87R8323 JXC-D
By: Schwertner S.B. No. 1209
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to air quality permits for aggregate production operations
and concrete batch plants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.051991 and 382.051992 to
read as follows:
Sec. 382.051991. STANDARD PERMIT FOR AGGREGATE PRODUCTION
OPERATIONS AND CONCRETE BATCH PLANTS: PUBLIC HEARING OR MEETING.
(a) This section applies only to a meeting or hearing regarding the
issuance or renewal of a standard permit under this chapter
relating to the following activities at a facility:
(1) the production of aggregates, as defined by
Section 28A.001, Water Code; or
(2) the operation of a concrete plant that performs
wet batching, dry batching, or central mixing.
(b) The commission shall accept written questions about the
facility from the public until the 15th day before the date of the
hearing or meeting.
(c) Not later than the 14th day before the date of the
hearing or meeting, the commission shall notify the following
entities of the date, time, and place of the hearing or meeting:
(1) the Texas Department of Transportation;
(2) each groundwater conservation district with
jurisdiction over the area in which the facility is located or
proposed to be located;
(3) if no groundwater conservation district has
jurisdiction over the area in which the facility is located or
proposed to be located, the Texas Water Development Board;
(4) any state agency with jurisdiction over a topic
raised in a written question submitted to the commission under
Subsection (b); and
(5) each municipality and county in which the facility
is located or proposed to be located.
(d) Each entity other than a municipality or county that
receives notice of a hearing or meeting under Subsection (c) shall
send a representative of the entity to attend the hearing or
meeting.
Sec. 382.051992. ADDITIONAL STANDARD PERMIT REQUIREMENTS
FOR AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS AND CONCRETE BATCH PLANTS. (a)
This section applies only to a standard permit under this chapter
relating to:
(1) the production of aggregates, as defined by
Section 28A.001, Water Code; or
(2) the operation of a concrete plant that performs
wet batching, dry batching, or central mixing.
(b) The commission may not issue or renew a permit for a
facility unless the applicant indicates on the application that the
applicant:
(1) has complied with the requirements of Subsection
(c); and
(2) will comply with any Texas Department of
Transportation requirements for the construction or alteration of
driveways as provided by Subsection (j).
(c) In addition to requirements in any other applicable
provision of this chapter, the permit holder or applicant must:
(1) install equipment to monitor noise levels and
emissions of air contaminants from the facility:
(A) at the point on the perimeter of the property
on which the facility is located that is closest to the nearest
building in use as a single or multifamily residence, school, place
of worship, or commercial enterprise; and
(B) at two other points on the perimeter of the
property on which the facility is located equidistant from the
point described by Paragraph (A);
(2) ensure that outdoor lighting installed at the
facility complies with standards adopted by the Illuminating
Engineering Society;
(3) obtain computer-controlled blasting technology to
minimize the effect of seismic forces on adjacent property caused
by blasting at the facility;
(4) either:
(A) use water for the facility only from a
metered source or under a permit from a groundwater conservation
district; or
(B) implement commission-approved methods of
water recirculation to ensure efficient use of groundwater for the
facility;
(5) provide to the commission a plan to ensure that the
area on which the facility operates will be safe and useful after
operations cease, including a description of how the permit holder
will:
(A) resolve potential safety and environmental
problems;
(B) minimize fugitive dust from areas the permit
holder does not plan to revegetate; and
(C) control erosion by revegetating barren
areas; and
(6) provide to the commission a performance bond or
other form of financial assurance to ensure payment of the costs of
executing the plan required by Subdivision (5).
(d) The commission is not required to inspect a facility
solely to verify compliance with Subsection (c). The commission
shall inspect a facility for compliance with Subsection (c) during
regular inspections under this chapter and Chapter 28A, Water Code.
(e) The commission shall publish a list of monitoring
equipment that an applicant may use to meet the requirements of
Subsection (c)(1). The list of emissions monitors may include only
gravimetric or light scattering monitors for monitoring
particulate matter. The list may not include full spectrum
monitors that test for gaseous pollutants.
(f) The permit holder shall maintain records of monitoring
data from the equipment required by Subsection (c)(1) until the
fifth anniversary of the date on which the data was collected.
(g) The permit holder shall ensure that noise created by the
permitted facility does not exceed:
(1) 70 decibels at the points at which monitors are
installed under Subsection (c); or
(2) 65 decibels at the perimeter of a property that is:
(A) used as a residence; and
(B) located within 880 yards of the permitted
facility.
(h) If the commission receives a complaint about emissions
or noise created by a permitted facility, the commission shall
require the permit holder to submit to the commission all relevant
available monitoring data from the monitoring equipment required by
Subsection (c)(1) collected for a time period beginning 30 days
before the date that is the subject of the complaint and ending 30
days after that date. The commission shall analyze the data before
determining whether the complaint is valid.
(i) The commission is authorized to:
(1) receive funds as the beneficiary of a financial
assurance mechanism required under Subsection (c); and
(2) expend funds from the financial assurance
mechanism to ensure that the area on which the permitted facility
operated is safe and useful.
(j) If the Texas Department of Transportation determines
that activities at a facility necessitate the construction or
modification of driveway access to or from a state highway,
including to meet any applicable requirements under Chapter 133,
Natural Resources Code, the permit holder shall enter into a
donation agreement with the department for the donation of costs or
property needed by the state to facilitate the construction or
alteration.
SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to a permit
for which an application for issuance is submitted to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date
of this Act. A permit for which an application for issuance was
submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply to a permit for
which an application for renewal is submitted to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after January 1, 2023.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2022.