By: Uresti S.B. No. 2445
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disposal of sewage by boats.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 26.044(a), (b), (d), and (f), Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) As used in this section, "boat" means any vessel or
other watercraft, whether moved by oars, paddles, sails, or other
power mechanism, inboard or outboard, or any other vessel or
structure floating on water of the [in this] state, whether or not
capable of self-locomotion, including but not limited to cabin
cruisers, houseboats, barges, marinas, and similar floating
objects.
(b) The commission shall issue rules concerning the
disposal of sewage from boats located or operated on water of the
[inland fresh waters in this] state. The rules of the commission
shall include provisions for the establishment of standards for
sewage disposal devices, the certification of sewage disposal
devices, including on-shore and mobile pump-out facilities, and the
visible and conspicuous display of evidence of certification of
sewage disposal devices on each boat equipped with such device and
on each on-shore and mobile pump-out device.
(d) Before issuing any rules under Subsection (b) [of this
section], the commission or any person authorized by it under
Section 26.021 on request may [of this code shall] hold hearings on
those rules in Austin and in five other locations in the state in
order to provide the best opportunity for all citizens of the state
to appear and present evidence to the commission.
(f) Copies of each rule issued by the commission under this
section shall be filed in the offices of the commission in Austin,
in the office of the Secretary of State in Austin, the office of the
county clerk in each county in the state, and posted on the
commission's Internet website. The commission shall provide for
publication of notice of each rule issued under this section in at
least one newspaper of general circulation in each county of the
state and shall furnish the county judge of each county of the state
a copy of the rules.
SECTION 2. Sections 26.045(a), (b), and (c), Water Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) In this section:
(1) "Boat" means the same as defined in Section
26.044(a), Water Code.
(2) "Boat pump-out station" means any private or
public shoreside, mobile, or floating installation either
independent of or in addition to an organized waste collection,
treatment, and disposal system used to receive boat sewage.
(3) "Shoreside, mobile, or floating installation"
means marinas and other installations servicing boats on water of
the state [fresh water of Texas].
(4) "Water of the state" ["Fresh water"] means [as
geographically applied] all waters of the state except waters
beyond three nautical miles of any shore in the state [of the
surface lakes, streams, and reservoirs of the state, exclusive of
the extent of ordinary tidal action on this water].
(b) After a public hearing and after making every reasonable
effort to bring about the establishment of an adequate number of
boat pump-out stations on [fresh] water of the state, the
commission may enter an order requiring the establishment of boat
pump-out stations by a local government that has any jurisdiction
over at least a portion of the [fresh] water of the state or over
land immediately adjacent to the [fresh] water.
(c) If a local government is authorized to issue
authorization for the operation of shoreside, mobile, or floating
installations, the local government may require the installation
and operation of boat pump-out stations where necessary. The local
government shall require the installation and operation of boat
pump-out stations if required by the commission.
SECTION 3. The heading to Section 31.129, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 31.129. VIOLATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF SEWAGE DISPOSAL
REGULATIONS.
SECTION 4. Section 31.129, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c) and
(d) to read as follows:
(a) A person who violates or fails to comply with a rule of
the Texas [Natural Resource Conservation] Commission on
Environmental Quality concerning the disposal of sewage from boats
commits an offense that is a Class C Parks and Wildlife Code
misdemeanor. A separate offense is committed each day a violation
continues.
(c) A game warden or peace officer who is certified as a
marine safety enforcement officer under Section 31.121 may enforce
a rule of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concerning
the disposal of sewage from boats.
(d) A marine safety enforcement officer who reasonably
suspects that a boat is discharging sewage in an area where
discharge is prohibited may, if the owner or operator is aboard,
board the boat for the purpose of inspecting the marine sanitation
device for proper operation and placing a dye tablet in the holding
tank.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.