H.B. No. 281
AN ACT
relating to a limitation on the expansion of certain landfills.
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 361.1231 to read as follows:
Sec. 361.1231. LIMITATION ON EXPANSION OF CERTAIN
LANDFILLS. (a) This section applies only to a municipally owned
Type I municipal solid waste landfill permitted by the state before
1980 that:
(1) is located wholly inside the boundaries of a
municipality; and
(2) is owned by a municipality other than the
municipality in which it is located.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter,
the commission may not approve an application for the issuance,
amendment, or renewal of a permit that seeks to expand the area or
capacity of a landfill unless the governing body of the
municipality in which the landfill is located first approves by
resolution or order the issuance, amendment, or renewal of the
permit.
(c) The commission shall provide the members of the
legislature who represent the district containing the landfill
described in the permit with an opportunity to comment on the
application and shall consider those comments in evaluating an
application under this subchapter.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for the issuance, amendment, or renewal of a permit
pending before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or
after the effective date of this Act. A permit issued, amended, or
renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect when the permit was issued, amended, or renewed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
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, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 281 was passed by the House on May 11,
2015, by the following vote: Yeas 109, Nays 25, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 281 on May 28, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 8, 2
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 281 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor