BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 239 |
By: Springer |
Environmental Regulation |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties explain that numerous state and federal regulatory guidelines allow for larger aboveground storage tanks than a current Health and Safety Code provision restricting an aboveground storage tank storing gasoline, diesel fuel, or kerosene at certain retail service stations in rural communities to a capacity of not more than 4,000 gallons. The industry practice generally accepts that aboveground storage tanks are environmentally safer than belowground storage tanks, as repairs and leaks are more easily identified and fixed, and for this reason, the parties contend that these rural service stations need the same flexibility for fuel storage as their counterparts in larger municipalities. C.S.H.B. 239 seeks to amend current law to address this issue.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 239 amends the Health and Safety Code to expand the authorization to store gasoline, diesel fuel, or kerosene in an aboveground storage tank at a retail service station located in an unincorporated area or in a municipality with a population of less than 5,000 to include such storage of compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and propane and to remove from the authorization the restriction that the tank have a capacity of not more than 4,000 gallons. The bill authorizes a commissioners court of a county with a population of 3.3 million or more by order to limit the maximum volume of an aboveground storage tank in an unincorporated area of the county in accordance with the county fire code. The bill includes compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, and propane among the flammable liquids for which a retail service station is authorized to have a tank for each separate grade, but not more than one tank for the same grade.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 239 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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