LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 8, 2001
TO: Honorable Robert Junell, Chair, House Committee on
Appropriations
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB3189 by Puente (Relating to the disposition and use of
air emission fees.), As Introduced
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB3189, As Introduced: impact of $0 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 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 0 *
* 2005 0 *
* 2006 0 *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Revenue Probable Change in Number of *
* Year Gain/(Loss) from Savings/(Cost) from State Employees from *
* Clean Air Account/ Clean Air Account/ FY 2001 *
* GR-Dedicated GR-Dedicated *
* 0151 0151 *
* 2002 $3,306,897 $(3,306,897) 20.0 *
* 2003 2,045,796 (2,045,796) 28.0 *
* 2004 2,045,796 (2,045,796) 28.0 *
* 2005 2,045,796 (2,045,796) 28.0 *
* 2006 2,045,796 (2,045,796) 28.0 *
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Fiscal Analysis
Current law provides that operating permit fees be in an amount at least
sufficient to cover all reasonably necessary direct and indirect costs of
developing and administering the permit program under Titles IV and V of
the federal Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Operating permit fees
currently may not be collected and appropriated for costs in excess of
developing and administering the Clean Air Act.
The bill would provide that fees collected and appropriated in excess of
amounts necessary to cover costs of Title IV and V of the Clean Air Act
be used to safeguard the air resources of the state as necessary to
address potential or actual environmental impacts reasonably related to
activities of the fee payers.
Methodology
This estimate assumes that the TNRCC would set operating permit fee rates
to cover costs for air-related activities in addition to those required
to administer the Clean Air Act and that the Legislature would
appropriate the increased fee revenues to the TNRCC and provide for
additional FTEs identified as needed by the agency. This estimate
assumes that the TNRCC would assess fees sufficient to cover amounts the
agency identified in its Legislative Appropriations Request for 2002-03
(including the agency's exceptional item relating to air quality
monitoring), plus the cost of benefits, as being necessary for the
agency's air programs but not available in the Clean Air Account No. 151.
This estimate assumes that the amount of funds identified as needed but
unavailable for 2003 and the corresponding number of FTEs would be
needed in each fiscal year, 2004 through 2006.
There would be no significant fiscal implication as a result of the
bill's passage if the Legislature chose not appropriate additional
operating fee revenue to the TNRCC, since the TNRCC would not be
expected to increase fees without an appropriation allowing the agency
to spend such funds.
Local Government Impact
Local governments obtaining operating permits from the TNRCC could
experience cost increases, if the agency increased fee rates to cover
costs beyond those required to administer the federal Clean Air Act.
Those increases would depend on the fee increase and the current fees.
Assuming that a $1 increase in the per/ton fee rate would generate $1.4
million in additional revenues, it is expected that the TNRCC would
raise rates to cover costs identified in the table above by $2.25 per
ton, from the current $26 per ton to $28.25 per ton, in 2002. This
would represent an 8.6 percent increase in operating permit fee rate
costs to local governments as compared to the current rate. This
estimate assumes that the fee rate would decrease to $27.27 per ton in
2003 through 2006, resulting in an increased operating permit fee rate
4.9 percent higher than the current rate.
Source Agencies: 582 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission,
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, SD, MF, TL