By: Hegar S.B. No. 1478
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to permit review timelines of the surface mining and
reclamation division of the Railroad Commission of Texas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Act is to establish
timelines for the review of applications for surface coal mining
permits, renewals, and revisions.
SECTION 2. Section 134.004, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding the following:
(22) "Director" means the director, Surface Mining and
Reclamation Division, Railroad Commission of Texas, or the
director's representative.
SECTION 3. Subchapter F, Chapter 134, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Sections 134.135, 134.136, and 134.137
to read as follows:
Sec. 134.135. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW PERIOD FOR NEW PERMITS,
RENEWALS, AND SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS.
(a) The director shall complete a review to assess the
administrative completeness of any application submitted for a new
surface coal mine permit or the renewal or revision of such a permit
within one week of receipt of the application.
(1) If the application is found to be incomplete, the
letter will identify for the applicant the specific information
that causes an incompleteness determination and, upon the
applicant's submittal of the requested information, shall make a
determination whether the application is administratively complete
within one week of receipt of requested information.
(2) If the application is found to be administratively
complete, the application will be filed with the office of general
counsel for processing in accordance with commission rules and
Chapter 2001, Texas Government Code.
Sec. 134.136. TECHNICAL REVIEW PERIOD FOR NEW PERMITS,
RENEWALS, AND SIGNIFICANT REVISIONS.
(a) Within 120 days of receipt of an administratively
complete application for a new permit or significant permit
revision (or within 60 days for a renewal application), the
director shall file documentation of its technical analysis with
the commission's office of general counsel and contact the
applicant to schedule a meeting to discuss the technical analysis
review findings.
(1) If the applicant files a supplement to the
application, the director will follow the procedure outlined in
section 134.135(a) regarding administrative review and review the
supplement and respond with an addendum to its technical analysis
within 30 days of receiving an administratively complete
supplement, unless a substantive revision to the proposed mining
and operation plan is made to the application in the supplemental
filing.
(2) If a substantive revision is made in the
applicant's supplemental filing, the review shall be completed
within 60 days from receipt of an administratively complete
supplement.
(b) During this review time period the director will request
that the hearings examiner assigned to the case from the office of
general counsel review the public notice to ensure that no material
change, requiring additional notice, has occurred with this
supplemental filing to the application.
Sec. 134.137. REVIEW OF NONSIGNIFICANT REVISIONS
(a) Within 60 days of receipt of a complete application for
a non-significant permit revision, the director shall issue a
written response to the applicant either authorizing the requested
permit revision or providing a list of deficiency comments with
precise citations to applicable regulation sections.
(b) Within 30 days of receiving an applicant's response to
deficiency comments, the director shall issue a written response
authorizing the requested permit revision or setting out additional
deficiencies consistent with the process outlined in subsection (a)
of this section.
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act applies to
applications submitted on or after June 1, 2011. The director of
the railroad commission shall take all reasonable steps necessary
to ensure that applications still pending on the effective date of
this Act are processed within timeframes that are consistent with
permit review timeframes set out in this Act.