LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
March 20, 2001
TO: Honorable Warren Chisum, Chair, House Committee on
Environmental Regulation
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB2912 by Bosse (Relating to the continuation and
functions of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB2912, As Introduced: negative impact of $(747,208) through the *
* biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $(242,894) *
* 2003 (504,314) *
* 2004 (381,205) *
* 2005 (381,205) *
* 2006 (381,205) *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
***********************************************************************
*Fiscal Probable Probable Probable Probable Change in *
* Year Revenue Savings/ Revenue Savings/ Number of *
* Gain/(Loss) (Cost) from Gain/(Loss) (Cost) from State *
* from General from Waste Waste Employees *
* General Revenue Management Management from FY 2001 *
* Revenue Fund Account/ Account/ *
* Fund 0001 GR- GR- *
* 0001 Dedicated Dedicated *
* 0549 0549 *
* 2002 $307,919 $(550,813) $405,021 $(147,184) 13.0 *
* 2003 0 (504,314) 0 (127,319) 15.0 *
* 2004 0 (381,205) 0 (96,239) 15.0 *
* 2005 0 (381,205) 0 (96,239) 15.0 *
* 2006 0 (381,205) 0 (96,239) 15.0 *
***********************************************************************
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*Fiscal Probable Probable Probable Probable *
* Year Savings/(Cost) Revenue Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) *
* from Hazardous Gain/(Loss) from New from Clean Air *
* and Solid Waste from New General Revenue Account/ *
* Remediation Fee General Revenue Dedicated- GR-Dedicated *
* Account/ Dedicated- Environmental 0151 *
* GR-Dedicated Environmental Testing *
* 0550 Testing Laboratory *
* Laboratory Accreditation *
* Accreditation Account *
* Account *
* 2002 $(131,114) $611,665 $(611,665) $(304,006) *
* 2003 (121,486) 668,115 (668,115) (270,999) *
* 2004 (91,830) 668,115 (668,115) (204,845) *
* 2005 (91,830) 668,115 (668,115) (204,845) *
* 2006 (91,830) 668,115 (668,115) (204,845) *
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Technology Impact
The acquisition of personal computers and printers for fifteen additional
positions.
Fiscal Analysis
The bill amends the Government Code to continue the Commission for 12
years, until September 1, 2013, and makes several statutory modifications
as recommended by the Sunset Advisory Commission:
- Create an incentive and performance based regulatory system to be
phased in over a period of three years. This system would distinguish
regulatory tiers based upon levels of compliance with environmental
regulations.
- Improve the use of compliance history for the purposes of a performance
based system by developing a common definition for compliance history
and tracking compliance.
- Develop a performance assessment for regulated entities to determine
eligibility for innovative programs and to establish permit and
enforcement guidelines.
- Change inspection policy by requiring regulated entities to demonstrate
a good compliance history before receiving announced inspections.
- Improve tracking and reporting of upset emissions.
- Implement an environmental laboratory accreditation program, and
transfer the Safe Drinking Water Lab Assessment Program from the Texas
Department of Health to consolidate it with the new accreditation program
at TNRCC.
- Strengthen the Office of Public Interest Counsel by authorizing the use
of outside technical support.
- Adopt rules and polices to clarify on a case-by-case basis the level of
the Executive Director's role in contested permit hearings.
- Consolidate permit notice requirements in one statute.
- Enhance coordination of complaint investigations with local officials.
- Develop policies to guide potential responses to complaints after
normal business hours.
- Authorize a ratio of funding transferability, the dedicated fee
structure does not support, to be set biennially through the
appropriations process
- Improve revenue management and fee collection practices by requiring
all fees to be paid on the date due, and limit adjustments to
self-reported fee data, and fee amounts.
- Authorize fee audit staff to issue a notice of violation to fee payers
for violation of reporting requirements, and authorize the charging of
interest and penalties on delinquent unpaid fees.
- Improve records of communications kept by Commissioners and agency
staff with discretionary authority over regulatory matters.
- Require the Commission to review certain aspects of solid waste
disposal permits every five to seven years to assess compliance.
- Clarify and strengthen TNRCC s authority for regulating water treatment
specialists.
- Require TNRCC to create indexes and cross references for its final
orders, policies, and interpretations.
Those sections with fiscal implications are as follows.
SECTION 1.15.
Additional legal support (one additional attorney) would be required to
train local enforcement officials and to initiate enforcement actions
using citizen collected evidence. One additional investigator would be
needed to investigate and follow up on citizen collected evidence.
SECTION 3.03.
This section improves cash flow in fees due to the agency, resulting in a
one-time revenue gain of $712,940 because fewer fees would remain
outstanding, and more fees would be paid on time. In addition, this
section authorizes a percentage of funding transferability between
dedicated fees to be set biennially through the appropriations process.
SECTION 4.01.
Requires TNRCC to collect and track compliance history data on regulated
entities, to prepare a comparative analysis of data evaluating
performance, and to report the information in an annual report.
Implementation of this responsibility would require one database
administrator at a cost of $46,237. The database administrator would
oversee the development or restructuring of a current database with the
data the agency will use to differentiate compliance levels of regulated
entities.
Requires the agency to develop a performance assessment to use in
determining eligibility for incentive-based and innovative regulatory
programs, permitting and enforcement decisions, and determining whether
an entity receives an announced inspection. Implementation would require
three enforcement coordinators with salaries totaling $112,806. One
additional attorney and one legal assistant would be required for complex
rulemaking's, legal support and permit review. The coordinators would
provide cross-agency support in the development of performance-based
regulation.
SECTION 4.06
Directs the agency to evaluate regulated entities with high numbers of
emission events and through rulemaking set a limit of the number of
emission events that may be exempted from enforcement. Implementation of
this section would require one engineer at a cost of $40,014 per year.
The engineer would concentrate on efforts the agency has dedicated
towards emission events. The agency currently has established staff
resources in the Field Operations Division for additional oversight of
emission events in three regional offices and in the central office.
This section does not require the agency to evaluate all emissions events
statewide nor does it require enforcement actions based on the
established threshold.
SECTION 5.01
Requires TNRCC to implement a voluntary laboratory accreditation program
consistent with national standards. Implementation of this provision
would require six new positions, including support staff (an Accountant
and an Administrative Technician) and four inspectors. TNRCC could
gradually implement this program, adding four positions in fiscal year
2002 and two more in fiscal year 2003. Program costs in the first
biennium are estimated at $611,665 in fiscal year 2002 and $668,115 in
fiscal year 2003 and thereafter. Although these costs are expected to be
offset by fees, some borrowing from other agency funding sources may be
required before revenue collections are sufficient to fund operating
costs. TNRCC is expected to obtain approval from the National
Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Conference (NELAC) to administer a
NELAC program within 18 months of the effective date of the bill. After
which, TNRCC may begin to assess lab fees associated with accreditation.
SECTION 9.01
Transfers the drinking water certification program, staff, equipment, and
funding from the Department of Health (TDH) to TNRCC effective September
1, 2001. This provision also authorizes TNRCC to administer fees for
the program. The transfer would move two positions and an estimated
$309,374 for the biennium from TDH to TNRCC.
Methodology
Total costs of implementing the bill are an estimated $747,208 during the
2002-03 biennium, including thirteen positions in fiscal year 2002 and
two additional positions in 2003, and each fiscal year thereafter.
Two additional revenue sources are anticipated to result from this
legislation: a one-time revenue gain of $712,940 in fiscal year 2002 due
to proposed changes in due dates and assessments for fees; and a new fee
to cover the cost of the safe drinking water laboratory certification
program. This fee would be deposited to a newly created account in the
General Revenue Fund, the Environmental Testing Laboratory Accreditation
Account.
It is assumed that the costs of implementing the bill, excluding the
costs related to the voluntary environmental laboratory accreditation
program, would be funded by TNRCC's multiple funding sources with the
remainder of funding provided by the General Revenue Fund. Costs were
allocated to TNRCC's multiple funding sources as follows: costs were
distributed among the four largest dedicated accounts based the
percentage each account represented of the biennial budget recommended
for the TNRCC in House Bill 1.
The four accounts are the Clean Air Account No. 151, Water Resource
Management Account No. 153, Waste Management Account No. 549, and the
Hazardous and Solid Waste Remediation Account No. 550. One additional
adjustment was made: funding that otherwise would have come from Water
Resource Management Account No. 153 was provided by the General Revenue
Fund.
Finally, it is anticipated that the funding transferability provisions
included in this bill could provide a funding source for those
additional costs estimated above that are of a multimedia nature.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is
anticipated.
Source Agencies: 305 General Land Office, 116 Sunset Advisory
Commission, 582 Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission, 501 Texas Department of Health, 304
Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, CL, ZS