LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 10, 2001 TO: Honorable Warren Chisum, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB3242 by Olivo (Relating to a permit to apply certain sludge on a land application unit.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for * * HB3242, As Introduced: positive impact of $250,000 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. * ************************************************************************** General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact: **************************************************** * Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) * * Impact to General Revenue Related * * Funds * * 2002 $125,000 * * 2003 125,000 * * 2004 125,000 * * 2005 125,000 * * 2006 125,000 * **************************************************** All Funds, Five-Year Impact: ***************************************************** * Fiscal Year Probable Revenue Gain/(Loss) from * * General Revenue Fund * * 0001 * * 2002 $125,000 * * 2003 125,000 * * 2004 125,000 * * 2005 125,000 * * 2006 125,000 * ***************************************************** Fiscal Analysis The bill would require the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to obtain a permit from the commission prior to the land application of sewer sludge. The TNRCC would be required to charge a fee of $1,000 to $5,000 for any such permit. Methodology The TNRCC currently requires persons to register with the agency prior to the land application of sewer sludge, but the agency currently is not authorized to assess a fee. Based on 50 permit registrations currently being accepted by the TNRCC, the bill could result in revenues ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 per fiscal year. The estimate in the table above assumes that the average fee would be $2,500. This fee revenue would be deposited to the General Revenue Fund since the bill does not provide for the deposit of the proceeds to a special account. Since the TNRCC already processes registrations for sludge applications, there should be no significant additional administrative cost to the agency as a result of the bill's passage. Local Government Impact The TNRCC currently processes approximately five registrations from units of local government each year. Each unit would be required to pay a fee upon passage of the bill. The amount of the fee would depend on the level of the fee within the range provided by the bill as set by the TNRCC. Source Agencies: 582 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, CL, TL