By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1572
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to land reclamation projects using tires.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.1127 to read as follows:
Sec. 361.1127. LAND RECLAMATION PROJECTS USING TIRES.
(a) In this section:
(1) "Land reclamation" means the process of restoring
an area of excavated, deteriorated, or disturbed land to its
approximate natural grade and to prepare or reclaim the land for
reuse.
(2) "Scrap tire" has the meaning assigned by Section
361.112.
(b) A person may not begin a land reclamation project using
scrap tires without a permit issued by the commission under this
chapter.
(c) A person may not use scrap tires for a land reclamation
project unless the tires are shredded, split, or quartered as
provided by commission rule. The commission may grant an exception
to this requirement if the commission finds that circumstances
warrant the exception.
(d) The commission may not grant a permit for a land
reclamation project using scrap tires before:
(1) the commission receives comments or suggestions
from:
(A) the governing body of any municipality in the
corporate limits of which the proposed project is located; or
(B) if the proposed project is not located in a
municipality:
(i) the commissioners court of each county
in which the proposed project is located; and
(ii) each groundwater conservation
district, if any, in which the proposed project is located; or
(2) the expiration of a time period, established by
commission rule, in which the entities described by this subsection
may offer comments.
(e) The application to request a permit for a land
reclamation project using scrap tires must include at a minimum:
(1) a legal description of the area to be reclaimed;
(2) a map clearly identifying the area to be reclaimed
and the topography of the area;
(3) an affidavit from the property owner certifying
that the reclamation project complies with this section and the
rules adopted under this section; and
(4) an analysis and evaluation of the environmental
impacts on the soil and groundwater in the area of the proposed
project that compare the impact of using scrap tires for the
proposed reclamation project to the impact of at least one
reasonable alternative method of land reclamation for the proposed
project.
(f) The commission by rule shall:
(1) prescribe minimum standards to protect the soil
and water for a land reclamation project using scrap tires; and
(2) adopt application forms and procedures for the
permitting process under this section.
(g) The commission may amend, extend, transfer, or renew a
permit issued under this section as provided by this chapter and
commission rule.
(h) The notice and hearing procedures provided by this
subchapter apply to a permit issued, amended, extended, or renewed
under this section.
(i) The commission may, for good cause, deny, revoke, or
amend a permit under this section for reasons concerning public
health and safety, air or water pollution, land use, or a violation
of this section as provided by Section 361.089.
SECTION 2. (a) Before September 1, 2010, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt any rules required
to implement Section 361.1127, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
(b) On or after the effective date of this Act, any person
responsible for an ongoing or pending land reclamation project
using scrap tires that has not yet placed the tires below ground may
not place the tires below ground until the person has obtained a
permit under Section 361.1127, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
(c) To the extent that a land reclamation project using
scrap tires has placed tires below ground before the effective date
of this Act, the project is subject to the law in effect on the date
the tires were placed below ground, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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, 2009.