| TO: | Honorable Allan Ritter, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2535 by Creighton (Relating to the regulation and enforcement of dam safety by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; providing civil and administrative penalties.), As Introduced |
The bill would allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to assess Dam Safety administrative penalties up to $10,000 per day. The bill also would specifically allow the TCEQ to regulate the operations of the dams in the state.
The TCEQ reports that to exercise the administrative authority proposed in the bill, enhancements to its Consolidated Compliance and Enforcement Data System (CCEDS) database would be needed to allow for the storage of the dam safety reports, which the agency indicates often contain numerous pictures and large file sizes. The agency reports that the cost of these enhancements would be $250,000. This estimate assumes the TCEQ could absorb the costs using existing resources.
This estimate does not assume that the penalty provisions in the bill would result in significant revenue to the state.
| Source Agencies: | 580 Water Development Board, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, TL, SD
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