| TO: | Honorable Dennis Bonnen, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB594 by Dukes (Relating to requiring hazardous waste detection devices at certain landfills.), As Introduced |
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require municipal solid waste landfills to install hazardous waste detection devices. This could result in significant costs to counties, cities, or other political subdivisions that own or operate landfills to purchase hazardous waste detection devices. According to the Commission on Environmental Equality, existing field screening instruments are not capable of detecting the broad range of materials classified as hazardous waste.
The City of Garland's Landfill Operations Department expects the bill to result in increased costs, stating that there is no single piece of apparatus which can easily detect hazardous waste without extensive sampling and laboratory analytical work. The time constraints would then slow the deposition of solid waste at the landfill from 900 tons a day to one ton a day.
The City of Garland also stated that a partially implemented system covering only vapors and gases would cost approximately $600,000 per year (equipment costs at $250,000 and salaries at $350,000). There would be additional costs to test solids.
The Texoma Council of Governments reported similar costs to the political subdivisions in its council. There would be significant costs to purchase equipment, and operations and maintenance of the equipment would cost more than usual because of the expertise needed to operate, maintain, collect, and reduce data for reporting.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission On Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JK, CL, MS, TL, KG
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