87R9834 JAM-F
By: Blanco S.B. No. 1304
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the provision by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality of certain information in a language other than English.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 5.1731 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.1731. DUTY TO RESPOND IN LANGUAGE RECEIVED. The
commission shall respond to a request for information, public
comment, response to notice, or other inquiry or correspondence
within the jurisdiction of the commission in the language in which
the matter was received by the commission.
SECTION 2. Subchapter M, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 5.5531 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.5531. MAILED NOTICE IN ALTERNATIVE LANGUAGE. (a) A
notice required to be mailed under this subchapter or under Chapter
26 or 27 of this code or Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, must be
sent in the alternative language in which a bilingual education
program is or would have been taught if either the elementary or
middle school nearest to the facility or proposed facility is
required to provide a bilingual education program as required by
Subchapter B, Chapter 29, Education Code, and:
(1) students are enrolled in a program at that school;
(2) students from that school attend a bilingual
education program at another location; or
(3) the school that otherwise would be required to
provide a bilingual education program has been granted an exception
from the requirements to provide the program as provided by rules of
the Texas Education Agency.
(b) The applicant shall pay the costs associated with
mailing notice under this section, including costs for the
translation of the notice into a language other than English.
SECTION 3. Section 5.554, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.554. PUBLIC MEETING. (a) During the public comment
period, the executive director may hold one or more public meetings
in the county in which the facility is located or proposed to be
located. The executive director shall hold a public meeting:
(1) on the request of a member of the legislature who
represents the general area in which the facility is located or
proposed to be located; or
(2) if the executive director determines that there is
substantial public interest in the proposed activity.
(b) If notice of the public meeting was required to be
mailed in a language other than English under Section 5.5531, the
commission shall provide a translation of the transcript of the
meeting in each language in which the notice was required to be
mailed. A transcript produced under this subsection must be:
(1) paid for by the applicant for the proposed
activity; and
(2) made publicly available in the same manner and
from the same location as other written or audio records of the
meeting.
SECTION 4. Section 5.555, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) If a notice associated with the permit is required to be
mailed in a language other than English under Section 5.5531, the
commission shall provide a translation of the responses to public
comment in each language in which the notice was required to be
sent. The applicant shall pay the costs associated with a
translation made under this subsection.
SECTION 5. Subchapter M, Chapter 5, Water Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to a permit application that is filed with
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the
effective date of this Act. A permit application 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 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.