Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1693 Compare Versions

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1	1	S.B. No. 1693
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to the regulation of poultry facilities and poultry litter
6	6	by the State Soil and Water Conservation Board and to the
7	7	enforcement authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental
8	8	Quality.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
11	11	Code, is amended by adding Section 382.068 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 382.068. POULTRY FACILITY ODOR; RESPONSE TO
13	13	COMPLAINTS. (a) In this section, "poultry facility" and "poultry
14	14	litter" have the meanings assigned by Section 26.301, Water Code.
15	15	(b) The commission shall respond and investigate not later
16	16	than 18 hours after receiving:
17	17	(1) a second complaint against a poultry facility
18	18	concerning odor associated with:
19	19	(A) the facility; or
20	20	(B) the application of poultry litter to land by
21	21	the poultry facility; or
22	22	(2) a complaint concerning odor from a poultry
23	23	facility at which the commission has substantiated odor nuisance
24	24	conditions in the previous 12 months.
25	25	(c) If after the investigation the commission determines
26	26	that a poultry facility is violating the terms of its air quality
27	27	authorization or is creating a nuisance, the commission shall issue
28	28	a notice of violation.
29	29	(d) The commission by rule or order shall require the owner
30	30	or operator of a poultry facility for which the commission has
31	31	issued three notices of violation under this section during a
32	32	12-month period to enter into a comprehensive compliance agreement
33	33	with the commission. The compliance agreement must include an odor
34	34	control plan that the executive director determines is sufficient
35	35	to control odors.
36	36	(e) The owner or operator of a new poultry facility shall
37	37	complete a poultry facility training course on the prevention of
38	38	poultry facility odor nuisances from the poultry science unit of
39	39	the Texas AgriLife Extension Service not later than the 90th day
40	40	after the date the facility first accepts poultry to raise. The
41	41	owner or operator of a new poultry facility shall maintain records
42	42	of the training and make the records available to the commission for
43	43	inspection.
44	44	(f) The poultry science unit of the Texas AgriLife Extension
45	45	Service may charge an owner or operator of a poultry facility a
46	46	training fee to offset the direct cost of providing the training.
47	47	SECTION 2. Section 26.302, Water Code, is amended by adding
48	48	Subsections (b-2) and (b-3) to read as follows:
49	49	(b-2) The State Soil and Water Conservation Board in
50	50	consultation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality by
51	51	rule shall establish criteria to determine the geographic,
52	52	seasonal, and agronomic factors that the board will consider to
53	53	determine whether a persistent nuisance odor condition is likely to
54	54	occur when assessing the siting and construction of new poultry
55	55	facilities.
56	56	(b-3) The State Soil and Water Conservation Board may not
57	57	certify a water quality management plan for a poultry facility
58	58	located less than one-half of one mile from a business, off-site
59	59	permanently inhabited residence, or place of worship if the
60	60	presence of the facility is likely to create a persistent odor
61	61	nuisance for such neighbors, unless the poultry facility provides
62	62	an odor control plan the executive director determines is
63	63	sufficient to control odors. This subsection does not apply to:
64	64	(1) a revision of a previously certified and existing
65	65	water quality management plan unless the revision is necessary
66	66	because of an increase in poultry production of greater than 50
67	67	percent than the amount included in the existing certified water
68	68	quality management plan for the facility; or
69	69	(2) any poultry facility located more than one-half of
70	70	one mile from a surrounding business, permanently inhabited
71	71	off-site residence, or place of worship established before the date
72	72	of construction of the poultry facility.
73	73	SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
74	74	by adding Sections 26.304 and 26.305 to read as follows:
75	75	Sec. 26.304. RECORDS OF SALE, PURCHASE, TRANSFER, OR
76	76	APPLICATION OF POULTRY LITTER. (a) A poultry facility that sells
77	77	or transfers poultry litter for off-site application must maintain
78	78	until the second anniversary of the date of sale or transfer a
79	79	record regarding:
80	80	(1) the identity of the purchaser or applicator;
81	81	(2) the physical destination of the poultry litter
82	82	identified by the purchaser or transferee;
83	83	(3) the date the poultry litter was removed from the
84	84	poultry facility; and
85	85	(4) the number of tons of poultry litter removed.
86	86	(b) A person that purchases or obtains poultry litter for
87	87	land application must maintain until the second anniversary of the
88	88	date of application a signed and dated proof of delivery document
89	89	for every load of poultry litter applied to land. The landowner or
90	90	the owner's tenant or agent shall note on the document the date or
91	91	dates on which the poultry litter was applied to land.
92	92	(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to poultry litter that is:
93	93	(1) taken to a composting facility;
94	94	(2) used as a bio-fuel;
95	95	(3) used in a bio-gasification process; or
96	96	(4) otherwise beneficially used without being applied
97	97	to land.
98	98	Sec. 26.305. INSPECTION OF RECORDS. The commission may
99	99	inspect any record required to be maintained under this subchapter.
100	100	SECTION 4. Section 5.1175, Water Code, is amended to read as
101	101	follows:
102	102	Sec. 5.1175. PAYMENT OF PENALTY BY INSTALLMENT. (a) The
103	103	commission by rule may [shall] allow a person who [small business
104	104	that] owes a monetary civil or administrative penalty imposed for a
105	105	violation of law within the commission's jurisdiction or for a
106	106	violation of a license, permit, or order issued or rule adopted by
107	107	the commission to pay the penalty in periodic installments. The
108	108	rule must provide a procedure for a person [qualified small
109	109	business] to apply for permission to pay the penalty over time.
110	110	(b) [The rule must classify small businesses by their net
111	111	annual receipts and number of employees. A business that is a
112	112	wholly owned subsidiary of a corporation may not qualify as a small
113	113	business under this section.
114	114	[(c)] The rule may vary the period over which the penalty
115	115	may be paid or the amount of the periodic installments according to
116	116	the amount of the penalty owed and the size of the business that
117	117	owes the penalty. The period over which the penalty may be paid may
118	118	not exceed 36 [12] months.
119	119	SECTION 5. Section 7.002, Water Code, is amended to read as
120	120	follows:
121	121	Sec. 7.002. ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY. The commission may
122	122	initiate an action under this chapter to enforce provisions of this
123	123	code and the Health and Safety Code within the commission's
124	124	jurisdiction as provided by Section 5.013 of this code and rules
125	125	adopted under those provisions. The commission or the executive
126	126	director may institute legal proceedings to compel compliance with
127	127	the relevant provisions of this code and the Health and Safety Code
128	128	and rules, orders, permits, or other decisions of the commission.
129	129	The commission may delegate to the executive director the authority
130	130	to issue an administrative order, including an administrative order
131	131	that assesses penalties or orders corrective measures, to ensure
132	132	compliance with the provisions of this code and the Health and
133	133	Safety Code within the commission's jurisdiction as provided by
134	134	Section 5.013 of this code and rules adopted under those
135	135	provisions.
136	136	SECTION 6. Subsection (h), Section 26.0135, Water Code, is
137	137	amended to read as follows:
138	138	(h) The commission shall apportion, assess, and recover the
139	139	reasonable costs of administering the water quality management
140	140	programs under this section [from users of water and wastewater
141	141	permit holders in the watershed according to the records of the
142	142	commission generally in proportion to their right, through permit
143	143	or contract, to use water from and discharge wastewater in the
144	144	watershed]. Irrigation water rights, non-priority hydroelectric
145	145	rights of a water right holder that owns or operates privately owned
146	146	facilities that collectively have a capacity of less than two
147	147	megawatts, and water rights held in the Texas Water Trust for terms
148	148	of at least 20 years will not be subject to this assessment. The
149	149	cost to river authorities and others to conduct water quality
150	150	monitoring and assessment shall be subject to prior review and
151	151	approval by the commission as to methods of allocation and total
152	152	amount to be recovered. The commission shall adopt rules to
153	153	supervise and implement the water quality monitoring, assessment,
154	154	and associated costs. The rules shall ensure that water users and
155	155	wastewater dischargers do not pay excessive amounts, [that program
156	156	funds are equitably apportioned among basins,] that a river
157	157	authority may recover no more than the actual costs of
158	158	administering the water quality management programs called for in
159	159	this section, and that no municipality shall be assessed cost for
160	160	any efforts that duplicate water quality management activities
161	161	described in Section 26.177. [The rules concerning the
162	162	apportionment and assessment of reasonable costs shall provide for
163	163	a recovery of not more than $5,000,000 annually. Costs recovered by
164	164	the commission are to be deposited to the credit of the water
165	165	resource management account and may be used only to accomplish the
166	166	purposes of this section. The commission may apply not more than 10
167	167	percent of the costs recovered annually toward the commission's
168	168	overhead costs for the administration of this section and the
169	169	implementation of regional water quality assessments. The
170	170	commission, with the assistance and input of each river authority,
171	171	shall file a written report accounting for the costs recovered
172	172	under this section with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and
173	173	the speaker of the house of representatives on or before December 1
174	174	of each even-numbered year.]
175	175	SECTION 7. The change in law made by Subsection (e), Section
176	176	382.068, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies only
177	177	to an owner or operator of a poultry facility the construction of
178	178	which begins on or after the effective date of this Act. An owner or
179	179	operator of a poultry facility the construction of which began
180	180	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
181	181	effect at the time the construction of the facility began, and the
182	182	former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
183	183	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
184	184	______________________________ ______________________________
185	185	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
186	186	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1693 passed the Senate on
187	187	April 24, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that
188	188	the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 30, 2009, by the
189	189	following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
190	190	______________________________
191	191	Secretary of the Senate
192	192	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1693 passed the House, with
193	193	amendments, on May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
194	194	Nays 0, two present not voting.
195	195	______________________________
196	196	Chief Clerk of the House
197	197	Approved:
198	198	______________________________
199	199	Date
200	200	______________________________
201	201	Governor