| TO: | Honorable David Dewhurst , Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1297 by Armbrister (Relating to the elements of the criminal offense of discharging used oil into water in the state. ), Conference Committee Report |
The bill would create an exception to what constitutes an offense for causing or threatening to cause water pollution for the discharge of oil into state waters if the concentration of the oil in the waste stream is less than 15 parts per million after the discharge. The bill also would allow the intentional discharge of used oil into a sewer, septic tank, drainage system, surface water, groundwater, water course, or marine water as long as the concentration of oil in the waste stream as it enters water is less than 15 parts per million following the discharge and the person making the discharge is authorized to discharge storm water by permit.
The Commission on Environmental Quality, which is the agency charged with enforcing laws regarding the discharge of oil into state waters, does not expect that the bill's passage would have a significant impact on the agency's workload.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, ZS, TL
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