By: Uresti S.B. No. 1520
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
May 4, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9,
Nays 0; May 4, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the consideration of applications for permits for
certain commercial solid waste processing or treatment facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 361.0865 to read as follows:
Sec. 361.0865. CONSIDERATION OF PROCESSING OR TREATMENT
FACILITY PERMIT APPLICATIONS. (a) This section applies only to an
application for the issuance, amendment, extension, or renewal of a
permit for a commercial facility that accepts nonhazardous liquid
waste from municipal or industrial sources for processing or
treatment. This section does not apply to a facility owned or
operated by or affiliated with:
(1) a local government; or
(2) a person who holds a permit to dispose of
hazardous, municipal, or industrial solid waste.
(b) The commission may not issue, amend, extend, or renew a
permit unless the commission determines that the applicant
possesses adequate technical, managerial, and financial ability to
operate the facility safely and in compliance with all applicable
legal requirements. The commission shall consider, at a minimum:
(1) financial assurance information described by
Section 361.085(a);
(2) evidence of the professional qualifications of the
management or principals of the applicant;
(3) evidence of training, licensure, certification,
or relevant experience of individuals employed by the applicant who
are or will be involved in the operation of the facility;
(4) whether the applicant has a compliance history
classification as a poor or average performer, as determined by
rules adopted under Section 5.754, Water Code, or does not have a
compliance history;
(5) information related to past compliance, in
addition to the information provided under Section 361.084, as
required by the commission, including information indicating:
(A) for the preceding five years, whether, in
connection with an unauthorized acceptance or discharge of waste:
(i) the applicant has been assessed a civil
or criminal penalty;
(ii) two or more administrative orders that
assess penalties against the applicant or order the applicant to
take corrective measures have been issued by the commission; or
(iii) four or more notices of violation
have been issued by the commission to the applicant; and
(B) for the preceding 10 years, whether the
facility, the applicant, the principal shareholders of the owner of
the facility, or the individuals employed by the facility who are or
will be responsible for the operation of the facility have been
convicted of a violation of any environmental law; and
(6) any other evidence required by the commission
relating to the applicant's intent to comply with all applicable
legal requirements.
(c) The commission by rule shall adopt standards for making
a determination under Subsection (b).
(d) The commission may impose conditions on the issuance,
amendment, extension, or renewal of a permit designed to increase
the likelihood of the applicant's operation of the facility safely
and in compliance with all applicable legal requirements.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by Section 361.0865,
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, apply only to an
application for the issuance, amendment, extension, or renewal of a
permit that is received by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. An application
that is received before that date is governed by the law in effect
at the time the application is received, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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