85R1681 SLB-D
By: Martinez H.B. No. 98
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the requirements for newspaper notice of a public
meeting on a permit issued under the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 26.054 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.054. NEWSPAPER NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING FOR NPDES
PERMITS. Newspaper notice that is required for a public meeting
regarding an NPDES permit must include, in addition to other
applicable requirements, publication of the notice:
(1) in a publication that:
(A) is generally circulated in the municipality
or county in which the facility is located or proposed to be
located; and
(B) is published in a language taught in a
bilingual education program required by Subchapter B, Chapter 29,
Education Code, at the elementary or middle school nearest to the
facility or proposed facility for which the permit is sought; or
(2) in Spanish in the same newspaper as the required
notice if a program or publication described by Subdivision (1)
does not exist.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for a permit that is filed with the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.
An application for a permit filed before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of filing, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.