By:  Zaffirini, Madla                                             S.B. No. 1511


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to municipal solid waste landfill facilities.                        
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety 
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.070 to read as follows:
	Sec. 361.070.  CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY 
MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL.  (a)  The commission shall:
		(1)  require an applicant for a municipal solid waste 
landfill permit or a permit renewal or amendment to assess the 
effects the proposed landfill may have on residents and communities 
in the area of the landfill or proposed landfill; and
		(2)  consider those effects in determining whether to 
issue or deny the permit or permit renewal or amendment.
	(b)  An assessment for purposes of this section must account 
for effects on residents, regardless of whether the residents 
reside in a municipality, and on businesses, schools, churches, or 
other gathering places in the area of the landfill or proposed 
landfill.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety 
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.1156 to read as follows:
	Sec. 361.1156.  MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL FACILITY 
PERMIT PERIOD.  (a)  This section applies to a municipal solid 
waste landfill facility operating and maintained under a permit 
issued by the commission or a predecessor agency, regardless of the 
duration of the term specified by the permit.
	(b)  The owner or operator of a municipal solid waste 
landfill facility shall apply for the renewal of the permit to 
operate and maintain the facility under this chapter not later than 
the 30th day before the 10th anniversary of the date on which the 
existing permit was issued or last renewed.  If on September 1, 
2003, the 10th anniversary has passed, the owner or operator shall 
apply for the renewal of the permit not later than December 31, 
2003.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety 
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.1155 to read as follows:
	Sec. 361.1155.  HEIGHT OF LANDFILL.  The commission may not 
issue, renew, or amend a permit for a solid waste landfill facility 
if the landfill, when filled to the capacity stated in the 
application for the issuance of a permit or in the request to renew 
or amend an existing permit, would be the highest visible landmark 
in a two-mile radius of the landfill.
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety 
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.1205 to read as follows:
	Sec. 361.1205.  MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL BUFFER ZONE.  
The commission shall require as a permit condition for a new 
municipal solid waste landfill a 1,000-foot buffer zone with 
appropriate markers to indicate the location of the zone.
	SECTION 5.  (a)  Not later than October 1, 2003, the Texas 
Commission on Environmental Quality shall notify the owner or 
operator of each municipal solid waste landfill facility operating 
and maintained under a permit issued under Chapter 361, Health and 
Safety Code, or its predecessor statute, Article 4477-7, Vernon's 
Texas Civil Statutes, of the changes in law made by this Act.
	(b)  Not later than December 1, 2003, the Texas Commission on 
Environmental Quality shall adopt any rules necessary for the 
implementation of this Act.
	SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to any permit issued to a municipal solid waste landfill 
facility by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality or a 
predecessor agency that has not expired before that date.