Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1385 Compare Versions

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1	1	83R28409 JRR-D
2	2	By: Hancock S.B. No. 1385
3	3	(Geren)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1385: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to notification procedures regarding the Texas Commission
10	10	on Environmental Quality.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Section 7.001, Water Code, is
13	13	amended to read as follows:
14	14	(1) "Commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource
15	15	Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality.
16	16	SECTION 2. Section 7.003, Water Code, is amended by adding
17	17	Subsection (d) to read as follows:
18	18	(d) The commission shall publish each report required under
19	19	Subsection (a) on the commission's Internet website not later than
20	20	the 15th day before the date of any meeting of the commission for
21	21	which public notice is given.
22	22	SECTION 3. Section 7.056, Water Code, is amended to read as
23	23	follows:
24	24	Sec. 7.056. CONSENT. Not later than the 30th [20th] day
25	25	after the date on which notice is received, the person charged may
26	26	give to the commission written or electronic consent to the
27	27	executive director's report, including the recommended penalty, or
28	28	make a written or electronic request for a hearing.
29	29	SECTION 4. Section 7.060, Water Code, is amended to read as
30	30	follows:
31	31	Sec. 7.060. NOTICE OF PENALTY. If the commission is
32	32	required to give notice of a penalty under Section 7.057 or 7.059,
33	33	the commission shall publish notice of its decision in the Texas
34	34	Register and on the commission's Internet website not later than
35	35	the 10th day after the date on which the decision is adopted.
36	36	SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 7.075, Water Code, is
37	37	amended to read as follows:
38	38	(a) Before the commission approves an administrative order
39	39	or proposed agreement to settle an administrative enforcement
40	40	action initiated under this subchapter to which the commission is a
41	41	party, the commission shall allow the public to comment in writing
42	42	on the proposed order or agreement. Notice of the opportunity to
43	43	comment shall be published in the Texas Register and on the
44	44	commission's Internet website not later than the 30th day before
45	45	the date on which the public comment period closes.
46	46	SECTION 6. Subsection (b), Section 7.110, Water Code, is
47	47	amended to read as follows:
48	48	(b) Notice of the opportunity to comment shall be published
49	49	in the Texas Register and on the commission's Internet website not
50	50	later than the 30th day before the date on which the public comment
51	51	period closes.
52	52	SECTION 7. Section 7.305, Water Code, is amended to read as
53	53	follows:
54	54	Sec. 7.305. PROCEDURES. The commission by rule shall
55	55	establish procedures for public notice and any public hearing under
56	56	this subchapter. The procedures shall:
57	57	(1) provide for notice to a county that issued a
58	58	license, certificate, or registration that is the subject of the
59	59	hearing; and
60	60	(2) require notice to be posted on the commission's
61	61	Internet website.
62	62	SECTION 8. Section 7.355, Water Code, is amended to read as
63	63	follows:
64	64	Sec. 7.355. COMPLAINTS. In the case of a violation of
65	65	Chapter 401, Health and Safety Code, a local government or person
66	66	affected may file with the commission a written or electronic
67	67	complaint and may request an investigation of an alleged violation
68	68	by a person who holds a permit subject to the commission's
69	69	jurisdiction.
70	70	SECTION 9. Section 7.357, Water Code, is amended to read as
71	71	follows:
72	72	Sec. 7.357. PROSECUTION. A local government or, in the case
73	73	of a violation of Chapter 401, Health and Safety Code, a person
74	74	affected as defined in that chapter may bring suit in the county in
75	75	which the alleged violation occurred or is about to occur, if the
76	76	commission does not have a suit filed before the 121st day after the
77	77	date on which the written or electronic complaint is filed under
78	78	Section 7.355.
79	79	SECTION 10. Subdivisions (2) and (4), Section 26.001, Water
80	80	Code, are amended to read as follows:
81	81	(2) "Commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource
82	82	Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality.
83	83	(4) "Executive director" means the executive director
84	84	of the Texas [Natural Resource Conservation] Commission on
85	85	Environmental Quality.
86	86	SECTION 11. Subsection (b), Section 26.022, Water Code, is
87	87	amended to read as follows:
88	88	(b) Notice of the hearing shall be published on the
89	89	commission's Internet website and at least once in a newspaper
90	90	regularly published or circulated in each county where, by virtue
91	91	of the county's geographical relation to the subject matter of the
92	92	hearing, the commission has reason to believe persons reside who
93	93	may be affected by the action that may be taken as a result of the
94	94	hearing. The date of the publication shall be not less than 20 days
95	95	before the date set for the hearing.
96	96	SECTION 12. Subsection (a), Section 26.025, Water Code, is
97	97	amended to read as follows:
98	98	(a) The commission shall provide notice of a hearing under
99	99	Section 26.024 of this code by publishing the notice in the Texas
100	100	Register and on the commission's Internet website.
101	101	SECTION 13. Section 26.026, Water Code, is amended to read
102	102	as follows:
103	103	Sec. 26.026. STANDARDS TO BE PUBLISHED. The commission
104	104	shall publish on its Internet website its water quality standards
105	105	and amendments and shall make copies available to the public on
106	106	written request.
107	107	SECTION 14. Section 26.342, Water Code, is amended by
108	108	adding Subdivision (2-a) to read as follows:
109	109	(2-a) "Closure letter" means a letter issued by the
110	110	commission that states that, based on the information available,
111	111	the commission agrees that corrective action has been completed for
112	112	the referenced release in accordance with commission requirements.
113	113	SECTION 15. Section 26.3465, Water Code, is amended to read
114	114	as follows:
115	115	Sec. 26.3465. FAILURE OR REFUSAL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF
116	116	REGISTRATION OR CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE. An owner or operator
117	117	of an underground storage tank who fails or refuses to provide,
118	118	before the 21st day after the date of receipt of a [on] request of
119	119	the commission, proof of registration of or certification of
120	120	compliance for an underground storage tank is liable for a civil
121	121	penalty under Subchapter D, Chapter 7.
122	122	SECTION 16. Subsection (k), Section 26.3512, Water Code, is
123	123	amended to read as follows:
124	124	(k) An owner or operator of a site for which a closure letter
125	125	has been issued under Section 26.3572 shall pay under Subsection
126	126	(b)(1) not more than the first $50,000 of expenses for corrective
127	127	action for each occurrence.
128	128	SECTION 17. Subsection (f), Section 26.352, Water Code, is
129	129	amended to read as follows:
130	130	(f) The commission shall enforce this section and may impose
131	131	administrative and civil penalties on the owners or operators of
132	132	underground storage tanks if acceptable evidence of financial
133	133	responsibility is not maintained. The amount of an administrative
134	134	or civil penalty imposed under this subsection may not be less than
135	135	the annual cost, as estimated by the commission, of maintaining the
136	136	minimum insurance coverage required in the State of Texas for the
137	137	tank as determined under Subsection (c).
138	138	SECTION 18. Section 26.3572, Water Code, is amended by
139	139	adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
140	140	(e) The commission shall give notice of its decision to
141	141	approve or disapprove a site assessment under this section not
142	142	later than the 10th day after the date on which the decision is
143	143	adopted.
144	144	(f) The commission may not issue a closure letter under
145	145	Subsection (b) for a site at which a responsible party is conducting
146	146	corrective action until the owner or operator submits a signed
147	147	statement certifying that the requirements of the corrective action
148	148	plan have been accomplished. Once a closure letter has been issued,
149	149	a party other than the commission may not seek penalties or
150	150	enforcement against the responsible party for the acts or events
151	151	that are the subject of the closure letter except to enforce the
152	152	terms of the closure letter. This subsection does not apply to sites
153	153	at which the commission is conducting corrective action.
154	154	(g) If an owner or operator of a site submits to the
155	155	commission a signed certification under Subsection (f), the
156	156	commission shall notify the state senator and state representative
157	157	in whose district the site lies of that certification.
158	158	SECTION 19. Section 26.362, Water Code, is amended to read
159	159	as follows:
160	160	Sec. 26.362. SUIT TO TEST VALIDITY OF CLOSURE LETTER. The
161	161	commission is immune from liability in any action against the
162	162	commission to test the validity of a closure letter issued under
163	163	Section 26.3572 if the letter is issued in accordance with that
164	164	section and commission rules.
165	165	SECTION 20. This Act takes effect immediately if it
166	166	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
167	167	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
168	168	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
169	169	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.