C.S.H.B. 1481 78(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


C.S.H.B. 1481
By: Allen
Environmental Regulation
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

  502(b)(3)(C)(iii) of the federal Clean Air Act ("FCAA") requires that
all Title V emissions fees that The Commission on Environmental Quality
(TCEQ) collects must be used solely to cover reasonable direct and
indirect costs of developing and administering the Texas Title V operating
permits program. Section 382.0622(c) of the Health and Safety Code also
limits the appropriation (and, thus, use) of the fees that TCEQ collects
under   382.0621(a) of the Health and Safety Code(referred to as "Title V
emissions fees") to cover costs of developing and administering the
federal operating permits program under Titles IV and V of the federal
Clean Air Act (referred to as the "Title V operating permits program.") 

Notwithstanding this requirement,   382.0622(b) of the TCAA requires that
Title V emissions fees be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of
the clean air account, along with all other clean air act fees that the
TCEQ collects. Because the Title V emissions fees are commingled with all
of the other clean air act fees in the clean air act account, TCEQ cannot
demonstrate and does not know whether it is spending the Title V emissions
fees it collects only for costs of developing and administering the Texas
Title V operating permits program. 

C.S.H.B. 1481 establishes a separate, operating fees account in the state
treasury to the credit of which all future Title V emissions fees would be
deposited.  It also clarifies that any balance remaining in the dedicated
Title V emissions operating fees account at the end of a fiscal year must
be left in that account and used in subsequent fiscal years solely to
cover costs of developing and administering the Texas Title V operating
permits program. 


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly
granted to the   
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in SECTION 2 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Sec. 382.0622, Health and Safety Code, by amending
Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2) and (b-3)  as follows:  

(b) Adds conforming language to reference new Subsection (b-1).
 
  (b-1) States that a fee collected under Section 382.0621(a) on or after
September 1, 2003, shall be deposited into a new operating fees account in
the clean air account and that the fees collected under this section
cannot be commingled with any other fees or money in the state treasury. 

 (b-2) States that money in the new operating fees account may be
appropriated to TCEQ only to cover the costs of the Federal Title IV or V
programs. 

 (b-3)States that Section 403.095, Government Code, does not apply to the
new account and that funds remaining in the account at the end of a fiscal
year shall be left in the account and shall be used in  future years to
cover only the costs of the Federal Title IV or V programs. 
 
SECTION 2.  (a) Effective date:  September 1, 2003
  (b) States that any rules adopted by TCEQ required for implementation of
this Act must be adopted no later than December 1, 2003.  


EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2003


COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1481 modifies the original by not amending Sec. 382.0622 (c),
Health and Safety Code. 

The substitute changes the separate account from a subaccount to an
operating permit fees account  for fees collected under Titles IV and V of
the Clean Air Act.