Honorable Kip Averitt, Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB2235 by Seliger (Relating to the definition of "operator" in relation to the regulation of a solid waste facility.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would remove the word "person," leaving only "operator," and thus defining the operator of a solid waste disposal facility as the permittee. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) reports that it would be required to change its current practice of naming both owner and operator in the permit, when they are separate entities. Instead the permit would indicate just the owner/operator as the single entity in charge and responsible for overall operations. This change is not expected to result in any significant fiscal impact to the agency.
Local Government Impact
The TCEQ reports that passage of the bill could result in local government entities that are municipal solid waste permittees to hire a licensed operator to actively operate their facilities unless they have a licensed operator on staff. This estimate assumes that most local government permittees would have a licensed operator on staff or be able to license existing staff.