83R28409 JRR-D
By: Hancock S.B. No. 1385
(Geren)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1385: No.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to notification procedures regarding the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Section 7.001, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource
Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality.
SECTION 2. Section 7.003, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The commission shall publish each report required under
Subsection (a) on the commission's Internet website not later than
the 15th day before the date of any meeting of the commission for
which public notice is given.
SECTION 3. Section 7.056, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.056. CONSENT. Not later than the 30th [20th] day
after the date on which notice is received, the person charged may
give to the commission written or electronic consent to the
executive director's report, including the recommended penalty, or
make a written or electronic request for a hearing.
SECTION 4. Section 7.060, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.060. NOTICE OF PENALTY. If the commission is
required to give notice of a penalty under Section 7.057 or 7.059,
the commission shall publish notice of its decision in the Texas
Register and on the commission's Internet website not later than
the 10th day after the date on which the decision is adopted.
SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 7.075, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Before the commission approves an administrative order
or proposed agreement to settle an administrative enforcement
action initiated under this subchapter to which the commission is a
party, the commission shall allow the public to comment in writing
on the proposed order or agreement. Notice of the opportunity to
comment shall be published in the Texas Register and on the
commission's Internet website not later than the 30th day before
the date on which the public comment period closes.
SECTION 6. Subsection (b), Section 7.110, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Notice of the opportunity to comment shall be published
in the Texas Register and on the commission's Internet website not
later than the 30th day before the date on which the public comment
period closes.
SECTION 7. Section 7.305, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.305. PROCEDURES. The commission by rule shall
establish procedures for public notice and any public hearing under
this subchapter. The procedures shall:
(1) provide for notice to a county that issued a
license, certificate, or registration that is the subject of the
hearing; and
(2) require notice to be posted on the commission's
Internet website.
SECTION 8. Section 7.355, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.355. COMPLAINTS. In the case of a violation of
Chapter 401, Health and Safety Code, a local government or person
affected may file with the commission a written or electronic
complaint and may request an investigation of an alleged violation
by a person who holds a permit subject to the commission's
jurisdiction.
SECTION 9. Section 7.357, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 7.357. PROSECUTION. A local government or, in the case
of a violation of Chapter 401, Health and Safety Code, a person
affected as defined in that chapter may bring suit in the county in
which the alleged violation occurred or is about to occur, if the
commission does not have a suit filed before the 121st day after the
date on which the written or electronic complaint is filed under
Section 7.355.
SECTION 10. Subdivisions (2) and (4), Section 26.001, Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(2) "Commission" means the Texas [Natural Resource
Conservation] Commission on Environmental Quality.
(4) "Executive director" means the executive director
of the Texas [Natural Resource Conservation] Commission on
Environmental Quality.
SECTION 11. Subsection (b), Section 26.022, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Notice of the hearing shall be published on the
commission's Internet website and at least once in a newspaper
regularly published or circulated in each county where, by virtue
of the county's geographical relation to the subject matter of the
hearing, the commission has reason to believe persons reside who
may be affected by the action that may be taken as a result of the
hearing. The date of the publication shall be not less than 20 days
before the date set for the hearing.
SECTION 12. Subsection (a), Section 26.025, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall provide notice of a hearing under
Section 26.024 of this code by publishing the notice in the Texas
Register and on the commission's Internet website.
SECTION 13. Section 26.026, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 26.026. STANDARDS TO BE PUBLISHED. The commission
shall publish on its Internet website its water quality standards
and amendments and shall make copies available to the public on
written request.
SECTION 14. Section 26.342, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (2-a) to read as follows:
(2-a) "Closure letter" means a letter issued by the
commission that states that, based on the information available,
the commission agrees that corrective action has been completed for
the referenced release in accordance with commission requirements.
SECTION 15. Section 26.3465, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 26.3465. FAILURE OR REFUSAL TO PROVIDE PROOF OF
REGISTRATION OR CERTIFICATION OF COMPLIANCE. An owner or operator
of an underground storage tank who fails or refuses to provide,
before the 21st day after the date of receipt of a [on] request of
the commission, proof of registration of or certification of
compliance for an underground storage tank is liable for a civil
penalty under Subchapter D, Chapter 7.
SECTION 16. Subsection (k), Section 26.3512, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(k) An owner or operator of a site for which a closure letter
has been issued under Section 26.3572 shall pay under Subsection
(b)(1) not more than the first $50,000 of expenses for corrective
action for each occurrence.
SECTION 17. Subsection (f), Section 26.352, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(f) The commission shall enforce this section and may impose
administrative and civil penalties on the owners or operators of
underground storage tanks if acceptable evidence of financial
responsibility is not maintained. The amount of an administrative
or civil penalty imposed under this subsection may not be less than
the annual cost, as estimated by the commission, of maintaining the
minimum insurance coverage required in the State of Texas for the
tank as determined under Subsection (c).
SECTION 18. Section 26.3572, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
(e) The commission shall give notice of its decision to
approve or disapprove a site assessment under this section not
later than the 10th day after the date on which the decision is
adopted.
(f) The commission may not issue a closure letter under
Subsection (b) for a site at which a responsible party is conducting
corrective action until the owner or operator submits a signed
statement certifying that the requirements of the corrective action
plan have been accomplished. Once a closure letter has been issued,
a party other than the commission may not seek penalties or
enforcement against the responsible party for the acts or events
that are the subject of the closure letter except to enforce the
terms of the closure letter. This subsection does not apply to sites
at which the commission is conducting corrective action.
(g) If an owner or operator of a site submits to the
commission a signed certification under Subsection (f), the
commission shall notify the state senator and state representative
in whose district the site lies of that certification.
SECTION 19. Section 26.362, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 26.362. SUIT TO TEST VALIDITY OF CLOSURE LETTER. The
commission is immune from liability in any action against the
commission to test the validity of a closure letter issued under
Section 26.3572 if the letter is issued in accordance with that
section and commission rules.
SECTION 20. 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, 2013.