88R4398 DRS-F
 
  By: Hancock S.B. No. 2044
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the regulation of recycling and recycled products.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 361.003(10-a), (10-b), (25-a), (25-b),
  and (27), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
               (10-a)  "Gasification" means a process through which
  recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel-gas
  mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is
  converted into [a] valuable raw materials or valuable[,]
  intermediate[,] or final products [product], including plastic
  monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, or chemical feedstocks and
  other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax,
  lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil, diesel, gasoline,
  diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or
  another fuel]. The term does not include incineration.
               (10-b)  "Gasification facility" means a facility that
  receives, [separates,] stores, and converts post-use polymers and
  recoverable feedstocks using gasification. The commission may not
  consider a gasification facility to be a hazardous waste management
  facility, a solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.
               (25-a)  "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process
  through which post-use polymers are heated in an oxygen-deficient
  atmosphere [until melted and thermally decomposed and then cooled,
  condensed,] and converted into [a] valuable raw materials or
  valuable[,] intermediate[,] or final products [product], including
  plastic monomers, chemicals, naphtha, waxes, or plastic and
  chemical feedstocks and other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic,
  monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude
  oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating
  oil, ethanol, or another fuel]. The term does not include
  incineration.
               (25-b)  "Pyrolysis facility" means a manufacturing
  facility that receives, [separates,] stores, and converts post-use
  polymers using pyrolysis. The commission may not consider a
  pyrolysis facility to be a hazardous waste management facility, a
  solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.
               (27)  "Recycling" has the meaning assigned by Section
  361.421 [means the legitimate use, reuse, or reclamation of solid
  waste].
         SECTION 2.  Section 361.0151, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
         (c)  Notwithstanding any other law, the commission or
  another political subdivision of this state that establishes goals
  or requirements for recycling or the use of recycled material must
  base those goals or requirements on the definitions and principles
  established by Subchapter N. This subsection does not apply to a
  program described by Subchapter Y or Z.
         SECTION 3.  Section 361.041(a), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission may not consider post-use polymers or
  recoverable feedstock to be solid waste if they are converted using
  pyrolysis or gasification into [a] valuable raw materials or
  valuable[,] intermediate[,] or final products [product], including
  plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, or chemical
  feedstocks and other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic, monomer,
  chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil,
  diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil,
  ethanol, or another fuel].
         SECTION 4.  Section 361.119(c-1), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c-1)  A facility that reuses or converts recyclable
  materials through pyrolysis or gasification, and the operations
  conducted and materials handled at the facility, are not subject to
  regulation under rules adopted under this section if the owner or
  operator of the facility demonstrates that:
               (1)  the primary function of the facility is to convert
  materials into products for subsequent beneficial use that have a
  resale value greater than the cost of converting the materials [for
  subsequent beneficial use]; and
               (2)  all the solid waste generated from converting the
  materials is disposed of in a hazardous solid waste management
  facility or a solid waste facility authorized under this chapter,
  as appropriate, with the exception of small amounts of solid waste
  that may be inadvertently and unintentionally disposed of in
  another manner.
         SECTION 5.  Section 361.421, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subdivisions (5), (6), (7), and (8) and adding
  Subdivision (6-a) to read as follows:
               (5)  "Recyclable material" means material that can be
  or has been recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream for
  purposes of reuse, recycling, or reclamation, a substantial portion
  of which is consistently used in the manufacture of products which
  may otherwise be produced using raw or virgin materials. The term
  includes post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks that are
  converted through pyrolysis or gasification into valuable raw
  materials or valuable[,] intermediate[,] and final products.
  Recyclable material is not solid waste unless the material is
  deemed to be hazardous solid waste by the Administrator of the
  United States Environmental Protection Agency, whereupon it shall
  be regulated accordingly unless it is otherwise exempted in whole
  or in part from regulation under the federal Solid Waste Disposal
  Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of
  1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), by Environmental Protection
  Agency regulation. However, recyclable material may become solid
  waste at such time, if any, as it is abandoned or disposed of rather
  than recycled, whereupon it will be solid waste with respect only to
  the party actually abandoning or disposing of the material.
               (6)  "Recycled material" means materials, goods, or
  products that consist of recyclable material or materials derived
  from post-use polymers or postconsumer waste[, industrial waste, or
  hazardous waste] which may be used in place of a raw or virgin
  material in manufacturing a new product or that are certified under
  a mass balance attribution system identified by the commission
  under Section 361.4215. The term includes recycled plastics
  [post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks used in pyrolysis or
  gasification].
               (6-a)  "Recycled plastics" means products that are
  produced from:
                     (A)  mechanical recycling of post-use polymers;
  or
                     (B)  nonmechanical recycling of post-use polymers
  certified under a mass balance attribution system identified by the
  commission under Section 361.4215.
               (7)  "Recycled product" means a product that is
  eligible to be considered a recycled product under [which meets the
  requirements for recycled material content as prescribed by] the
  rules established by the commission under [described in] Section
  361.427.
               (8)  "Recycling" means a process by which materials
  that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded,
  used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, or processed
  and returned to use in the form of raw materials or feedstocks used
  in the production of new products. The term does not include
  incineration of plastics or waste-to-energy processes. Recycling
  includes:
                     (A)  the composting process if the compost
  material is put to beneficial reuse as defined by the commission;
                     (B)  the application to land, as organic
  fertilizer, of processed sludge or biosolids from municipal
  wastewater treatment plants and other organic matter resulting from
  poultry, dairy, livestock, or other agricultural operations; and
                     (C)  the conversion of post-use polymers and
  recoverable feedstocks through pyrolysis or gasification.
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter N, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 361.4215 to read as follows:
         Sec. 361.4215.  MASS BALANCE ATTRIBUTION. The commission by
  rule shall identify third-party certification systems for mass
  balance attribution that may be used for the purposes of Sections
  361.421(6) and (6-a), such as the International Sustainability and
  Carbon Certification system.
         SECTION 7.  Section 361.427(b), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The guidelines established under this section shall
  specify a minimum percent of the recycled material in a product
  which must be postconsumer waste or post-use polymer.
         SECTION 8.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
  adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this
  Act.
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.