BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1351

By: Hernandez

Environmental Regulation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

A number of counties in Texas participated in the low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement program in which a fee was collected for vehicle registrations and distributed proportionally to participating counties for air quality initiatives. When the program ended in 2018, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), approximately $176.2 million in fees collected from vehicle owners in these counties was left in a state account and never distributed back to the participating counties. There have been calls to return these collected funds to counties to use for purposes authorized by existing statute such as projects relating to traffic safety and air quality. C.S.H.B. 1351 seeks to address this issue by requiring the TCEQ to distribute the funds collected under the program to the counties that previously participated in the program. 

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. 1351 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), not later than January 1, 2024, to distribute to an applicable county all available money collected before September 1, 2023, from certain vehicle emissions-related inspection fees that was designated for the low-income vehicle repair assistance, retrofit, and accelerated vehicle retirement program and is appropriated by the legislature for distribution. The bill applies only to a county that is or was a participating county in such a program and that has remitted to the state fees collected for the program.

C.S.H.B. 1351 requires the TCEQ to distribute the money in reasonable proportion to the amount of those fees collected in the applicable counties or in the regions in which those counties are located. The bill restricts the use of money received by a county to funding certain authorized local initiative projects under the Texas Clean Air Act. The bill's provisions expire September 1, 2027.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1351 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute omits a provision present in the introduced establishing that implementation of a provision of the bill by the TCEQ is mandatory only if a specific appropriation is made for that purpose.