79R3857 JJT-D

By:  Hope                                                         H.B. No. 786



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of county governments to prohibit solid 
waste disposal.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 364.012(b) and (f), Health and Safety 
Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(b)  To prohibit the disposal of municipal or industrial 
solid waste in a county, the commissioners court must adopt an 
ordinance in the general form prescribed for municipal ordinances 
[specifically designating the area of the county in which municipal 
or industrial solid waste disposal is not prohibited].
	(f)  The commission may not grant an application for a permit 
to process or dispose of municipal or industrial solid waste in an 
area in which the processing or disposal of municipal or industrial 
solid waste is prohibited by an ordinance, unless the county 
violated Subsection (e) in passing the ordinance or except as 
provided by this subsection.  The commission by rule may specify the 
procedures for determining whether an application is for the 
processing or disposal of municipal or industrial solid waste in an 
area for which that processing or disposal is prohibited by an 
ordinance.  The commission may grant an application for a permit to 
dispose of municipal or industrial solid waste in an area in which 
the disposal of municipal or industrial solid waste is prohibited 
by a county ordinance adopted under this section if:
		(1)  the commission determines that the area the permit 
application proposes for that activity is appropriate for that 
activity; and
		(2)  the ordinance:                                                    
			(A)  does not designate an area of the county in 
which municipal or industrial solid waste disposal is not 
prohibited; or
			(B)  designates one or more areas of the county in 
which municipal or industrial solid waste is not prohibited and the 
commission determines that none of those areas is appropriate for 
that activity.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.