84R2493 JRR-F
By: Pickett H.B. No. 1642
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rights, remedies, and liability of certain owners
and operators of environmentally contaminated property;
authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 16.003(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Sections 16.010, 16.0031,
16.0032, and 16.0045, a person must bring suit for trespass for
injury to the estate or to the property of another, conversion of
personal property, taking or detaining the personal property of
another, personal injury, forcible entry and detainer, and forcible
detainer not later than two years after the day the cause of action
accrues.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 16, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 16.0032 to read as
follows:
Sec. 16.0032. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION OF PROPERTY. (a)
In an action for trespass for injury to the estate or to the
property of another resulting from environmental contamination,
the cause of action accrues for purposes of Section 16.003 on the
date that a final assessment report fully delineating and
documenting the extent of the contamination in compliance with the
requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is
sent by certified mail to the owner of the affected property.
(b) A person must bring suit for damages arising from an
injury to property caused by environmental contamination
originating from a source not located on or at the property not
later than 10 years after the date notice of the contamination is
reported in writing to both the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality and the owner of the affected property.
(c) Subsection (b) is a statute of repose and is independent
of any other limitations period.
SECTION 3. Section 361.752, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) On the request of the owner or operator, a court shall
determine the amount of reasonable compensation under Subsection
(c)(2) if the owner or operator and the responsible party are unable
to agree on the compensation to be paid.
SECTION 4. Section 361.753, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) For purposes of Subsection (a), contamination
originating from a pipeline transporting oil, gas, or other
materials across the property does not make an applicant ineligible
for a certificate unless the applicant is also the owner or operator
of the pipeline.
SECTION 5. Section 361.754, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 361.754. RIGHTS OF INNOCENT OWNER OR OPERATOR
REGARDING CONTAMINATION FROM SOURCE NOT LOCATED ON OR AT PROPERTY.
(a) An innocent owner or operator may apply to the commission for
an order directing the responsible party to promptly remediate the
contamination of the property. The application must be delivered
to the commission by certified mail.
(b) The commission may charge an application fee in an
amount not to exceed the cost of reviewing the application. The
commission shall deposit a fee collected under this subsection to
the credit of the hazardous and solid waste remediation fee
account.
(c) Not later than the 45th day after the date the
commission receives the application, the commission shall notify
the applicant whether the application is complete.
(d) Not later than the 90th day after the date the
commission receives the application, the commission shall:
(1) grant or deny the application; or
(2) notify the applicant of any additional information
needed to review the application.
(e) Not later than the 45th day after the date the
commission receives the additional information requested under
Subsection (d)(2), the commission shall grant or deny the
application.
(f) On granting an application under this section, the
commission shall identify the party responsible for the
contamination and require the party responsible for the
contamination to:
(1) develop a remediation plan and obtain the approval
of the plan by the commission in writing not later than the third
anniversary of the later of:
(A) the date the responsible party is first
identified by the commission; or
(B) the date the application is granted by the
commission;
(2) promptly begin remediating the contamination of
the property following the approval of the remediation plan
described by Subdivision (1); and
(3) not later than the 15th anniversary of the date the
responsible party is first identified by the commission, complete
remediation of the contamination of the property at a level that
achieves the most protective health standard established under the
commission's risk-based remediation rules.
(g) The remediation standards and deadlines described by
Subsection (f) may be revised by written agreement between the
innocent owner or operator, the responsible party, and the
commission.
(h) If a remediation deadline described by Subsection (f) is
not achieved, each responsible party identified by the commission
shall file in the deed records of the county in which the affected
property is located a notice of the long-term remediation
activities at the site.
(i) The commission shall require each responsible party to
immediately file a notice in the deed records of the county in which
the affected property is located under Subsection (h) if:
(1) an innocent owner or operator of property that has
been contaminated for more than 15 years, as of September 1, 2015,
applies to the commission for remediation under Subsection (a); and
(2) remediation of the contamination of the property
to achieve the most protective health standard established under
the commission's risk-based remediation rules is not anticipated to
be completed by the fifth anniversary of the date the application is
submitted.
(j) This subchapter does not limit the right of an innocent
owner or operator to pursue any other remedy available at law or in
equity for conditions attributable to the release or migration of
contaminants from a source or sources that are not located on or at
the property.
SECTION 6. (a) Section 16.003, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 16.0032, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a cause of
action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A
cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 361.752, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to an agreement for reasonable access
entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. An
agreement for reasonable access entered into before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the agreement
was entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
(c) Section 361.753, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to an application to obtain a certificate
confirming that the person is an innocent owner or operator
submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
application submitted before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect when the application was submitted,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 361.754, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, applies to an innocent owner or operator of property that
has been contaminated from a source not located on or at the
property regardless of whether the contamination occurred on,
before, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.