79R6890 SGA-D
By: Elkins H.B. No. 2376
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the environmental regulation and remediation of dry
cleaning facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 374.004, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A member of the advisory committee serves without
compensation but is entitled to be reimbursed by the commission for
actual and necessary travel expenses related to the performance of
committee duties.
SECTION 2. Section 374.051(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall adopt rules that establish:
(1) performance standards for dry cleaning
facilities;
(2) requirements for the removal of chlorinated dry
cleaning solvents and wastes from dry cleaning facilities that are
to be closed by the owner to prevent future releases;
(3) criteria to be used in setting priorities for the
expenditure of money from the fund after consideration of:
(A) the benefit to be derived from corrective
action compared to the cost of implementing the corrective action;
(B) the degree to which human health and the
environment are affected by exposure to contamination;
(C) the present and reasonably foreseeable
future uses of affected surface water or groundwater;
(D) the effect that interim or immediate remedial
measures may have on future costs;
(E) the amount of money available for corrective
action in the fund; and
(F) any additional factors the commission
considers relevant; and
(4) criteria under which the commission may determine
the level at which corrective action is considered to be complete.
SECTION 3. Sections 374.053(c) and (d), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) Rules adopted under this section must require:
(1) proper storage and disposal of wastes generated at
the facility that contain any quantity of chlorinated dry cleaning
solvent;
(2) compliance with emissions standards for hazardous
air pollutants for perchloroethylene dry cleaning facilities
adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency on
September 22, 1993;
(3) dikes or other containment structures to be:
(A) installed around each dry cleaning unit that
uses chlorinated dry cleaning solvents and each storage area for
chlorinated dry cleaning solvents or waste; and
(B) capable of containing any leak, spill, or
release of chlorinated dry cleaning solvent;
(4) all diked floor surfaces on which any chlorinated
dry cleaning solvent may leak, spill, or otherwise be released to be
made of epoxy, steel, or another material impervious to chlorinated
dry cleaning solvents; and
(5) all chlorinated dry cleaning solvents to be
delivered to dry cleaning facilities by means of closed,
direct-coupled delivery systems, when those systems have become
generally available.
(d) Rules adopted under this section shall ensure that
wastewater from a dry cleaning unit or discharge of chlorinated dry
cleaning solvent is not discharged to a sanitary sewer, to a septic
tank, or to water of this state.
SECTION 4. Section 374.102, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(b) Unless arrangements have been made with the commission
to pay registration fees in quarterly installments [Except for a
carbon dioxide facility], the registration must be accompanied by
an annual [a] fee of:
(1) $250 for:
(A) a dry cleaning facility or drop station with
gross annual receipts of $100,000 or less; or
(B) a dry cleaning facility or drop station
designated as nonparticipating under Section 374.104;
(2) $1,000 for a dry cleaning drop station, except
that the fee for a drop station is:
(A) $250 if the drop station is not owned by the
owner of the dry cleaning facility; or
(B) $750 if the drop station is owned by the owner
of the dry cleaning facility and has never been a dry cleaning
facility; or
(3) $2,500 for a dry cleaning facility with gross
annual receipts of more than $100,000.
(d) The owner of a dry cleaning facility or drop station
shall post the owner's registration number, in a manner prescribed
by the commission, in the public area of each of the owner's
operating dry cleaning facilities or drop stations.
(f) Before the commission issues a registration under this
section, the commission shall verify with the comptroller that the
owner of a dry cleaning facility or drop station is in good standing
with the state.
SECTION 5. Sections 374.103(a) and (b), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) and Section
374.104(d), a fee of $15 per gallon is imposed on the purchase of
the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene and $5 per gallon on the
purchase of any other dry cleaning solvent by an owner of a dry
cleaning facility. The person who distributes the solvent is
entitled to withhold two percent of the amount of the fee for
administrative expenses and shall pay the remaining amount [fee] to
the commission.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a dry cleaning facility
designated as nonparticipating under Section 374.104 [:
[(1) an owner who has never used or allowed the use of
the dry cleaning solvent perchloroethylene at a dry cleaning
facility in this state; or
[(2) the purchase of the dry cleaning solvent carbon
dioxide].
SECTION 6. Section 374.104, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a)-(c), (e), and (f) to read as
follows:
(a) The owner of a dry cleaning facility or drop station may
file with the commission an option for the facility or drop station
not to participate in fund benefits.
(b) An option not to participate must be filed before
December 31, 2005 [January 1, 2004]. An owner may not file an option
not to participate after September 1, 2005, unless the owner was
eligible to file the option on or before January 1, 2004, and
inadvertently failed to file before that date.
(c) The commission shall designate a dry cleaning facility
or drop station as nonparticipating if the owner demonstrates, at
the owner's expense and in accordance with commission rules, that
the owner has never used or allowed the use of the dry cleaning
solvent perchloroethylene at any dry cleaning facility or drop
station in this state. The owner must also agree that
perchloroethylene will not be used as a dry cleaning solvent at the
facility or drop station.
(e) On payment of the registration fee, the commission shall
issue a specially marked registration document to the owner of a
nonparticipating facility or drop station. The owner shall post
the registration document in the public area of the facility or drop
station.
(f) After a dry cleaning facility or drop station is
designated as nonparticipating:
(1) the owner of the facility or drop station is not
eligible for any expenditures of money from the fund or other
benefits of participation under this chapter for that facility or
drop station; and
(2) that facility or drop station may not later become
a participating facility.
SECTION 7. Sections 374.154(b) and (c), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The following persons are eligible to apply for a site
to be ranked under Subsection (a):
(1) a person who is an owner of the dry cleaning
facility or drop station; and
(2) a person who is [and has been] an owner of the real
property on which the dry cleaning facility or drop station is
located [for not less than five years as of the date the application
for ranking is submitted].
(c) If the applicant for ranking:
(1) is not an owner of the real property, the
application must include proof that an owner of the real property
has been notified of the application; or
(2) is an owner of the real property and the dry
cleaning facility or drop station is leased, the application must
include proof that a lessee has been notified of the application.
SECTION 8. Sections 374.203(c) and (d) are amended to read
as follows:
(c) The commission may not use money from the fund for
corrective action at a contaminated dry cleaning site unless[:
[(1)] the owner applies for the ranking under Section
374.154 and is not otherwise ineligible for corrective action under
this chapter[; or
[(2) at the time corrective action is to begin, the
real property at the site has been under the same ownership for not
less than five years].
(d) The owner of a dry cleaning facility or drop station, or
other person who submits the application for ranking the facility
under Section 374.154, shall pay as a deductible the first $5,000 of
corrective action costs incurred because of a release from the dry
cleaning facility or drop station. The commission may take
corrective action regardless of whether the commission obtains the
deductible.
SECTION 9. Section 374.252, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 374.252. VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES. A person is subject
to an administrative penalty under Section 7.0525, Water Code, if
the person:
(1) operates a dry cleaning facility or drop station
in violation of this chapter, rules adopted under this chapter, or
orders of the commission made under this chapter;
(2) prevents or hinders a properly identified
authorized officer, employee, or agent of the commission, or a
properly identified person under order of or contract with the
commission, from entering, inspecting, sampling, or responding to a
release as authorized by this chapter;
(3) knowingly makes any false material statement or
representation in any record, report, or other document filed,
maintained, or used for the purpose of compliance with this
chapter;
(4) knowingly destroys, alters, or conceals any record
that this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter require to be
maintained; or
(5) violates Section 374.151 or related commission
rules.
SECTION 10. Sections 374.001(1) and 374.105(c), Health and
Safety Code, are repealed.
SECTION 11. (a) The change in law affecting registration
fees under Section 374.102, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a registration fee payable on or after
September 1, 2005. A registration fee payable before September 1,
2005, is governed by the law as it existed on the date the fee became
due and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The change in law affecting fees collected under Section
374.103, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, applies
only to a fee associated with the distribution of a dry cleaning
solvent on or after September 1, 2005. A fee collected under Section
374.103, Health and Safety Code, before September 1, 2005, is
governed by that section as it existed on the date the distribution
of the solvent occurred, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.