By: Jackson, Staples S.B. No. 1102
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a program by the Department of
Agriculture to make grants to farmers and diverters who provide
agricultural biomass to facilities that convert biomass to
electrical energy.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 2, Agriculture Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 22 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 22. LANDFILL DIVERSION AND AGRICULTURAL BIOMASS
INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Sec. 22.001. POLICY AND PURPOSE. It is the policy of this
state and the purpose of this chapter to reduce air pollution from
open-field burning and landfill operations and to improve air
quality and protect public health through new incentives for
biomass conversion facilities to convert to electrical energy
certain agricultural residues, including urban and forest wood
waste, that would otherwise be burned in open fields or be
landfilled.
Sec. 22.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Diverter":
(A) means:
(i) a person or facility that qualifies for
exemption under Section 361.111 or 363.006, Health and Safety Code;
(ii) a handler of nonhazardous industrial
waste that is registered or permitted under Chapter 361, Health and
Safety Code; and
(iii) any facility that separates
recyclable materials from a municipal solid waste stream and that
is registered or permitted under Chapter 363, Health and Safety
Code, as a municipal solid waste management facility; and
(B) does not include a biomass conversion
facility.
(2) "Farmer" means the owner or operator of an
agricultural facility which produces agricultural residues in the
normal course of producing agricultural products.
(3) "Qualified agricultural biomass" means
agricultural residues that are of a type that historically have
been landfilled or that have been burned in open fields in the area
from which they are derived and in fields and orchards that continue
to be utilized for the production of agricultural goods, and
includes:
(A) field and seed crop residues, including
straws from rice and wheat;
(B) fruit and nut crop residues, including
orchard and vineyard prunings and removals; and
(C) urban and forest wood products.
Sec. 22.003. GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The department shall
develop and administer the landfill diversion and agricultural
biomass incentive program to make grants to farmers and diverters
who provide qualified agricultural biomass to facilities that
convert biomass to electrical energy in order to provide an
incentive for the construction of facilities for that purpose in
order to:
(1) promote economic development;
(2) encourage the use of renewable sources in the
production of electrical energy; and
(3) reduce air pollution caused by the burning of
agricultural biomass in open fields.
(b) Subject to grant limitations under Section 22.005, a
farmer is entitled to receive a grant in the amount of $30 per ton,
and a diverter is entitled to receive a grant in the amount of $10
per ton, for each bone-dry ton of qualified agricultural biomass
provided by the farmer or diverter in a form suitable for biomass
conversion to a facility that:
(1) is located in this state;
(2) was constructed on or after June 30, 2006;
(3) converts qualified agricultural biomass to
electrical energy sold to a third party;
(4) uses the best available emissions control
technology, considering the technical practicability and economic
reasonableness of reducing or eliminating the air contaminant
emissions resulting from the facility;
(5) maintains its emissions control equipment in good
working order; and
(6) is in compliance with its operating permit issued
by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under Chapter 382,
Health and Safety Code.
(c) The commissioner by rule may authorize the making of a
grant for providing a bone-dry ton of a type or source of qualified
agricultural biomass in an amount that is greater than the amount
provided by Subsection (b) if the commissioner determines that a
grant in a greater amount is necessary to provide an adequate
incentive to convert that type or source of qualified agricultural
biomass to electrical energy.
(d) The Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall assist the department as
necessary to enable the department to determine whether a facility
meets the requirements of this section for purposes of the
eligibility of farmers and diverters for grants under this chapter.
(e) To receive a grant under this chapter, a farmer or
diverter must file an application with the department on a form
prescribed by the department. The form must require the farmer or
diverter to provide the information necessary to determine whether
the farmer or diverter is entitled to receive a grant and to
determine the amount of the grant to which the farmer or diverter is
entitled.
(f) The department shall provide for the distribution of
grant money under this chapter to eligible farmers and diverters.
Grant money must be distributed to eligible farmers and diverters
in the order in which applications for the grants are received. The
department shall make grants not less often than quarterly, subject
to appropriations.
(g) The department may contract with and provide for the
compensation of private consultants, contractors, and other
persons to administer the landfill diversion and agricultural
biomass incentive program.
Sec. 22.004. LANDFILL DIVERSION AND AGRICULTURAL BIOMASS
INCENTIVE PROGRAM ACCOUNT. (a) The landfill diversion and
agricultural biomass incentive program account is an account in the
general revenue fund. The account is composed of:
(1) legislative appropriations;
(2) gifts, grants, donations, and matching funds
received under Subsection (b); and
(3) other money required by law to be deposited in the
account.
(b) The department may solicit and accept gifts in kind,
donations, and grants of money from the federal government, local
governments, private corporations, or other persons to be used for
the purposes of this chapter.
(c) Money in the account may be appropriated to the
department only for the purpose of implementing and maintaining the
landfill diversion and agricultural biomass incentive program.
(d) Income from money in the account shall be credited to
the account.
Sec. 22.005. LIMITATION ON GRANT AMOUNT. The department
may grant no more than $30 million each fiscal year under this
chapter. Any unspent balance remaining in the landfill diversion
and agricultural biomass incentive program account at the end of
each fiscal year is available for grants made during subsequent
years.
Sec. 22.006. LENGTH OF PROGRAM. The landfill diversion and
agricultural biomass incentive program ends on August 31, 2020. On
September 1, 2020, any funds remaining in the landfill diversion
and agricultural biomass incentive program account shall be
deposited in the general revenue fund.
Sec. 22.007. BIOMASS CONVERSION FACILITIES NOT ELIGIBLE.
(a) Except as described under Subsection (b), a biomass conversion
facility is not eligible to receive a grant under this chapter or
under any other state law for the conversion of qualified
agricultural biomass for which a farmer or diverter has received a
grant under this chapter.
(b) A biomass conversion facility may receive a grant under
this chapter for the conversion of qualified agricultural biomass
which arrives at the facility in a form unsuitable for conversion
and which the facility processes into a form suitable for
conversion.
Sec. 22.008. RULES. The commissioner, in consultation with
the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, shall adopt rules to implement this chapter.
Sec. 22.009. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. Notwithstanding any
other provision of this chapter, the department shall not be
required to administer this chapter or promulgate rules under this
chapter until funds are available for those purposes.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.