AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Interested parties explain that certain states have reclassified steel slag as a solid waste and that this has resulted in the prohibited use of steel slag in various applications. The parties note that steel slag is used in road construction and in oil and gas operating pads, and they point to its uses as a replacement for agricultural lime and in a variety of feedlot and hog confinement applications. The parties assert that the reclassification as a solid waste is inaccurate and has restricted steel slag's marketability.  H.B. 2598 seeks to keep steel slag from being defined as a solid waste in Texas.

 

H.B. 2598 amends current law relating to the consideration of steel slag as solid waste by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

 

[Note: While the statutory reference in this bill is to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), the following amendments affect the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), as the successor agency to TNRCC.]

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, by adding Section 361.040, as follows:

 

Sec. 361.040.  TREATMENT OF STEEL SLAG AS SOLID WASTE.  Prohibits the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from considering steel slag as solid waste if the steel slag is:

 

(1)  an intended output or result of the use of an electric arc furnace to make steel;

 

(2)  introduced into the stream of commerce; and

 

(3)  managed as an item of commercial value, including through a controlled use in a manner constituting disposal, and not as discarded material.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 2015.