Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4286 Compare Versions

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1	1	81R21466 JAM-F
2	2	By: Hunter H.B. No. 4286
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4286:
4	4	By: Legler C.S.H.B. No. 4286
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the disposal of sewage by boats.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Sections 26.044(a), (b), (c), (d), and (f),
12	12	Water Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) In [As used in] this section:
14	14	(1) "Boat"[, "boat"] means any vessel or other
15	15	watercraft, whether moved by oars, paddles, sails, or other power
16	16	mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel or structure
17	17	floating on surface water in the [this] state, whether or not
18	18	capable of self-locomotion, including but not limited to cabin
19	19	cruisers, houseboats, barges, marinas, and similar floating
20	20	objects.
21	21	(2) "Boat pump-out station" means any private or
22	22	public shoreside, mobile, or floating installation either
23	23	independent of or in addition to an organized waste collection,
24	24	treatment, and disposal system used to receive boat sewage.
25	25	(3) "Shoreside, mobile, or floating installation"
26	26	means marinas and other installations servicing boats on surface
27	27	water in the state.
28	28	(4) "Surface water in the state" means all lakes,
29	29	bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, rivers, streams,
30	30	creeks, estuaries, marshes, inlets, canals, the Gulf of Mexico out
31	31	three nautical miles into the Gulf, and all other bodies of surface
32	32	water, natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt,
33	33	navigable or nonnavigable, and including the beds and banks of all
34	34	watercourses and bodies of surface water, that are wholly or
35	35	partially inside or bordering the state or inside the jurisdiction
36	36	of the state, except waters beyond three nautical miles of any shore
37	37	in the state.
38	38	(b) The commission shall issue rules concerning the
39	39	disposal of sewage from boats located or operated on surface water
40	40	in the [inland fresh waters in this] state. The rules of the
41	41	commission shall include provisions for the establishment of
42	42	standards for sewage disposal devices, the certification of sewage
43	43	disposal devices, including shoreside and mobile boat [on-shore]
44	44	pump-out stations [facilities], and the visible and conspicuous
45	45	display of evidence of certification of sewage disposal devices on
46	46	each boat equipped with such device and on each shoreside and mobile
47	47	[on-shore] pump-out device.
48	48	(c) The commission may delegate the administration and
49	49	performance of the certification function to the executive director
50	50	or to another [any other] governmental entity that has appropriate
51	51	registration and law enforcement capabilities. The commission or
52	52	delegated authority shall collect the following fees from
53	53	applicants for certification:
54	54	Boat Pump-out Station (biennial) [Certificates (annual)]:
55	55	Initial Certificates for Pump-out $35
56	56	Pump-out Renewal $25
57	57	Marine Sanitation Device (biennial):
58	58	Boat over 26 Feet or Houseboat $15
59	59	Boat 26 Feet or less with Permanent Device $15
60	60	All certification fees shall be paid to the commission or delegated
61	61	authority [entity] performing the certification function. All fees
62	62	collected by any state agency shall be deposited to the credit of
63	63	the water resource management account for use by the commission or
64	64	delegated authority [that agency in administering and performing
65	65	the certification function].
66	66	(d) Before issuing any rules under Subsection (b) [of this
67	67	section], the commission or any person authorized by it under
68	68	Section 26.021 on request may [of this code shall] hold hearings on
69	69	those rules in Austin and in five other locations in the state in
70	70	order to provide the best opportunity for all citizens of the state
71	71	to appear and present evidence to the commission.
72	72	(f) Copies of each rule issued by the commission under this
73	73	section shall be filed in the offices of the commission in Austin,
74	74	in the office of the Secretary of State in Austin, and posted on the
75	75	commission's Internet website [the office of the county clerk in
76	76	each county in the state]. The commission shall provide for
77	77	publication of notice of each rule issued under this section in at
78	78	least one newspaper of general circulation in each county of the
79	79	state and shall furnish the county judge of each county of the state
80	80	a copy of the rules.
81	81	SECTION 2. Sections 26.045(a), (b), and (c), Water Code,
82	82	are amended to read as follows:
83	83	(a) In this section "boat," "boat pump-out station,"
84	84	"shoreside, mobile, or floating installation," and "surface water
85	85	in the state" have the meanings assigned by[:
86	86	[(1) "Boat" means the same as defined in] Section
87	87	26.044 [26.044(a), Water Code].
88	88	[(2) "Boat pump-out station" means any private or
89	89	public shoreside installation either independent of or in addition
90	90	to an organized waste collection, treatment, and disposal system
91	91	used to receive boat sewage.
92	92	[(3) "Shoreside installation" means marinas and other
93	93	installations servicing boats on fresh water of Texas.
94	94	[(4) "Fresh water" means as geographically applied all
95	95	of the surface lakes, streams, and reservoirs of the state,
96	96	exclusive of the extent of ordinary tidal action on this water.]
97	97	(b) After a public hearing and after making every reasonable
98	98	effort to bring about the establishment of an adequate number of
99	99	boat pump-out stations on surface [fresh] water in the state, the
100	100	commission may enter an order requiring the establishment of boat
101	101	pump-out stations by a local government that has any jurisdiction
102	102	over at least a portion of the surface [fresh] water in the state or
103	103	over land immediately adjacent to the [fresh] water.
104	104	(c) If a local government is authorized to issue
105	105	authorization for the operation of shoreside, mobile, or floating
106	106	installations, the local government may require the installation
107	107	and operation of boat pump-out stations where necessary. The local
108	108	government shall require the installation and operation of boat
109	109	pump-out stations if required by the commission.
110	110	SECTION 3. The heading to Section 31.129, Parks and
111	111	Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
112	112	Sec. 31.129. VIOLATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF SEWAGE DISPOSAL
113	113	REGULATIONS.
114	114	SECTION 4. Section 31.129, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
115	115	amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and
116	116	(d) to read as follows:
117	117	(a) A person who violates or fails to comply with a rule of
118	118	the Texas [Natural Resource Conservation] Commission on
119	119	Environmental Quality concerning the disposal of sewage from boats
120	120	commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code
121	121	misdemeanor. A separate offense is committed each day a violation
122	122	continues.
123	123	(c) A game warden or peace officer who is certified as a
124	124	marine safety enforcement officer under Section 31.121 may enforce
125	125	a rule of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concerning
126	126	the disposal of sewage from boats.
127	127	(d) A marine safety enforcement officer who reasonably
128	128	suspects that a boat is discharging sewage in an area where
129	129	discharge is prohibited may, if the owner or operator is aboard,
130	130	board the boat for the purpose of inspecting the marine sanitation
131	131	device for proper operation and testing the sanitation and holding
132	132	devices, including placing a dye tablet in the holding tank.
133	133	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.