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78S30250 SGA-F

By:  Madden                                                       H.B. No. 49 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the environmental regulation and remediation of certain 
dry cleaning facilities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 374.207, Health and Safety Code, as 
added by Chapter 540 (H.B. No. 1366), Acts of the 78th Legislature, 
Regular Session, 2003, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 374.207.  ELIGIBLE OWNER EXEMPT FROM CERTAIN CLAIMS.  
(a)  If a [an owner or other] person is eligible under Subsection 
(b) [this chapter] to have corrective action costs paid by the fund, 
an administrative or judicial claim may not be made under state law 
against the [owner or other] person by or on behalf of this state or 
by any other person, except a political subdivision, to compel 
corrective action or seek recovery of the costs of corrective 
action that result from the release.
	(b)  A person who is an owner of a dry cleaning facility or an 
owner of the real property on which the facility is located is 
eligible under this chapter to have corrective action costs paid by 
the fund if:
		(1)  an application for ranking under Section 374.154 
has been properly submitted to and accepted by the commission; and
		(2)  the person is not otherwise ineligible for 
corrective action under this chapter.
	(c)  This section does not preempt the provisions of a 
contract entered into or renewed before June 1, 2004, between the 
owner of a dry cleaning facility and any other party that allocates 
between the parties to the contract the responsibilities for and 
liabilities resulting from a release.
	SECTION 2.  Section 3, Chapter 540 (H.B. No. 1366), Acts of 
the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, is amended by amending 
Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (e) to read as 
follows:
	(a)  Not later than June [December] 1, 2004 [2003], the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt any rules, 
performance standards, or forms required for the implementation of 
Chapter 374, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
	(b)  Performance standards for new dry cleaning facilities 
under Section 374.053, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, 
apply only to a dry cleaning facility first brought into use [on or] 
after January [April] 1, 2004.
	(e)  Chapter 374, Health and Safety Code, and Section 7.0525, 
Water Code, as added by this Act, apply to a contract between a dry 
cleaning facility owner, as defined by Section 374.001, Health and 
Safety Code, as added by this Act, and a real property owner only if 
the contract is entered into or renewed on or after June 1, 2004.  A 
contract between a dry cleaning facility owner, as defined by 
Section 374.001, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and a 
real property owner that is entered into or renewed before June 1, 
2004, is governed by the law in effect immediately before September 
1, 2003, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the 
legislative session.