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By: Herrero H.B. No. 3439
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of laws governing emissions and upsets
that are administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, including the imposition and assessment of fees and
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 382, Health & Safety Code, is amended by
adding Section 382.0621 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.0621. IMPOSITION, INCREASE OR REDUCTION IN FEES.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission may
impose or increase or reduce fees imposed under this chapter as
provided by this section.
(b) If a facility is among the best ten percent of all
facilities with upset emissions, the commission may reduce the
facility's emission fees that would otherwise be imposed by this
chapter in an amount not greater than 50 percent.
(c) If a facility is among the worst twenty percent of all
facilities with upset emissions, the commission shall increase the
facility's emission fees that would otherwise be imposed by this
chapter in an amount not less than twenty percent and not greater
than 50 percent.
(d) The commission shall assess a minimum fee of $500 for
each reportable upset and the money shall be appropriated to the
commission for distribution in the form of grants for
community-based air pollution reduction projects that reflect
community priorities.
SECTION 2. Section 5.753, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.753. STANDARD FOR EVALUATING COMPLIANCE
HISTORY. (a) Consistent with other law and the requirements
necessary to maintain federal program authorization, the
commission by rule shall develop a uniform standard for evaluating
compliance history.
(b) The components of compliance history must include:
(1) enforcement orders, court judgments, consent
decrees, and criminal convictions of this state and the federal
government relating to compliance with applicable legal
requirements under the jurisdiction of the commission or the United
States Environmental Protection Agency;
(2) notwithstanding any other provision of this code,
orders issued under Section 7.070;
(3) to the extent readily available to the commission,
enforcement orders, court judgments, and criminal convictions
relating to violations of environmental laws of other states; [and]
(4) changes in ownership; and
(5) performance with regard to laws governing
emissions, including upset incidence.
(c) The set of components must also include any information
required by other law or any requirement necessary to maintain
federal program authorization.
(d) The set of components shall include notices of
violations. A notice of violation administratively determined to
be without merit shall not be included in a compliance history. A
notice of violation that is included in a compliance history shall
be removed from the compliance history if the commission
subsequently determines the notice of violation to be without
merit.
(e) Except as required by other law or any requirement
necessary to maintain federal program authorization, the
commission by rule shall establish a period for compliance history.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall require, where
practicable, the owner or operator of every facility that has the
potential to experience a reportable upset, as defined by
commission rule, to install and operate no later than January 1,
2006 a continuous measurement and monitoring system to document the
occurrence of upset events and accurately establish the amount of
each pollutant released during an upset event. At a minimum, this
system shall measure flow parameters for each gas or other material
to be released directly to the atmosphere or indirectly through a
flare or other device. This information shall be attached to a
certification by a responsible official, as provided by the Code of
Federal Regulations, that, based on information and belief formed
after reasonable inquiry, the statements and information in the
information provided is true, accurate, and complete. The
information and certification shall be submitted to the commission
every six months beginning September 1, 2008, and kept at the
facility for a period of no less than five years.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.