LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
                              Austin, Texas
                                     
                    FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
  
                            February 16, 2001
  
  
          TO:  Honorable Steven Wolens, Chair, House Committee on State
               Affairs
  
        FROM:  John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
  
       IN RE:  HB616  by Puente (Relating to creating the Office of
               Natural Resource Public Interest Counsel; creating a
               criminal penalty.), As Introduced
  
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*  No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.        *
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This legislation would create an Office of Natural Resource Public
Interest Counsel that would replace the existing Office of the Public
Interest Counsel within the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC).  All employees, facilities, equipment, records and
case files of the Office of the Public Interest Counsel, as well as all
unexpended balances in funds appropriated to TNRCC for the Office of the
Public Interest Counsel, would be transferred to the Office of Natural
Resource Public Interest Counsel on January 1, 2002.  Currently, the
Office of the Public Interest Counsel has 9.5 full-time equivalent
positions and an annual budget of $439,965 in fiscal year 2001.  The
legislation prohibits the first appropriations for the Office of Natural
Resource Public Interest Counsel from exceeding the amount expended for
the TNRCC Office of the Public Interest Counsel in the 2000-01 biennium.

  
Local Government Impact
  
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
  
  
Source Agencies:   582   Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission,
                   116   Sunset Advisory Commission
LBB Staff:         JK, RB, MF, ZS, TL