By: Pickett, Smith of Harris H.B. No. 630
(Senate Sponsor - Nichols)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 12, 2011;
April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation and Homeland Security; May 16, 2011, reported
adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 16, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 630 By: Nichols
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the environmental review process for transportation
projects.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 201.607, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) Not later than January 1, 1997, and every fifth year
after that date, the department and each state agency that is
responsible for the protection of the natural environment or for
the preservation of historical or archeological resources shall
examine and revise their memorandum of understanding that:
(1) describes the responsibilities of each agency
entering into the memorandum relating to the review of the
potential environmental, historical, or archeological effect of a
highway project;
(2) specifies the responsibilities of each agency
entering into the memorandum relating to the review of a highway
project;
(3) specifies the types of information the department
must provide to the reviewing agency and the period during which the
department must provide the information;
(4) specifies the period during which the reviewing
agency must review the highway project and provide comments to the
department, as negotiated by the department and the agency but
which may not exceed 45 days after the date the agency receives a
request for comments from the department; [and]
(5) specifies that comments submitted to the
department later than the period specified under Subdivision (4)
will be considered by the department to the extent possible; and
(6) includes any other agreement necessary for the
effective coordination of the review of the environmental,
historical, or archeological effect of a highway project.
(c) The department by rule shall establish procedures
concerning coordination with agencies in carrying out
responsibilities under agreements under this section.
SECTION 2. (a) Chapter 201, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subchapter I-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I-1. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS
Sec. 201.751. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Day" means a calendar day.
(2) "Federal Highway Administration" means the United
States Department of Transportation Federal Highway
Administration.
(3) "Highway project" means a highway or related
improvement that is:
(A) part of the state highway system; or
(B) not part of the state highway system but
funded wholly or partly by federal money.
(4) "Local government sponsor" means a political
subdivision of the state that:
(A) elects to participate in the planning,
development, design, funding, or financing of a highway project;
and
(B) is a municipality or a county, a group of
adjoining counties, a county acting under Chapter 284, a regional
tollway authority operating under Chapter 366, a regional mobility
authority operating under Chapter 370, a local government
corporation, or a transportation corporation created under Chapter
431.
Sec. 201.752. STANDARDS. (a) The commission by rule shall
establish standards for processing an environmental review
document for a highway project. The standards must increase
efficiency, minimize delays, and encourage collaboration and
cooperation by the department with a local government sponsor, with
a goal of prompt approval of legally sufficient documents.
(b) The standards apply regardless of whether the
environmental review document is prepared by the department or a
local government sponsor. The standards apply to work performed by
the sponsor and to the department's review process and
environmental decision.
(c) The standards must address, for each type of
environmental review document:
(1) the issues and subject matter to be included in the
project scope prepared under Section 201.754;
(2) the required content of a draft environmental
review document;
(3) the process to be followed in considering each
type of environmental review document; and
(4) review deadlines, including the deadlines in
Section 201.759.
(d) The standards must include a process for resolving
disputes arising under this subchapter, provided that the dispute
resolution process must be concluded not later than the 60th day
after the date either party requests dispute resolution.
(e) For highway projects described in Section 201.753(a),
the standards may provide a process and criteria for the
prioritization of environmental review documents in the event the
department makes a finding that it lacks adequate resources to
timely process all documents it receives. Standards established
pursuant to this subsection must provide for notification to a
local government sponsor if processing of an environmental review
document is to be delayed due to prioritization, and must ensure
that the environmental review document for each highway project
will be completed no later than one year prior to the date planned
for publishing notice to let the construction contract for the
project, as indicated in a document identifying the project under
Section 201.753(a)(1) or a commission order under Section
201.753(a)(2).
Sec. 201.753. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW LIMITED TO CERTAIN
PROJECTS. (a) A local government sponsor or the department may
prepare an environmental review document for a highway project only
if the highway project is:
(1) identified in the financially constrained portion
of the approved state transportation improvement program or the
financially constrained portion of the approved unified
transportation program; or
(2) identified by the commission as being eligible for
participation under this subchapter.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a local government
sponsor may prepare an environmental review document for a highway
project that is not identified by the commission or in a program
described by Subsection (a) if the sponsor submits with its notice
under Section 201.755 a fee in an amount established by commission
rule, but not to exceed the actual cost of reviewing the
environmental review document.
(c) A fee received by the department under Subsection (b)
must be deposited in the state highway fund and used to pay costs
incurred under this subchapter.
Sec. 201.754. SCOPE OF PROJECT. If an environmental review
document is prepared by a local government sponsor, the local
government sponsor must prepare a detailed scope of the project in
collaboration with the department before the department may process
the environmental review document.
Sec. 201.755. NOTICE TO DEPARTMENT. (a) A local
government sponsor may submit notice to the department proposing
that the local government sponsor prepare the environmental review
document for a highway project.
(b) The notice must include:
(1) the project scope prepared under Section 201.754;
and
(2) a request for classification of the project.
Sec. 201.756. LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPONSOR RESPONSIBILITIES. A
local government sponsor that submits notice under Section 201.755
is responsible for preparing all materials for:
(1) project scope determination;
(2) environmental reports;
(3) the environmental review document;
(4) environmental permits and conditions;
(5) coordination with resource agencies; and
(6) public participation.
Sec. 201.757. DETERMINATION OF ADMINISTRATIVELY COMPLETE
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW DOCUMENT. (a) A local government sponsor's
submission of an environmental review document must include a
statement from the local government sponsor that the document is
administratively complete, ready for technical review, and
compliant with all applicable requirements.
(b) Not later than the 20th day after the date the
department receives a local government sponsor's environmental
review document, the department shall either:
(1) issue a letter confirming that the document is
administratively complete and ready for technical review; or
(2) decline to issue a letter confirming that the
document is administratively complete and ready for technical
review, in accordance with Section 201.758.
Sec. 201.758. DEPARTMENT DECLINES TO CONFIRM THAT DOCUMENT
IS ADMINISTRATIVELY COMPLETE. (a) The department may decline to
issue a letter confirming that an environmental review document is
administratively complete and ready for technical review only if
the department sends a written response to the local government
sponsor specifying in reasonable detail the basis for its
conclusions, including a listing of any required information
determined by the department to be missing from the document.
(b) If the department provides notice under Subsection (a),
the department shall undertake all reasonable efforts to cooperate
with the local government sponsor in a timely manner to ensure that
the environmental review document is administratively complete.
(c) The local government sponsor may resubmit any
environmental review document determined by the department under
Section 201.757 not to be administratively complete, and the
department shall issue a determination letter on the resubmitted
document not later than the 20th day after the date the document is
resubmitted.
Sec. 201.759. REVIEW DEADLINES. (a) The following
deadlines must be included in the standards adopted under Section
201.752:
(1) the department shall issue a classification letter
not later than the 30th day after the date the department receives
notice from a local government sponsor under Section 201.755;
(2) for a project classified as a programmatic
categorical exclusion, the environmental decision must be rendered
not later than the 60th day after the date the supporting
documentation is received by the department;
(3) for a project classified as a categorical
exclusion, the environmental decision must be rendered not later
than the 90th day after the date the supporting documentation is
received by the department;
(4) for a project that requires the preparation of an
environmental assessment:
(A) the department must provide all department
comments on a draft environmental assessment not later than the
90th day after the date the draft is received by the department; and
(B) the department must render the environmental
decision on the project not later than the 60th day after the later
of:
(i) the date the revised environmental
assessment is submitted to the department; or
(ii) the date the public involvement
process concludes;
(5) the department must render the environmental
decision on any reevaluation not later than the 120th day after the
date the supporting documentation is received by the department;
and
(6) for a project that requires the preparation of an
environmental impact statement, the department shall render the
environmental decision not later than the 120th day after the date
the draft final environmental impact statement is submitted.
(b) Review deadlines under this section specify the date by
which the department will render the environmental decision on a
project or the time frames by which the department will make a
recommendation to the Federal Highway Administration, as
applicable.
(c) A deadline that falls on a weekend or official state
holiday is considered to occur on the next business day.
Sec. 201.760. SUSPENSION OF TIME PERIODS. The computation
of review deadlines under Section 201.759 does not begin until an
environmental review document is determined to be administratively
complete, and is suspended during any period in which:
(1) the document that is the subject of the review is
being revised by or on behalf of the local government sponsor in
response to department comments;
(2) the highway project is the subject of additional
work, including a change in design of the project, and during the
identification and resolution of new significant issues; or
(3) the local government sponsor is preparing a
response to any issue raised by legal counsel for the department
concerning compliance with applicable law.
Sec. 201.761. AGREEMENT BETWEEN LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPONSOR
AND DEPARTMENT. Notwithstanding any provision of this subchapter
or any other law, a local government sponsor and the department may
enter into an agreement that defines the relative roles and
responsibilities of the parties in the preparation and review of
environmental review documents for a specific project. For a
project for which an environmental decision requires the approval
of the Federal Highway Administration and to the extent otherwise
permitted by law, the Federal Highway Administration may also be a
party to an agreement between a local government sponsor and the
department under this section.
Sec. 201.762. REPORTS TO COMMISSION AND LEGISLATURE.
(a) Not later than June 30 and December 31 of each year, the
department shall submit a report to the commission at a regularly
scheduled commission meeting identifying projects being processed
under the procedures of this subchapter and the status of each
project, including:
(1) how the project was classified for environmental
review;
(2) the current status of the environmental review;
(3) the date on which the department is required to
make an environmental decision under applicable deadlines;
(4) an explanation of any delays; and
(5) any deadline under Section 201.759 missed by the
department.
(b) Not later than December 1 of each year, the department
shall submit a report to the members of the standing legislative
committees with primary jurisdiction over matters related to
transportation regarding the implementation of this subchapter,
including a status report for the preceding 12-month period that
contains the information described in Subsection (a).
(c) The department shall post copies of the reports required
under this section on its Internet website and shall provide a copy
of the report required by Subsection (b) to each member of the
legislature who has at least one project covered by the report in
the member's district.
(d) The department shall make available on its Internet
website and update regularly the status of projects being processed
under this subchapter.
(b) The Texas Transportation Commission shall adopt rules
to implement Subchapter I-1, Chapter 201, Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, not later than March 1, 2012.
(c) Subchapter I-1, Chapter 201, Transportation Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to a notice of a local government
sponsor proposing the sponsor's preparation of an environmental
review document that is received by the Texas Department of
Transportation on or after the effective date of this Act.
Submissions to the Texas Department of Transportation received
before the effective date of this Act are governed by the law in
effect on the date the submission was received, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 222, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 222.005 and 222.006 to read as
follows:
Sec. 222.005. AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO
EXPEDITE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW. (a) The department, a county, a
regional tollway authority operating under Chapter 366, or a
regional mobility authority operating under Chapter 370 may enter
into an agreement to provide funds to a state or federal agency to
expedite the agency's performance of its duties related to the
environmental review process for the applicable entity's
transportation projects, including those listed in the applicable
metropolitan planning organization's long-range transportation
plan under 23 U.S.C. Section 134.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an agreement
entered into under this section:
(1) may specify transportation projects the
applicable entity considers to be priorities for review; and
(2) must require the agency receiving money to
complete the environmental review in less time than is customary
for the completion of environmental review by that agency.
(c) The department may enter into a separate agreement for a
transportation project that the department determines has regional
importance.
(d) An agreement entered into under this section does not
diminish or modify the rights of the public regarding review and
comment on transportation projects.
(e) An entity entering into an agreement under this section
shall make the agreement available on the entity's Internet
website.
Sec. 222.006. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW CERTIFICATION PROCESS.
The department by rule shall establish a process to certify
department district environmental specialists to work on all
documents related to state and federal environmental review
processes. The certification process must:
(1) be available to department employees; and
(2) require continuing education for recertification.
SECTION 4. Section 12.0011, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) Recommendations and information submitted by the
department under Subsection (b) in response to a request for
comments from the Texas Department of Transportation must be
submitted not later than the 45th day after the date the department
receives the request.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 201.607, Transportation
Code, as amended by this Act, and Subsection (b-1), Section
12.0011, Parks and Wildlife Code, as added by this Act, apply only
to a request for comments from the Texas Department of
Transportation received by a state agency on or after the effective
date of this Act. As necessary, the Texas Department of
Transportation and each affected state agency shall promptly revise
the memorandum of understanding required by Section 201.607,
Transportation Code, to implement the change made by this Act to
Subsection (a), Section 201.607, Transportation Code.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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