Honorable Craig Estes, Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1515 by Elkins (Relating to the expiration of the dry cleaner environmental response program.), As Engrossed
Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for HB1515, As Engrossed: an impact of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2019.
The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill.
Fiscal Year
Probable Net Positive/(Negative) Impact to General Revenue Related Funds
2018
$0
2019
$0
2020
$0
2021
$0
2022
$0
Fiscal Year
Probable (Cost) from Dry Cleaning Facility Release Acct 5093
Probable Revenue Gain from Dry Cleaning Facility Release Acct 5093
2018
$0
$0
2019
$0
$0
2020
$0
$0
2021
$0
$0
2022
($3,725,639)
$3,910,000
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would extend the expiration date of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Dry Cleaner Environmental Response program, established in Health and Safety Code Ch. 374, from September 1, 2021 to September 1, 2050. The bill would amend statute such that sites undergoing assessment or corrective action related to the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response program as of September 1, 2050 would be completed to the extent that money from the General Revenue-Dedicated Dry Cleaning Facility Release Fund No. 5093 is appropriated.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2017.
Methodology
By extending the expiration date of the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response program, the bill would authorize the continued collection of revenue from annual registration fees paid by owners of operating dry cleaning facilities or dry cleaning drop stations, and registration fees from qualified owners of the property on which a dry cleaning facility or drop station is or was located until September 1, 2050. TCEQ does not anticipate that these fee revenues to the Dry Cleaning Facility Release Fund No. 5093 will change significantly in future years.
There would be no fiscal impact anticipated for the 2018-19 or 2020-21 biennium. The bill would result in revenue and appropriations for the program existing in fiscal year 2022, whereas under current law, the revenue and appropriations would no longer exist beginning in fiscal year 2022. In the 2016-17 biennium, $3,725,639 each fiscal year was appropriated from the General Revenue-Dedicated Dry Cleaning Facility Release Account No. 5093 for the Dry Cleaning Assessment and Cleanup program. This estimate assumes that amounts appropriated to TCEQ in the 2016-17 biennium for the Dry Cleaner Environmental Response program continue to be appropriated in future years. The Comptroller's Biennial Revenue Estimate for the 2018-19 biennium estimates $3,910,000 in revenue collections each fiscal year from registration fees by the regulated public. This estimate assumes that revenue collections from registration fees would continue at this level in future years.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.