a plan with the State Soil and Water Conservation Board
 2-3     before January 1, 2002.
 2-4           (c)  On or after January 1, 2002, an owner or operator of a
 2-5     poultry operation is not in violation of Section 26.302, Water
 2-6     Code, as amended by this Act, if the owner or operator has applied
 2-7     for certification in accordance with Subsection (b) of this section
 2-8     and the State Soil and Water Conservation Board has not made a
 2-9     determination with regard to the certification.
2-10           SECTION 3.  Nothing in this Act shall be construed as
2-11     designating a poultry operation as a point source of pollution
2-12     under Chapter 26, Water Code, or Texas Natural Resource
2-13     Conservation Commission rules regarding animal feeding operations
2-14     under 30 T.A.C. Section 321.31 through 321.47.  A poultry operation
2-15     may not be designated as a point source of pollution unless the
2-16     poultry operation meets the requirements for designation as a point
2-17     source of pollution under that chapter or those rules.
2-18           SECTION 4.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001,
2-19     except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section.
2-20           (b)  Section 1 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2002.