By: McCall H.B. No. 4031
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the agricultural biomass and landfill diversion
incentive program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 22.002, Agriculture Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (5) and adding Subdivisions (1-a) and (5-a) to
read as follows:
(1-a) "Co-firing biomass" means a solid fuel that:
(A) contains qualified agricultural biomass;
(B) is produced by a renewable biomass aggregator
and bio-coal fuel producer; and
(C) is used to supplement coal combustion for the
generation of electricity.
(5) "Qualified agricultural biomass" means:
(A) agricultural residues that are of a type that
historically have been disposed of in a landfill, relocated from
their point of origin and stored in a manner not intended to enhance
or restore the soil, burned in open fields in the area from which
they are derived, or burned in fields and orchards that continue to
be used for the production of agricultural goods, and includes:
(i) field or seed crop residues, including
straw from rice or wheat, cotton gin trash, corn stover, grain
sorghum (milo) harvest residues, sugarcane bagasse, and
switchgrass;
(ii) fruit or nut crop residues, including
orchard or vineyard prunings and removals;
(iii) forest wood waste or urban wood
waste, including state designated forest management cuttings and
brush management cuttings from private lands; and
(iv) agricultural livestock waste
nutrients; and
(B) a crop grown and used specifically for its
energy generation value, including a crop consisting of a
fast-growing tree species.
(5-a) "Renewable biomass aggregator and bio-coal fuel
producer" means an operator of an integrated harvesting,
transportation, and fuel conversion facility that aggregates
qualified agricultural or forest biomass and produces renewable
fuel suitable for replacing coal or co-firing with coal.
SECTION 2. Section 22.003, Agriculture Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 22.003. GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The department shall
develop and administer an agricultural biomass and landfill
diversion incentive program to make grants to farmers, loggers,
[and] diverters, and renewable biomass aggregators and bio-coal
fuel producers who provide qualified agricultural biomass, forest
wood waste, urban wood waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated
biomass debris to facilities that use biomass to generate electric
energy in order to provide an incentive for the construction of
facilities for that purpose and to:
(1) promote economic development;
(2) encourage the use of renewable sources in the
generation of electric energy;
(3) reduce air pollution caused by burning
agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban wood waste,
co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris in open
fields; and
(4) divert waste from landfills.
(b) Subject to Section 22.005, a farmer, logger, [or]
diverter, or renewable biomass aggregator and bio-coal fuel
producer is entitled to receive a grant in the amount of $20 for
each bone-dry ton of qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood
waste, urban wood waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated
biomass debris provided by the farmer, logger, [or] diverter, or
renewable biomass aggregator and bio-coal fuel producer in a form
suitable for generating electric energy to a facility that:
(1) is located in this state;
(2) was placed in service after August 31, 2009;
(3) generates electric energy sold to a third party by
using qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban wood
waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris;
(4) uses the best available emissions control
technology, considering the technical practicability and economic
reasonableness of reducing or eliminating the air contaminant
emissions resulting from the facility;
(5) maintains its emissions control equipment in good
working order; and
(6) is in compliance with its operating permit issued
by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under Chapter 382,
Health and Safety Code.
(c) The commissioner by rule may authorize a grant to be
made for providing each bone-dry ton of a type or source of
qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban wood
waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris in an
amount that is greater than the amount provided by Subsection (b) if
the commissioner determines that a grant in a greater amount is
necessary to provide an adequate incentive to use that type or
source of qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban
wood waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris to
generate electric energy.
(d) The Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall assist the department as
necessary to enable the department to determine whether a facility
meets the requirements of Subsection (b) for purposes of the
eligibility of farmers, loggers, [and] diverters, and renewable
biomass aggregators and bio-coal fuel producers for grants under
this chapter.
(e) To receive a grant under this chapter, a farmer, logger,
[or] diverter, or renewable biomass aggregator and bio-coal fuel
producer must deliver qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood
waste, urban wood waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated
biomass debris to a facility described by Subsection (b). The
operator of each facility described by that subsection shall:
(1) verify and document the amount of qualified
agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban wood waste,
co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris delivered to
the facility for the generation of electric energy; and
(2) make a grant on behalf of the department in the
appropriate amount to each farmer, logger, [or] diverter, or
renewable biomass aggregator and bio-coal fuel producer who
delivers qualified agricultural biomass, forest wood waste, urban
wood waste, co-firing biomass, or storm-generated biomass debris to
the facility.
(f) The department quarterly shall reimburse each operator
of a facility described by Subsection (b) for grants under this
chapter made by the operator during the preceding quarter to
eligible farmers, loggers, [and] diverters, and renewable biomass
aggregators and bio-coal fuel producers. To receive reimbursement
for one or more grants, an operator of a facility described by that
subsection must file an application with the department that
verifies the amount of the grants made by the operator during the
preceding quarter for which the operator seeks reimbursement.
(g) The department may contract with and provide for the
compensation of private consultants, contractors, and other
persons to assist the department in administering the agricultural
biomass and landfill diversion incentive program.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.