By: Hegar S.B. No. 1134
(In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2011; March 16, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
April 7, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 7, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1134 By: Hegar
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of permits for certain facilities
regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.051961, 382.051962, and
382.051963 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.051961. PERMIT FOR CERTAIN OIL AND GAS
FACILITIES. (a) This section applies only to new facilities or
modifications of existing facilities that belong to Standard
Industrial Classification Codes 1311 (Crude Petroleum and Natural
Gas), 1321 (Natural Gas Liquids), 4612 (Crude Petroleum Pipelines),
4613 (Refined Petroleum Pipelines), 4922 (Natural Gas
Transmission), and 4923 (Natural Gas Transmission and
Distribution).
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
the commission may not adopt a new permit by rule or a new standard
permit or amend an existing permit by rule or an existing standard
permit relating to a facility to which this section applies unless
the commission:
(1) conducts a regulatory analysis as provided by
Section 2001.0225, Government Code;
(2) determines, based on the evaluation of credible
air quality monitoring data, that the emissions limits or other
emissions-related requirements of the permit are necessary to
protect public health and physical property;
(3) establishes emissions limits or other
requirements based on:
(A) the evaluation of air quality monitoring
data; and
(B) credible air quality modeling that is not
based on the worst-case scenario of emissions or other worst-case
modeling scenarios unless the actual air quality monitoring data
and evaluation of that data indicate that the worst-case scenario
of emissions or other worst-case modeling scenarios yield modeling
results that reflect the actual air quality monitoring data and
evaluation; and
(4) considers whether the requirements of the permit
should be imposed only on facilities that are located in a
particular geographic region of the state.
Sec. 382.051962. AUTHORIZATION FOR PLANNED MAINTENANCE,
START-UP, OR SHUTDOWN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO CERTAIN OIL AND GAS
FACILITIES. (a) In this section, "planned maintenance, start-up,
or shutdown activity" means an activity with emissions or opacity
that:
(1) is not expressly authorized by commission permit,
rule, or order and involves the maintenance, start-up, or shutdown
of a facility;
(2) is part of normal or routine facility operations;
(3) is predictable as to timing; and
(4) involves the type of emissions normally authorized
by permit.
(b) The commission may adopt one or more permits by rule or
one or more standard permits and may amend one or more existing
permits by rule or standard permits to authorize planned
maintenance, start-up, or shutdown activities for facilities
described by Section 382.051961(a). The adoption or amendment of a
permit under this subsection must comply with Section
382.051961(b).
(c) An unauthorized emission or opacity event from a planned
maintenance, start-up, or shutdown activity is subject to the
affirmative defense criteria established by commission rules as
those rules exist on the effective date of this section if:
(1) the emission or opacity event occurs at a facility
described by Section 382.051961(a);
(2) an application for a permit or permit amendment
under Subsection (b) is submitted to the commission on or before
January 5, 2014; and
(3) the affirmative defense criteria in the rules are
met.
(d) The affirmative defense described by Subsection (c) is
not available for a facility on or after the date that an
application to authorize the planned maintenance, start-up, or
shutdown activities of the facility is approved, denied, or voided.
Sec. 382.051963. AMENDMENT OF CERTAIN PERMITS. (a) A
permit by rule or standard permit that has been adopted by the
commission under this subchapter and is in effect on the effective
date of this section may be amended to require:
(1) the permit holder to provide to the commission
information about a facility authorized by the permit, including
the location of the facility; and
(2) a facility handling sour gas to be a minimum
distance from a recreational area, a residence, or another
structure unless the structure is not occupied or is used solely by
the operator of the facility or by the owner of the property upon
which the facility is located.
(b) The amendment of a permit under this section is not
subject to Section 382.051961(b).
SECTION 2. (a) Sections 382.051961, 382.051962, and
382.051963, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, apply only
to a new permit by rule or a new standard permit or any amendment to
an existing permit by rule or amendment to an existing standard
permit adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on
or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) A permit by rule or standard permit adopted by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality and in effect before the
effective date of this Act is not subject to Sections 382.051961 and
382.051962, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
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, 2011.
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