By: Eltife S.B. No. 912
(Crownover)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a volume-based exemption from reporting requirements
for certain accidental discharges or spills from wastewater
facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.039, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (e) and adding Subsections (g), (h),
(i), and (j) to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (g), whenever
[Whenever] an accidental discharge or spill occurs at or from any
activity or facility which causes or may cause pollution, the
individual operating, in charge of, or responsible for the activity
or facility shall notify the commission as soon as possible and not
later than 24 hours after the occurrence. The individual's notice
to the commission must include the location, volume, and content of
the discharge or spill.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (g), if [If] an
accidental discharge or spill described by Subsection (b) from a
wastewater treatment or collection facility owned or operated by a
local government may adversely affect a public or private source of
drinking water, the individual shall also notify appropriate local
government officials and local media.
(g) The individual is not required to notify the commission
of an accidental discharge or spill of treated or untreated
domestic wastewater under Subsection (b) or officials or media
under Subsection (e) of a single accidental discharge or spill
that:
(1) occurs at a wastewater treatment or collection
facility owned or operated by a local government;
(2) has a volume of 1,000 gallons or less;
(3) is not associated with another simultaneous
accidental discharge or spill;
(4) is controlled or removed before the accidental
discharge or spill:
(A) enters water in the state; or
(B) adversely affects a public or private source
of drinking water;
(5) will not endanger human health or safety or the
environment; and
(6) is not otherwise subject to local regulatory
control and reporting requirements.
(h) The commission by rule shall establish standard methods
for calculating the volume of an accidental discharge or spill to be
used for the purposes of this section.
(i) The individual shall calculate the volume of an
accidental discharge or spill using an established standard method
to determine whether the discharge or spill is exempted under
Subsection (g) from the notification requirements of this section.
(j) The individual shall submit to the commission at least
once each month a summary of accidental discharges and spills
described by Subsection (g) that occurred during the preceding
month. The commission by rule shall:
(1) consider the compliance history of the individual;
and
(2) establish procedures for formatting and
submitting a summary, including requirements that a summary include
the location, volume, and content of each accidental discharge or
spill.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than June 1, 2016, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules necessary to
implement Section 26.039, Water Code, as amended by this Act.
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
offense committed on or after the effective date of a rule adopted
by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under this
section. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
before the effective date of a rule adopted by the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality under this section if any element of the
offense occurred before that date.
(c) An offense committed before the effective date of a rule
adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under this
section is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.