Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1656 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R12012 JAM-F
2	2	By: Hancock S.B. No. 1656
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the conversion of plastics and other recoverable
8	8	materials through pyrolysis or gasification.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 361.003, Health and Safety Code, is
11	11	amended by amending Subdivisions (25), (34), (35), and (36) and
12	12	adding Subdivisions (10-a), (10-b), (24-a), (25-a), (25-b), and
13	13	(26-a) to read as follows:
14	14	(10-a) "Gasification" means a process through which
15	15	recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel-gas
16	16	mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is
17	17	converted into a valuable raw, intermediate, or final product
18	18	including a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, chemical
19	19	feedstock, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline
20	20	blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or another fuel. The term
21	21	does not include incineration.
22	22	(10-b) "Gasification facility" means a facility that
23	23	receives, separates, stores, and converts post-use polymers and
24	24	recoverable feedstocks using gasification. The commission may not
25	25	consider a gasification facility to be a solid waste management
26	26	facility or an incinerator.
27	27	(24-a) "Post-use polymers" means plastic polymers
28	28	that derive from any household, industrial, community, commercial,
29	29	or other sources of operations or activities that might otherwise
30	30	become waste if not converted into a valuable raw, intermediate, or
31	31	final product. Post-use polymers include used polymers that
32	32	contain incidental contaminants or impurities such as paper labels
33	33	or metal rings but do not include used polymers mixed with solid
34	34	waste, medical waste, hazardous waste, tires, or construction or
35	35	demolition debris.
36	36	(25) "Processing" means the extraction of materials
37	37	from or the transfer, volume reduction, conversion to energy, or
38	38	other separation and preparation of solid waste for reuse or
39	39	disposal. The term includes the treatment or neutralization of
40	40	hazardous waste designed to change the physical, chemical, or
41	41	biological character or composition of a hazardous waste so as to
42	42	neutralize the waste, recover energy or material from the waste,
43	43	render the waste nonhazardous or less hazardous, make it safer to
44	44	transport, store, or dispose of, or render it amenable for recovery
45	45	or storage, or reduce its volume. The term does not include:
46	46	(A) gasification or pyrolysis; or
47	47	(B) activities concerning those materials
48	48	exempted by the administrator of the United States Environmental
49	49	Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as
50	50	amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as
51	51	amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), unless the commission
52	52	determines that regulation of the activity under this chapter is
53	53	necessary to protect human health or the environment.
54	54	(25-a) "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process
55	55	through which post-use polymers are heated in an oxygen-deficient
56	56	atmosphere until melted and thermally decomposed, and are then
57	57	cooled, condensed, and converted into a valuable raw, intermediate,
58	58	or final product including a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax,
59	59	lubricant, chemical feedstock, crude oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel
60	60	and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or another
61	61	fuel. The term does not include incineration.
62	62	(25-b) "Pyrolysis facility" means a manufacturing
63	63	facility that receives, separates, stores, and converts post-use
64	64	polymers using pyrolysis. The commission may not consider a
65	65	pyrolysis facility to be a solid waste management facility or an
66	66	incinerator.
67	67	(26-a) "Recoverable feedstock" means one or more of
68	68	the following materials, derived from recoverable waste, other than
69	69	coal refuse, that has been processed so that it may be used as
70	70	feedstock in a gasification facility:
71	71	(A) post-use polymers; and
72	72	(B) material, including municipal solid waste
73	73	containing post-use polymers and other post-industrial waste
74	74	containing post-use polymers, that has been processed into a fuel
75	75	or feedstock for which the United States Environmental Protection
76	76	Agency has made a non-waste determination under 40 C.F.R. Section
77	77	241.3(c).
78	78	(34) This subdivision expires on delegation of the
79	79	Resource Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad
80	80	Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.
81	81	Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"
82	82	means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment
83	83	plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control
84	84	facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,
85	85	semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from
86	86	industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural
87	87	operations and from community and institutional activities. The
88	88	term:
89	89	(A) does not include:
90	90	(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic
91	91	sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows,
92	92	or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issued
93	93	under Chapter 26, Water Code;
94	94	(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other
95	95	natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill land if the
96	96	object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the construction
97	97	of surface improvements; [or]
98	98	(iii) waste materials that result from
99	99	activities associated with the exploration, development, or
100	100	production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other
101	101	substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas
102	102	under Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code, unless the waste,
103	103	substance, or material results from activities associated with
104	104	gasoline plants, natural gas or natural gas liquids processing
105	105	plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing plants and
106	106	is hazardous waste as defined by the administrator of the United
107	107	States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid
108	108	Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and
109	109	Recovery Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.); or
110	110	(iv) post-use polymers or recoverable
111	111	feedstocks processed through pyrolysis or gasification; and
112	112	(B) does include hazardous substances, for the
113	113	purposes of Sections 361.271 through 361.277[, 361.280,] and
114	114	361.343 through 361.345.
115	115	(35) This subdivision is effective on delegation of
116	116	the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the
117	117	Railroad Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42
118	118	U.S.C. Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid
119	119	waste" means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste
120	120	treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution
121	121	control facility, and other discarded material, including solid,
122	122	liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from
123	123	industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural
124	124	operations and from community and institutional activities. The
125	125	term:
126	126	(A) does not include:
127	127	(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic
128	128	sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows,
129	129	or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issued
130	130	under Chapter 26, Water Code;
131	131	(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other
132	132	natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill land if the
133	133	object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the construction
134	134	of surface improvements; [or]
135	135	(iii) waste materials that result from
136	136	activities associated with the exploration, development, or
137	137	production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other
138	138	substance or material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas
139	139	under Section 91.101, Natural Resources Code; or
140	140	(iv) post-use polymers or recoverable
141	141	feedstocks processed through pyrolysis or gasification; and
142	142	(B) does include hazardous substances, for the
143	143	purposes of Sections 361.271 through 361.277[, 361.280,] and
144	144	361.343 through 361.345.
145	145	(36) "Solid waste facility" means all contiguous land,
146	146	including structures, appurtenances, and other improvements on the
147	147	land, used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste.
148	148	The term includes a publicly or privately owned solid waste
149	149	facility consisting of several processing, storage, or disposal
150	150	operational units such as one or more landfills, surface
151	151	impoundments, or a combination of units. The term does not include
152	152	a pyrolysis or gasification facility.
153	153	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
154	154	Code, is amended by adding Section 361.041 to read as follows:
155	155	Sec. 361.041. TREATMENT OF POST-USE POLYMERS AND
156	156	RECOVERABLE FEEDSTOCKS AS SOLID WASTE. The commission may not
157	157	consider post-use polymers or recoverable feedstock to be solid
158	158	waste if they are converted using pyrolysis or gasification into a
159	159	valuable raw, intermediate, or final product including a plastic,
160	160	monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, chemical feedstock, crude oil,
161	161	diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil,
162	162	ethanol, or another fuel.
163	163	SECTION 3. Section 361.119, Health and Safety Code, is
164	164	amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
165	165	(c-1) A facility that reuses or converts recyclable
166	166	materials through pyrolysis or gasification, and the operations
167	167	conducted and materials handled at the facility, are not subject to
168	168	regulation under rules adopted under this section if the owner or
169	169	operator of the facility demonstrates that:
170	170	(1) the primary function of the facility is to convert
171	171	materials that have a resale value greater than the cost of
172	172	converting the materials for subsequent beneficial use; and
173	173	(2) all the solid waste generated from converting the
174	174	materials is disposed of in a solid waste facility authorized under
175	175	this chapter, with the exception of small amounts of solid waste
176	176	that may be inadvertently and unintentionally disposed of in
177	177	another manner.
178	178	SECTION 4. Sections 361.421(5), (6), and (8), Health and
179	179	Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
180	180	(5) "Recyclable material" means material that has been
181	181	recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream for purposes of
182	182	reuse, recycling, or reclamation, a substantial portion of which is
183	183	consistently used in the manufacture of products which may
184	184	otherwise be produced using raw or virgin materials. The term
185	185	includes post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks that are
186	186	converted through pyrolysis or gasification into valuable raw,
187	187	intermediate, and final products. Recyclable material is not solid
188	188	waste unless the material is deemed to be hazardous solid waste by
189	189	the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
190	190	Agency, whereupon it shall be regulated accordingly unless it is
191	191	otherwise exempted in whole or in part from regulation under the
192	192	federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource
193	193	Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et
194	194	seq.), by Environmental Protection Agency regulation. However,
195	195	recyclable material may become solid waste at such time, if any, as
196	196	it is abandoned or disposed of rather than recycled, whereupon it
197	197	will be solid waste with respect only to the party actually
198	198	abandoning or disposing of the material.
199	199	(6) "Recycled material" means materials, goods, or
200	200	products that consist of recyclable material or materials derived
201	201	from postconsumer waste, industrial waste, or hazardous waste which
202	202	may be used in place of a raw or virgin material in manufacturing a
203	203	new product. The term includes post-use polymers and recoverable
204	204	feedstocks used in pyrolysis or gasification.
205	205	(8) "Recycling" means a process by which materials
206	206	that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded,
207	207	used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, or processed
208	208	and returned to use in the form of raw materials in the production
209	209	of new products. Recycling includes:
210	210	(A) the composting process if the compost
211	211	material is put to beneficial reuse as defined by the commission;
212	212	[and]
213	213	(B) the application to land, as organic
214	214	fertilizer, of processed sludge or biosolids from municipal
215	215	wastewater treatment plants and other organic matter resulting from
216	216	poultry, dairy, livestock, or other agricultural operations; and
217	217	(C) the conversion of post-use polymers and
218	218	recoverable feedstocks through pyrolysis or gasification.
219	219	SECTION 5. (a) In this section:
220	220	(1) "Advisory committee" means the pollution
221	221	prevention advisory committee established under Section 361.0215,
222	222	Health and Safety Code.
223	223	(2) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
224	224	Environmental Quality.
225	225	(3) "Engineered fuel" means a solid fuel that is
226	226	manufactured from recoverable constituents of municipal solid
227	227	waste or other secondary materials.
228	228	(4) "Feedstock" means raw material that is used in a
229	229	machine or industrial process.
230	230	(5) "Sustainable materials management" means a
231	231	systematic approach to using and reusing materials more
232	232	productively over their entire life cycle, taking into account
233	233	life-cycle cost benefit analysis considerations.
234	234	(b) To further develop and implement the state solid waste
235	235	management strategies and plans, the commission and the comptroller
236	236	of public accounts, in coordination with the advisory committee,
237	237	shall conduct a study to promote sustainable materials management
238	238	and the development and use of pyrolysis and gasification processes
239	239	to divert recoverable polymers and other materials away from
240	240	landfills and toward conversion into valuable raw, intermediate,
241	241	and final products, including plastic, monomers, chemicals, waxes,
242	242	lubricants, chemical feedstocks, crude oil, diesel, gasoline,
243	243	diesel and gasoline blendstocks, home heating oil, ethanol, and
244	244	other fuels, by reducing unnecessary and inappropriate barriers to
245	245	the siting, permitting, and operation of facilities using the
246	246	technologies.
247	247	(c) The study must examine post-use polymers and
248	248	recoverable feedstocks that are often deposited in landfills to:
249	249	(1) evaluate recycling and recovery based on the
250	250	energy and water savings and greenhouse gas reductions achieved by
251	251	improving material recovery from the solid waste stream, including
252	252	by measuring certain environmental benefits of waste prevention;
253	253	and
254	254	(2) determine the manner in which state and local
255	255	government officials can promote sustainable materials management,
256	256	environmental issues, and a cost-effective system through the use
257	257	of pyrolysis, gasification, and other innovative technologies such
258	258	as engineered fuels, to convert post-use polymers, alone or in
259	259	combination with other recoverable feedstocks, into materials that
260	260	can be used as plastics, monomers, or chemicals and chemical
261	261	feedstocks, or to generate energy or produce fuels.
262	262	(d) Not later than two years after the effective date of
263	263	this Act, the commission and the comptroller of public accounts
264	264	shall complete the study under this section and report findings and
265	265	recommendations to the legislature and the governor.
266	266	(e) This section expires September 1, 2021.
267	267	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
268	268	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
269	269	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
270	270	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
271	271	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.