BILL ANALYSIS
By: Bonnen
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, remediation of a petroleum storage tank site is required to be completed by September 2005 to be eligible for reimbursement from the petroleum storage tank remediation account. However there are approximately 2,000 petroleum storage tank sites still being cleaned up today. The majority of these will not make the September 1, 2005 deadline because of circumstances outside the owner's control. For example, there are over 350 sites above the Ogallala aquifer in West Texas where corrective action activities have taken longer and are more expensive because of the depth to groundwater. In addition, one of the largest contractors who performs the remediations went bankrupt. This bill extends the program to September 2007. The extension of the program will be funded from the existing fee currently paid by distributors of motor fuel when they remove motor fuel from a terminal.
Under current law transporters of motor fuel are held responsible for depositing motor fuel into underground storage tanks which do not have a valid TCEQ issued delivery certificate. Because deliveries often occur at night when most retail facilities are closed, carriers are often unable to verify these certificates each time they deliver motor fuel to a retail location. C.S.H.B. 1987 provides clarification as to who is responsible for verifying certificates by specifying that the owner or operator commits an offense for not providing the certificate.
Additionally, the bill clarifies cleanup standards to provide that contamination found in the backfill material surrounding a storage tank that does not indicate a major contamination need not trigger a full-scale remediation of the site.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1997 amends the Water Code to clarify that the owner or operator of an underground storage tank, rather than "a person", commits a violation under provisions relating to the duty to ensure certification of a tank before delivery of a regulated substance. The bill provides that an owner or operator of an underground storage tank may comply with certification statutes by obtaining a current copy of the certificate from the Internet website of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
The bill provides that the owner or operator of an underground or aboveground storage tank from which a regulated substance is released is liable to the state unless the site at which the release occurred has been admitted into the petroleum storage tank state-lead program. The bill sets forth provisions under which the Executive Director of the TCEQ is required to grant an extensions for corrective action reimbursement and requirements for the owner or operator to perform the corrective action. The bill extends from 2006 to 2008, the petroleum storage tank corrective action reimbursement program for those who are already participating in the program.
The bill provides that the definition of subsurface soil does not include backfill material unless free phase petroleum product is present in the backfill material.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2005
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute removes provisions in the original bill that exempted from liability the common carrier who delivers a regulated substance to the owner or operator of an underground storage tank. The substitute amends the definition of "subsurface soil". The substitute adds provisions that provide that an owner or operator of an underground storage tank may comply with certification statutes by obtaining a current copy of the certificate from the Internet website of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The substitute clarifies the definition of "state-lead program" used in the statutes addressed by the bill. The substitute amends the provisions under which the Executive Director of the TCEQ is required to grant an extension for corrective action reimbursement. The substitute allows an eligible owner or operator to apply for the state-lead program rather than requiring them to participate. The substitute sets forth provisions relating to their participation in the state-lead program.