88R4472 MP-F

By: Burns H.B. No. 2827

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the permitting of and performance of annual soil tests for certain concentrated animal feeding operations by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 26.503, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (f) and adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(a) The commission may authorize the construction or operation of a new concentrated animal feeding operation, or an increase in the animals confined under an existing operation, only by a new or amended general [individual] permit.

(b) The general [individual] permit issued or amended under Subsection (a) must:

(1) provide for management and disposal of waste in accordance with Subchapter B, Chapter 321, Title 30, Texas Administrative Code;

(2) require that 100 percent of the collectible manure produced by the additional animals in confinement at an expanded operation or all of the animals in confinement at a new operation must be:

(A) disposed of or used outside of the watershed;

(B) delivered to a composting facility approved by the executive director;

(C) applied as directed by the commission to a waste application field owned or controlled by the owner of the concentrated animal feeding operation, if the field is not a historical waste application field;

(D) put to another beneficial use approved by the executive director; or

(E) applied to a historical waste application field that is owned or operated by the owner or operator of the concentrated animal feeding operation only if:

(i) results of representative composite soil sampling conducted at the waste application field and filed with the commission show that the waste application field contains 200 or fewer parts per million of extractable phosphorus (reported as P); or

(ii) the manure is applied, with commission approval, in accordance with a detailed nutrient utilization plan approved by the commission that is developed by:

(a) an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service;

(b) a nutrient management specialist certified by the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service;

(c) the State Soil and Water Conservation Board;

(d) the Texas A&M AgriLife [Agricultural] Extension Service;

(e) an agronomist or soil scientist on the full-time staff of an accredited university located in this state; or

(f) a professional agronomist or soil scientist certified by the American Society of Agronomy.

(f) This section does not limit the commission's authority to include in a [an individual or] general permit under this chapter provisions necessary to protect a water resource in this state.

(g) This subsection applies only to an operator of a concentrated animal feeding operation. The commission by rule or as a condition of a general permit issued under this section:

(1) may not require an operator to receive training on animal waste management; and

(2) shall require an operator to retain and submit to the commission on request a record of:

(A) the amount of manure, litter, or wastewater from the operation applied to a third-party waste application field, including the location of the application and the name of the third party; and

(B) the results of a testing analysis of a soil sample performed on behalf of the operator.

SECTION 2. Section 26.504, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(a) The commission shall collect one or more representative composite soil samples from each permitted waste application field associated with a concentrated animal feeding operation. The commission shall perform the sampling under this subsection not less often than once every 12 months. Sampling results obtained by the commission shall be used by the permitted concentrated animal feeding operator to satisfy any annual sampling of permitted waste application fields required by commission rule or general [individual] permit.

(f) A general permit described by Section 26.503(g):

(1) must specify that required soil samples be taken at depths of zero to six inches;

(2) must require soil sample results to be included in the annual report provided to the commission; and

(3) may not require soil sampling of a third-party waste application field.

SECTION 3. The following provisions of the Water Code are repealed:

(1) Section 26.503(d); and

(2) Section 26.504(c).

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.