By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1685
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to exemptions from property taxation and sales and use
taxation for certain offshore spill response and well containment
property used to control pollution.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.31, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (m) and adding Subsections (o)
and (p) to read as follows:
(a) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of
all or part of real and personal property that the person owns and
that is used wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for
the control of air, water, or land pollution. A person is not
entitled to an exemption from taxation under this section solely on
the basis that the person manufactures or produces a product or
provides a service that prevents, monitors, controls, or reduces
air, water, or land pollution, except as provided in Subsection
(o). Property used for residential purposes, or for recreational,
park, or scenic uses as defined by Section 23.81, is ineligible for
an exemption under this section.
(b) In this section, "facility, device, or method for the
control of air, water, or land pollution" means land that is
acquired after January 1, 1994, or any structure, building,
installation, excavation, machinery, equipment, or device, and any
attachment or addition to or reconstruction, replacement, or
improvement of that property, that is used, constructed, acquired,
or installed wholly or partly to meet or exceed rules or regulations
adopted by any environmental protection agency of the United
States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state for the
prevention, monitoring, control, or reduction of air, water, or
land pollution and includes property described in Subsection (o).
In this section, "pollution control property" includes property
described in Subsection (o). This section does not apply to a motor
vehicle.
(c) In applying for an exemption under this section, a
person seeking the exemption shall present in a permit application
or permit exemption request to the executive director of the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality information detailing:
(1) the anticipated environmental benefits from the
installation of the facility, device, or method for the control of
air, water, or land pollution;
(2) the estimated cost of the pollution control
facility, device, or method; and
(3) the purpose of the installation of such facility,
device, or method, and the proportion of the installation that is
pollution control.
If the installation includes property that is not used wholly
for the control of air, water, or land pollution or described in
Subsection (o), the person seeking the exemption shall also present
such financial or other data as the executive director requires by
rule for the determination of the proportion of the installation
that is pollution control.
(d) Following submission of the information required by
Subsection (c), the executive director of the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall determine if the facility, device, or
method is used wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for
the control of air, water, or land pollution. As soon as
practicable, the executive director shall send notice by regular
mail or by electronic means to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
district for the county in which the property is located that the
person has applied for a determination under this subsection. The
executive director shall issue a letter to the person stating the
executive director's determination of whether the facility,
device, or method is used wholly or partly to control pollution or
as property described in Subsection (o) and, if applicable, the
proportion of the property that is pollution control property. The
executive director shall send a copy of the letter by regular mail
or by electronic means to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
district for the county in which the property is located.
(m) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
if the facility, device, or method for the control of air, water, or
land pollution described in an application for an exemption under
this section is a facility, device, or method included on the list
adopted under Subsection (k) or property described in Subsection
(o), the executive director of the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, not later than the 30th day after the date of
receipt of the information required by Subsections (c)(2) and (3)
and without regard to whether the information required by
Subsection (c)(1) has been submitted, shall determine that the
facility, device, or method described in the application is used
wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for the control of
air, water, or land pollution and shall take the actions that are
required by Subsection (d) in the event such a determination is
made.
(o) Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, a
person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of all or part of
real and personal property that the person owns or leases and that
is used, constructed, acquired, stored, or installed primarily as
part of an offshore spill response containment system. For
purposes of this section, property described in this subsection
shall be treated as used wholly as a facility, device, or method for
the control of air, water, or land pollution.
(p) In Subsection (o):
(1) "Offshore spill response containment system"
means:
(A) a containment system:
(i) for a response plan to meet or exceed
rules or regulations adopted by any environmental protection agency
of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this
state for the control, reduction, or monitoring of air, water, or
land pollution in the event of a blowout or loss of control of an
offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production
of oil, gas, sulphur or other minerals; and
(ii) having a design capability to respond
to a blowout or loss of control of such an offshore well drilled in
more than 5,000 feet of water; and
(B) real and personal property used for the
development, improvement, storage, deployment, repair,
maintenance, or testing of such containment system.
(2) "Environmental protection agency of the United
States" includes:
(A) the United States Department of the Interior
and agencies, bureaus, or other entities established in the United
States Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of Safety
and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management; and
(B) any other department, agency, bureau, or
entity of the United States that prescribes rules or regulations
described by Subsection (p)(1)(A)(i).
(3) "Rules or regulations adopted by any environmental
protection agency of the United States" include Title 30, Code of
Federal Regulations, Part 254, and any corresponding provision or
provisions of succeeding, similar, substitute, proposed, or final
federal regulations.
SECTION 2. Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Section 151.356 to read as follows:
Sec. 151.356 OFFSHORE SPILL RESPONSE AND WELL CONTAINMENT
PROPERTY. (a) A person described in Section 11.31(o), Tax Code, is
entitled to an exemption from the taxes imposed by this chapter for
the purchase, sale, lease, rental, storage, use or consumption of
property described in Section 11.31(o), Tax Code.
(b) A service performed on property described in Section
11.31(o), Tax Code, is exempted from the taxes imposed by this
chapter.
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, 2013.