By: Zwiener H.B. No. 4957
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation by the Texas Commission on Environmental
  Quality of the discharge of preproduction plastic.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
  by adding Section 26.0481 to read as follows:
         Sec. 26.0481.  REGULATION OF DISCHARGE OF PREPRODUCTION
  PLASTIC. (a)  In this section:
               (1)  "Facility" means a facility where preproduction
  plastic is manufactured, handled, or transported.
               (2)  "Preproduction plastic" means plastic resin
  pellets, flakes, fibers, and powders, and powdered coloring for
  plastics.
               (3)  "Zero discharge or release" means zero
  preproduction plastics discharged or released to a body of water or
  to land outside the property line of a facility.
         (b)  The commission by rule shall adopt and implement a
  program to:
               (1)  ensure zero discharge or release from point and
  nonpoint sources at facilities; and
               (2)  require the prompt and environmentally
  responsible containment and cleanup of discharged or released
  preproduction plastic.
         (c)  Rules adopted under this section must require any permit
  issued or renewed under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination
  System program to prohibit the discharge or release of
  preproduction plastic from the permitted location.
         (d)  A permit issued or renewed for a facility under the
  Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program must:
               (1)  prohibit:
                     (A)  any discharge of preproduction plastic by
  stormwater or wastewater to a body of water outside the property
  line of a facility; and
                     (B)  any release of preproduction plastic to land
  outside the property line of a facility; and
               (2)  require a permittee to promptly clean up any
  plastic presumed to have been discharged or released from the
  facility in a manner that cleans up the most plastic possible
  without causing harm to the ecosystem or, if the facility contests
  that the plastic was discharged or released from the facility,
  immediately contain the plastic to prevent further spread of the
  plastic.
         (e)  Any preproduction plastic matching the preproduction
  plastic produced by the facility found outside the property line of
  a facility is presumed to have been released or discharged by that
  facility.  A facility must be given an opportunity to prove that
  preproduction plastic found outside the property line of the
  facility did not originate from the facility, provided that the
  facility complies with the requirements of Subsection (d)(2).
         (f)  Except as provided by Subsection (g), the program
  adopted under this section must require a facility to adopt and
  implement:
               (1)  monitoring and reporting practices for the
  discharge of preproduction plastic from point and nonpoint sources
  at the facility; and
               (2)  best management practices with respect to:
                     (A)  a written maintenance program and schedule to
  ensure that all containment systems are functioning properly;
                     (B)  measures to contain preproduction plastic
  during storage, handling, or transfer of the plastic, including the
  use of:
                           (i)  sealed containers that will not rupture
  under typical loading and unloading activities;
                           (ii)  capture devices under all transfer
  valves and devices used in loading, unloading, or otherwise
  transferring preproduction plastic;
                           (iii)  vacuums or vacuum-type systems for
  the quick cleanup of fugitive preproduction plastic; and
                           (iv)  a source control and inspection
  program for all transportation of plastics off site;
                     (D)  updates in science and technology or advances
  in detection and treatment technologies; and
                     (E)  other good housekeeping measures as
  determined by the commission.
         (g)  The commission may exempt a facility from the
  requirements of Subsection (f) if the facility satisfies the
  criteria for a no exposure certification under 40 C.F.R. Section
  122.26.  The commission shall:
               (1)  require a facility exempted under this subsection
  to submit a no exposure certification to the commission not less
  than once every five years; and
               (2)  include criteria for submitting a no exposure
  certification in all permit applications related to authorized
  discharges from a facility.
         (h)  Before approving an exemption under Subsection (g), the
  commission must:
               (1)  conduct an on-site inspection to confirm that the
  conditions at a facility requesting the exemption meet the criteria
  for a no exposure certification; and
               (2)  inspect an off-site area at least 50 feet in all
  directions of all stormwater and wastewater outfalls of the
  facility for the presence of off-site preproduction plastic.
         (i)  The monitoring and reporting requirements under
  Subsection (f)(1) must require a facility to:
               (1)  conduct monitoring:
                     (A)  outside the property line of the facility and
  in any receiving waters for wastewater or stormwater discharges of
  preproduction plastic, including an area of at least 50 feet in all
  directions from all release or discharge points;
                     (B)  not less than once every month;
                     (C)  within eight hours of each rainfall event at
  the facility; and
                     (D)  at other times and places when plastic is
  most likely to be released or discharged;
               (2)  submit to the commission, not less than once every
  quarter, a report of the regular monitoring results gathered by the
  permittee or the permittee's agent under Subdivision (1); and
               (3)  submit to the commission, not less than two
  working days after a violation of Subsection (d)(1), a report of the
  violation, including:
                     (A)  photographs and global positioning system
  information of the location of all discharged or released plastic;
  and
                     (B)  an estimate of the amount and location of
  plastic discharged or released based on a method that:
                           (i)  counts the number of pellets in a short
  period of time; and
                           (ii)  estimates the geographic area over
  which the pellets spread.
         (j)  A containment system required under Subsection
  (f)(2)(A) must use a device or series of devices that:
               (1)  are properly designed and maintained to capture
  preproduction plastic that floats or sinks in stormwater; and
               (2)  have a designed treatment capacity of not less
  than the peak flow rate resulting from a 100-year, 24-hour storm and
  taking into consideration any wash water that is regularly added by
  the facility operator to the system.
         (k)  The commission may establish additional requirements
  regarding the regulation of discharges and releases of
  preproduction plastic from facilities into water or onto land in
  the state.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  Not later than January 1, 2024, the Texas
  Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules necessary to
  implement Section 26.0481, Water Code, as added by this Act.
         (b)  Not later than January 1, 2025, a facility subject to
  Section 26.0481, Water Code, as added by this Act, must be in
  compliance with that section.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.