BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3604

By: Vasut

Environmental Regulation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

In 2019, the legislature passed H.B. 1300 to allow the Parks and Wildlife Commission to develop a cultivated oyster mariculture program in Texas bays. Cultivated oyster mariculture permit holders have raised concerns about restrictions placed on the cleaning of oyster cages by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Specifically, permit holders are concerned about restrictions placed on their permits by the TCEQ that prohibit the cleaning of oyster cages in Texas bays. Instead, permit holders must remove the cages from a bay, take them to shore, clean them on shore, and then return the cages to the bay, which is time-consuming. C.S.H.B. 3604 seeks to allow permit holders to clean oyster cages in a bay by requiring a general permit for aquaculture issued by the TCEQ to allow a permit holder to discharge into waters of the state waste related to the cleaning of a structure used to grow oysters for cultivated oyster mariculture.

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. 3604 amends the Water Code to require a general permit for aquaculture issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to allow the holder of a cultivated oyster mariculture permit to discharge into waters of the state waste related to the cleaning of a structure used to grow oysters for cultivated oyster mariculture. The bill requires a cultivated oyster mariculture permit holder cleaning such a structure to do the following:

· clean the structure at the location where the permit holder is authorized to operate and only with water from that location; and

· in consultation with the Parks and Wildlife Department, comply with all other permit conditions established by the TCEQ.

The bill prohibits the permit holder from altering the cleaning water in any way, including with the addition of soap, chemicals, or any other similar substance, prior to use in cleaning.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3604 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 prohibition present in the introduced against a cultivated oyster mariculture permit holder pressurizing the water used to clean a structure used to grow oysters for cultivated oyster mariculture.