BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2228

By: Geren

Licensing & Administrative Procedures

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

It has been suggested that there is a need for more flexibility with regard to extending intervals between internal inspections of certain steam collection or liberation drums of process steam generators. C.S.H.B. 2228 seeks to address this issue by providing for longer extensions of intervals between such boiler inspections under certain conditions.

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.

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.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2228 amends the Health and Safety Code to raise the cap on the maximum interval between internal inspections for steam collection or liberation drums of process steam generators manufactured on or after January 1, 1970, from 120 months to 144 months. The bill authorizes the executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and the inspection agency on request to grant an extension of the interval between internal inspections for steam collection or liberation drums of process steam generators manufactured before January 1, 1970, in addition to the 120-month extension authorized by statute; caps the duration of the additional extension at 24 months; and requires the request to include a report issued by an engineer licensed by the Texas Board of Professional Engineers certifying:

·         completion in accordance with certain industry standards of a quantitative engineering assessment for in-service equipment, repairs, and alterations; and

·         based on the assessment, the steam collection or liberation drums of the process steam generator are safe to operate.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2019.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 2228 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute changes the contents of the engineer's report that must be included with an inspection extension request from content that includes the engineer's statement regarding the satisfaction of conditions imposed on the extension to content that includes the engineer's certification regarding certain prescribed industry standards and operational safety.