78R6146 SGA-D
By: Deshotel H.B. No. 2045
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to supplemental environmental projects in local
communities and site-specific air quality monitoring for certain
facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 7.067, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c)-(j) to read as
follows:
(b) In this section, "supplemental environmental project"
means a project that prevents pollution, reduces the amount of
pollutants reaching the environment, provides for site-specific
air quality monitoring, enhances the quality of the environment,
improves the health of individuals in the affected community, or
contributes to public awareness of environmental matters.
(c) For each supplemental environmental project the
commission shall appoint a committee to assist in:
(1) defining the project's goals, scope, and duration;
(2) planning a budget for the project; and
(3) developing and implementing the project.
(d) The commission shall appoint members of the committee as
follows:
(1) a representative of the commission to serve as the
presiding officer of the committee;
(2) a representative of the respondent;
(3) a public health official from the affected
community or, if a public health official is not available, a person
trained in a health profession; and
(4) four members of the affected community who express
interest in working on the committee.
(e) A committee may not recommend a supplemental
environmental project to the commission unless a majority of the
committee votes in favor of the project. The commission may not
approve a supplemental environmental project until the committee
provides to the commission an initial budget for the project and the
definition of goals, scope, and duration.
(f) The committee shall establish an implementation plan
and a timetable for the project and shall report on the progress of
the project to the executive director every six months after the
project is defined until the project is completed or terminated.
(g) The respondent shall pay all expenses incurred in the
definition, planning, development, and implementation of a
supplemental environmental project unless the commission and the
committee approve another method of paying the expenses.
(h) A member of the committee may not receive compensation
for service on the committee but is entitled to reimbursement for
reasonable expenses incurred by the member while conducting the
business of the committee as provided in the General Appropriations
Act.
(i) The commission shall impose an administrative penalty
for excessive emissions events under Section 382.0216, Health and
Safety Code, and half of the penalty shall be applied to a
supplemental environmental project in the community affected by the
excessive emissions. The commission shall require that the
respondent participate in a supplemental environmental project
under this section for a violation of Section 382.0216, Health and
Safety Code.
(j) The commission shall report to the governor, the
lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house, and the chair of each
committee of the legislature with primary responsibility over the
commission on the status and progress of all supplemental
environmental projects not later than December 31 of each
even-numbered year.
SECTION 2. Sections 382.0216(b), (c), and (d), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission, in conjunction with its regional
offices and the appropriate regional office of the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, shall establish quantified
industry- and region-specific criteria for determining when
emissions events are excessive. The criteria must include
consideration of:
(1) the frequency of the facility's emissions events;
(2) the cause of the emissions event;
(3) the quantity and impact on human health or the
environment of the emissions event;
(4) the duration of the emissions event;
(5) the percentage of a facility's total annual
operating hours during which emissions events occur; and
(6) the need for startup, shutdown, and maintenance
activities.
(c) The commission shall require a facility to take action
to reduce emissions from excessive emissions events. Consistent
with commission rules, a facility required to take action under
this subsection must participate in a supplemental environmental
project under Section 7.067, Water Code, and either file a
corrective action plan or file a letter of intent to obtain
authorization for emissions from the excessive emissions events,
provided that the emissions are sufficiently frequent,
quantifiable, and predictable. If the intended authorization is a
permit, a permit application shall be filed within 120 days of the
filing of the letter of intent. If the intended authorization is a
permit by rule or standard exemption, the authorization must be
obtained within 120 days of the filing of the letter of intent. If
the commission denies the requested authorization, within 45 days
of receiving notice of the commission's denial, the facility shall
file a corrective action plan to reduce emissions from the
excessive emissions events.
(d) A corrective action plan filed under Subsection (c) must
identify the cause or causes of each emissions event, specify the
control devices or other measures that are reasonably designed to
prevent or minimize similar emissions events in the future, and
specify a time within which the corrective action plan will be
implemented. A corrective action plan must include the
installation of site-specific air monitoring devices at the
facility. A corrective action plan must be approved by the
commission. A corrective action plan shall be deemed approved 45
days after filing, if the commission has not disapproved the plan;
however, an owner or operator may request affirmative commission
approval, in which case the commission must take final written
action to approve or disapprove the plan within 120 days. An
approved corrective action plan shall be made available to the
public by the commission, except to the extent information in the
plan is confidential information protected under Chapter 552,
Government Code. The commission shall establish reasonable
schedules for the implementation of corrective action plans and
procedures for revision of a corrective action plan if the
commission finds the plan, after implementation begins, to be
inadequate to meet the goal of preventing or minimizing emissions
and emissions events. The implementation schedule shall be
enforceable by the commission.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2003, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules, including
the quantified criteria for determining excessive emissions events
under Section 382.0216(b), Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, necessary to implement this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and
applies only to:
(1) an excessive emissions event under Section
382.0216, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, that
occurs on or after that date; or
(2) an administrative penalty imposed on a person for
any other violation of Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code, that
occurs on or after that date.