| TO: | Honorable Byron Cook, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB3582 by Dunnam (Relating to the creation of a comprehensive emissions database.), As Introduced |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $0 |
| 2011 | $0 |
| 2012 | $0 |
| 2013 | $0 |
| 2014 | $0 |
| Fiscal Year | Probable Savings/(Cost) from Clean Air Account 151 |
Probable Savings/(Cost) from Operating Permit Fees Account 5094 |
Change in Number of State Employees from FY 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | ($3,550,473) | ($2,366,982) | 9.0 |
| 2011 | ($507,908) | ($338,606) | 9.0 |
| 2012 | ($513,908) | ($342,606) | 9.0 |
| 2013 | ($508,508) | ($339,006) | 9.0 |
| 2014 | ($506,708) | ($337,806) | 9.0 |
The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to develop a single, permanent database to track all authorized and reported emissions relating to permitted emissions, annual routine emissions, excess emissions occurring during maintenance, start-ups and shutdowns, and emission from emissions events. The bill would require information to be placed into the database to be reviewed by the reporting entities prior to the data being included. The bill also would provide for an assessment by the TCEQ of allowed and actual emissions and emissions from events and maintenance activities.
The TCEQ reports that the agency's current reporting requirements pertain to only to major emission sources, and that most minor emission sources, whether authorized by a permit, a standard permit, or a permit by rule, are not required to complete and submit emission inventory data. For some such entities, emissions data is only kept at the reporting entity’s location. This estimate assumes that passage of the bill would result in the TCEQ being required to develop and maintain a database of emissions data for both major and minor sources, resulting in approximately 27,000 additional emission inventories being submitted to the agency. In addition, to provide for electronic retrieval and review of records, emissions data, current and historical, from entities not currently contained in agency databases will have to be populated, and data currently stored in separate databases will have to be combined and verified.
This estimate assumes that the TCEQ would contract with a vendor to develop a comprehensive database and contract with the statewide Data Center to provide hardware, software, and operating infrastructure. Costs associated with the statewide Data Center, contracted database development, and initial population of the database for emissions not currently included in emissions inventories total $5,288,441 in fiscal year 2010 and $289,000 in fiscal year 2011. For fiscal years 2012 through 2014, these costs are $286,000 to $274,000.
The agency estimates that it will need 9.0 FTEs to verify to verify database population accuracy; provide guidance to the reporting entities; review 27,000 additional emissions inventories; support database maintenance; and assist in the development of the database; data communications work, and project management. Costs associated with the FTEs would total $629,014 in fiscal year 2010 and $557,514 in future years.
This estimate assumes that costs would be split between two General Revenue-Dedicated accounts: the Clean Air Account No. 151 and the Operating Permit Fee Account No. 5094, with 60 percent of cost paid out of the Clean Air Account No. 151 and 40 percent from the Operating Permit Fee Account No. 5094.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, SD, ZS, TL
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