Honorable Patricia Harless, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2949 by Harper-Brown (Relating to a performance-based program for permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.), As Introduced
The fiscal implications of the bill cannot be determined at this time.
The bill would authorize the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to establish a performance-based permitting program under Texas Water Code (TWC), Chapter 5, Subchapter S, that would be established by the bill. If the TCEQ would adopt rules to establish a performance-based permit program, the program would be required to follow the guidelines established in the bill.
The bill provides that an applicant is eligible for an expedited process for permit approval for a period of five years if the applicant has a history of compliance for the five years preceding the application or there is no evidence of noncompliance. For existing facilities with a TCEQ permit for at least five years, the bill limits the commission to considering the compliance history for only that site.
The bill would allow the commission to automatically issue a renewal of a permit (including expansions and modifications involving construction) assuming the application meets all the criteria and the renewal would not violate federal or state laws and rules. The bill would also allow an automatic permit transfer process when the applicant meets certain conditions.
The bill would provide additional compliance incentives for applicants who meet the automatic renewal criteria and have implemented an environmental management system that results in surpassing the commission's minimum compliance standards. The incentives would include the following: extended permits and short form renewal applications; fewer inspections; expedited review of requests for permit modifications; and other incentives as provided by the commission which may include special recognition or program specific incentives. The bill also would prescribe how compliance information would be used by the TCEQ to determine the issuance of permits if a performance-based permit program is established by the commission.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2013.
Because the bill does not require the agency to establish a performance-based permit program, and because the TCEQ reports that establishing such a system could jeopardize federal approval of the permitting program, this analysis assumes that the agency would not establish the performance-based permit program authorized by the bill. Thus, no significant fiscal impact to the agency is expected. However, if the agency were to establish the performance-based permitting program, the TCEQ reports that considerable agency resources could be required, the extent of which would be dependent on several variables. The agency has not provided an estimate of the potential costs of establishing the performance-based permitting program.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.