| TO: | Honorable Dennis Bonnen, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3599 by Lucio III (Relating to the procedures for acting on applications for certain permits under the Solid Waste Disposal Act.), As Introduced |
The bill would establish mandatory requirements for public meetings for permits under the Solid Waste Disposal Act that currently are at the discretion of an applicant or contingent upon legislative or public interest. The bill would require that an applicant for a permit for a new municipal solid waste facility hold a public meeting within 44 days of submitting an application. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) would be required to hold a public meeting on an application for any new municipal solid waste or new hazardous waste facility in the county in which it is proposed to be located and to hold a public meeting on an application for a Class 3 modification or major amendment to a hazardous waste permit on the request of an affected person or as otherwise required by commission rule. The bill would also require that the TCEQ hold a hearing within 30 days of receiving an permit application for development over a closed municipal solid waste landfill.
The bill's passage is expected to increase the number of public meetings held by the TCEQ. The number of public meetings (and hearings for applications for development over closed municipal solid waste landfills) would increase by an estimated 14 meetings per year. Rulemaking would be necessary, and agency procedures would have to be changed. The TCEQ estimates that costs associated with the additional hearings would be approximately $50,000 per fiscal year. This estimate assumes such costs could be reasonably absorbed within the agency's existing budget.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, TL, KJG
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