Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1294 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R4913 SLB-F
2	2	By: Eckhardt S.B. No. 1294
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice
8	8	within the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended by adding
11	11	Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:
12	12	SUBCHAPTER G-1. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
13	13	Sec. 5.2901. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
14	14	(1) "Environmental justice community" means a United
15	15	States census block group, as determined in accordance with the
16	16	most recent United States census, for which:
17	17	(A) 30 percent or more of the
18	18	noninstitutionalized population consists of persons who have an
19	19	income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; or
20	20	(B) 50 percent or more of the population consists
21	21	of members of racial minority or ethnic minority groups.
22	22	(2) "Office" means the Office of Environmental
23	23	Justice.
24	24	(3) "Permit" has the meaning assigned by Section
25	25	5.752. The term includes an original permit, permit renewal, or
26	26	permit amendment.
27	27	(4) "Permitted facility" means a facility required to
28	28	obtain a permit under:
29	29	(A) Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code;
30	30	(B) Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code; or
31	31	(C) Chapter 26 or 27 of this code.
32	32	Sec. 5.2902. CREATION AND GENERAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OFFICE
33	33	OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. The Office of Environmental Justice is
34	34	created within the commission to protect the public health, general
35	35	welfare, and physical property of environmental justice
36	36	communities in regard to the issuance of permits.
37	37	Sec. 5.2903. RECOMMENDATION ON PERMIT. (a) In this
38	38	section, "affected environmental justice community" means an
39	39	environmental justice community within three miles of a proposed or
40	40	existing permitted facility.
41	41	(b) This section applies to an application for a permit
42	42	related to a proposed or existing permitted facility located within
43	43	three miles of an environmental justice community.
44	44	(c) The office shall provide a recommendation to the
45	45	commission on whether a permit should be issued. In making the
46	46	recommendation, the office shall consider:
47	47	(1) whether the cumulative effects of pollution from
48	48	the proposed permitted facility or change to an existing facility
49	49	on the affected environmental justice community exceed the
50	50	statewide average; and
51	51	(2) any existing or anticipated vulnerabilities in the
52	52	affected environmental justice community, including:
53	53	(A) existing pollution levels in the affected
54	54	environmental justice community and exposure of the residents of
55	55	that community to those pollutants;
56	56	(B) limited access to health care by residents of
57	57	the affected environmental justice community;
58	58	(C) health factors of the residents of the
59	59	affected environmental justice community, including the prevalence
60	60	of:
61	61	(i) asthma and other respiratory diseases;
62	62	and
63	63	(ii) cancer; and
64	64	(D) proximity of the proposed permitted facility
65	65	to:
66	66	(i) single or multi-family residences;
67	67	(ii) schools;
68	68	(iii) places of worship;
69	69	(iv) day care centers; and
70	70	(v) hospitals or other medical facilities.
71	71	(d) The office shall provide the recommendation described
72	72	by this section not later than the seventh day after the last day of
73	73	the public comment period applicable to the permit.
74	74	Sec. 5.2904. CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION BY
75	75	COMMISSION. In addition to other factors required by law, the
76	76	commission shall consider the recommendation of the office in
77	77	making a determination about whether to issue a permit to which
78	78	Section 5.2903 applies.
79	79	Sec. 5.2905. STAFF; OUTSIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT. (a) The
80	80	office shall be adequately staffed to carry out its functions under
81	81	this subchapter.
82	82	(b) The office may obtain and use outside technical support
83	83	to carry out its functions under this subchapter.
84	84	SECTION 2. (a) Section 5.2903, Water Code, as added by this
85	85	Act, applies to an application for a permit, permit renewal, or
86	86	permit amendment to which that section applies submitted to the
87	87	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective
88	88	date of this Act. An application for a permit, permit renewal, or
89	89	permit amendment submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental
90	90	Quality before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
91	91	in effect at the time the application was submitted and the former
92	92	law is continued in effect for that purpose.
93	93	(b) The Office of Environmental Justice within the Texas
94	94	Commission on Environmental Quality, as created by this Act, is not
95	95	required to issue a recommendation under Section 5.2903, Water
96	96	Code, as added by this Act, before January 1, 2022.
97	97	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.