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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to authorizing a change in the amount of certain |
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administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for violating |
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certain statutes under the jurisdiction of, rules or orders adopted |
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by, or licenses, permits, or certificates issued by the Texas |
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Commission on Environmental Quality. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 7, Water Code, is amended |
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by adding Section 7.007 to read as follows: |
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Sec. 7.007. ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT OF PENALTIES. (a) Not |
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later than August 1 of each year, the commission shall compute, |
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adopt, and publish a revised penalty amount for each penalty |
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imposed by this chapter to account for inflation since the penalty |
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was adopted. |
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(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the amount of a penalty |
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assessed under this chapter must be the greater of: |
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(1) the amount specified under the section imposing |
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the penalty; or |
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(2) the amount computed under Subsection (a) minus 10 |
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percent of that amount. |
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(c) In making the computation under Subsection (a), the |
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commission shall: |
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(1) consider the Consumer Price Index for All Urban |
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Consumers, or its successor in function, published by the United |
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States Bureau of Labor Statistics; |
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(2) use as the base year for each penalty imposed by |
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this chapter the year the penalty was enacted; and |
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(3) adjust the amount of each penalty imposed by this |
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chapter to account for inflation since the base year used under |
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Subdivision (2). |
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(d) The adjusted penalty amount adopted is effective |
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beginning September 1 following the adjustment. |
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(e) The commission shall make available to the public |
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information regarding adjustments made under this section. |
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SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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a violation committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A |
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violation committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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governed by the law in effect when the violation was committed, and |
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the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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purposes of this section, a violation was committed before the |
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effective date of this Act if any element of the violation was |
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committed before that date. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |