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78R15137 CCK-D

By:  Hilderbran                                                 H.C.R. No. 245



CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 
acting under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), has 
promulgated national standards for naturally occurring materials, 
such as radionuclides and arsenic, so as effectively to impose 
unfunded mandates relative to the waters of this state; and
	WHEREAS, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
(TCEQ) is authorized by state and federal law to adopt and enforce 
rules in Texas to implement the SDWA but does not have authority to 
provide an exclusion from those rules for small community water 
systems that have no alternative water supply and that are unable to 
comply with SDWA requirements because of exceptional physical or 
financial circumstances; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby declare its intent that, in adopting a rule to implement a 
federal drinking water standard for the maximum contaminant level 
of naturally occurring materials such as radionuclides and arsenic, 
the TCEQ after consulting with the EPA and Texas Water Development 
Board (TWDB) issue alternative compliance schedules for small 
community water systems that cannot achieve compliance with the 
federal standards because of exceptional physical or financial 
circumstances; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That in adopting the alternative compliance 
schedules, the TCEQ give special consideration to (1) the size, 
density, and median income of the population served by a system; (2) 
the availability of, and the costs associated with, properly 
licensed facilities that treat, store, or dispose of waste 
treatment materials and that are capable of removing the relevant 
naturally occurring materials; and (3) whether a system has any 
reasonably available alternative source of water; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the TCEQ, in conjunction with the TWDB, the 
Texas Department of Agriculture, and state agencies with expertise 
in the protection of public health, evaluate the approximate costs 
and benefits or detriments to the state of implementing the federal 
drinking water standards, taking into consideration how 
implementation directly relates, if at all, to the estimated public 
health benefit of potentially affected small community water 
systems; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the evaluation address the ability or 
inability of small community water systems to fund, operate, and 
maintain the sophisticated treatment systems that are necessary to 
achieve federal compliance; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the participating agencies assess whether the 
federal standards are reflective of science that establishes a 
direct cause-and-effect relationship between long-term exposure of 
small system customers and micro-levels of the naturally occurring 
materials being investigated; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the evaluation also examine whether proper 
studies of oral ingestion and relevant human exposure were 
conducted to ensure that the federal standards provide a 
demonstrable benefit in terms of public health; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the evaluation determine the approximate 
costs to the state and to affected community water systems of 
implementing the standards, including the capital costs of water 
treatment, the annual operating and maintenance costs of such 
treatment, and the costs associated with the proper and safe 
disposal of hazardous and low-level radioactive waste; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the evaluation investigate whether the 
employment of point-of-use technology provides an economically 
reasonable and viable alternative for small community water systems 
as a method to remove or minimize naturally occurring materials in 
groundwater in instances where they exceed the federal standards; 
and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality 
and related agencies complete the required evaluation not later 
than November 1, 2004, and report to the legislature not later than 
January 1, 2005, including in the report their findings regarding 
the readily available means to treat or remove naturally occurring 
materials among affected small community water systems; and, be it 
further
	RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official 
copy of this resolution to the chair of the Texas Commission on 
Environmental Quality.