Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1687 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R1459 CJD-D
2	2	By: Murr H.B. No. 1687
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the regulation of certain aggregate production
8	8	operations by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
9	9	authorizing an increase in the amount of a fee.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Chapter 28A, Water Code, is amended by adding
12	12	Subchapter D to read as follows:
13	13	SUBCHAPTER D. RECLAMATION
14	14	Sec. 28A.151. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
15	15	to an aggregate production operation:
16	16	(1) that is first required to be registered on or after
17	17	January 1, 2016; and
18	18	(2) the site of which:
19	19	(A) occupies at least 10 acres; and
20	20	(B) is located inside the boundaries or
21	21	extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality.
22	22	Sec. 28A.152. REGISTRATION. (a) The initial application
23	23	filed by the responsible party for the registration of an aggregate
24	24	production operation, or the first renewal application filed after
25	25	September 1, 2023, in the case of an aggregate production operation
26	26	that was first required to be registered before that date, must:
27	27	(1) include a reclamation plan that complies with
28	28	Section 28A.154; and
29	29	(2) be accompanied by a performance bond that complies
30	30	with Section 28A.155.
31	31	(b) If the reclamation plan is amended, the first renewal
32	32	application for registration filed by the responsible party after
33	33	the date the plan is amended must include the amended plan.
34	34	(c) Notwithstanding Section 28A.051(b), the requirements of
35	35	this subchapter apply to an aggregate production operation until
36	36	the commission determines that the responsible party has
37	37	successfully complied with all reclamation requirements of this
38	38	subchapter and the reclamation plan.
39	39	Sec. 28A.153. REGISTRATION FEE. Notwithstanding Section
40	40	28A.101(b), the commission shall set the fee for an initial or
41	41	renewal application for the registration of an aggregate production
42	42	operation that is required to include a reclamation plan in an
43	43	amount not to exceed $1,900.
44	44	Sec. 28A.154. RECLAMATION REQUIREMENTS. (a) A reclamation
45	45	plan must:
46	46	(1) specify which parts of the aggregate production
47	47	operation will be reclaimed for forest, pasture, crop,
48	48	horticultural, homesite, recreational, industrial, or other uses,
49	49	including use by wildlife for food, shelter, or ground cover;
50	50	(2) require any ridge or peak of overburden created by
51	51	surface mining to be graded to a rolling topography traversable by
52	52	machines and equipment customarily used in connection with the use
53	53	to be made of the land after reclamation, except that:
54	54	(A) the slope of a ridge or peak of overburden is
55	55	not required to be reduced to a grade less than the original grade
56	56	of the area before mining; and
57	57	(B) the slope of the ridge of overburden
58	58	resulting from a box cut is not required to be reduced to less than
59	59	25 degrees from the horizontal;
60	60	(3) if the extraction activities have exposed the face
61	61	of a mineral seam in which significant concentrations of
62	62	acid-forming materials are present, require the operator to cover
63	63	the exposed face of the seam:
64	64	(A) to a depth of not less than three feet with
65	65	earth that will support plant life; or
66	66	(B) with a permanent water impoundment;
67	67	(4) require the operator to grade down the bank of any
68	68	pit or depression created by the removal of aggregates by surface
69	69	mining to a degree of slope determined in accordance with
70	70	commission rules, taking into consideration:
71	71	(A) the natural topography of the land affected
72	72	by the extraction activities and of the adjacent land;
73	73	(B) the composition of the bank; and
74	74	(C) the most beneficial use of the pit or
75	75	depression after reclamation;
76	76	(5) require that all land affected by the extraction
77	77	activities, except land that is to be covered with water or used for
78	78	homesite or industrial purposes, be revegetated by the planting of
79	79	seeds, trees, shrubs, or other plantings that are appropriate to
80	80	the use to be made of the land after reclamation as determined by
81	81	the operator; and
82	82	(6) require that all mining equipment, including
83	83	dredges, drag lines, crushers, screens, conveyors, on-site mining
84	84	vehicles, haul trucks, and loaders, be removed from the site.
85	85	(b) Subsection (a)(2) does not apply to a surface mining
86	86	operation conducted in an area that is in the floodplain of a river
87	87	or stream and is subject to periodic flooding.
88	88	(c) A reclamation plan may allow an operator to construct an
89	89	earthen dam for the purpose of forming a lake in a pit that results
90	90	from surface mining operations if the formation of the lake does
91	91	not:
92	92	(1) interfere with another mining operation; or
93	93	(2) damage the property of another person.
94	94	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(4), if the pit or
95	95	depression created by the removal of aggregates by surface mining
96	96	is deeper than 10 feet, the reclamation plan may allow the operator
97	97	to bench the highwall as long as the benches do not exceed 10 feet in
98	98	height.
99	99	(e) The commission by rule may prescribe the required
100	100	density of planting for purposes of Subsection (a)(5) and, if the
101	101	operator elects to reclaim in stages different parts of the
102	102	aggregate production operation as extraction activities on those
103	103	parts cease, may require replanting of those parts as necessary
104	104	before planting of the entire operation is completed.
105	105	(f) Notwithstanding Subsections (a)(5) and (e), planting is
106	106	not required on land affected by extraction activities at an
107	107	aggregate production operation if the chemical and physical
108	108	characteristics of the soil of the land are so toxic or deficient in
109	109	plant nutrients, or the soil of the land is composed of sand,
110	110	gravel, shale, or stone to such an extent, as to seriously inhibit
111	111	plant growth.
112	112	(g) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an
113	113	operator must complete all required grading not later than six
114	114	months after extraction activities at the aggregate production
115	115	operation cease. If the operator is unable to complete the required
116	116	grading by the deadline because of weather conditions, the
117	117	commission shall grant the operator an extension of time until
118	118	weather conditions permit completion of the required grading.
119	119	(h) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an
120	120	operator must begin planting seeds, trees, shrubs, or other
121	121	plantings on the land affected by extraction activities at the
122	122	aggregate production operation at the first appropriate time after
123	123	completion of the required grading. If the operator is unable to
124	124	acquire sufficient planting stock of appropriate species from local
125	125	nurseries or to acquire sufficient stock from other sources at
126	126	comparable prices, the commission shall grant the operator an
127	127	extension of time until sufficient stock at such prices is
128	128	available to plant the land in accordance with the reclamation
129	129	plan.
130	130	Sec. 28A.155. PERFORMANCE BOND. (a) A performance bond
131	131	must:
132	132	(1) be payable to this state and conditioned on the
133	133	faithful performance of the requirements of this subchapter and the
134	134	reclamation plan;
135	135	(2) cover the area to be affected by the extraction
136	136	activities at the aggregate production operation;
137	137	(3) be in an amount equal to $2,500 for each acre to be
138	138	affected by the extraction activities at the aggregate production
139	139	operation; and
140	140	(4) be executed by the responsible party and a
141	141	corporate surety licensed to do business in this state.
142	142	(b) Liability under a performance bond is for the duration
143	143	of the activities at the aggregate production operation, including
144	144	the activities necessary and incidental to the reclamation of the
145	145	land affected by the extraction activities at the operation.
146	146	(c) The commission may release all or part of a performance
147	147	bond if the commission is satisfied that the reclamation covered by
148	148	the bond or part of the reclamation, as applicable, has been
149	149	accomplished as required by this subchapter and the reclamation
150	150	plan.
151	151	(d) The commission shall declare a performance bond
152	152	forfeited if the operator fails to comply with the requirements of
153	153	this subchapter or the reclamation plan.
154	154	Sec. 28A.156. INSPECTION BY COMMISSION. The commission may
155	155	periodically inspect an aggregate production operation after
156	156	extraction activities at the operation have ceased to verify that
157	157	the operator is complying with the requirements of this subchapter
158	158	and the reclamation plan.
159	159	Sec. 28A.157. NOTICE OF COMPLETION OF RECLAMATION;
160	160	INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION BY COMMISSION. (a) After reclamation
161	161	activities at an aggregate production operation have been
162	162	accomplished as required by this subchapter and the reclamation
163	163	plan, the operator shall notify the commission in writing that the
164	164	activities have been completed.
165	165	(b) The commission shall inspect the aggregate production
166	166	operation to determine whether the operator has completed
167	167	reclamation of the operation as required by this subchapter and the
168	168	reclamation plan. If the commission determines that the
169	169	reclamation of the aggregate production operation has been
170	170	completed as required by this subchapter and the reclamation plan:
171	171	(1) the commission shall release any remaining part of
172	172	the performance bond; and
173	173	(2) the requirements of this subchapter are no longer
174	174	applicable to the operation.
175	175	Sec. 28A.158. WAIVER BY MUNICIPALITY OF RECLAMATION
176	176	REQUIREMENTS. (a) If the reclamation activities required by a
177	177	reclamation plan conflict with a potential reasonable future use of
178	178	the aggregate production operation on cessation of extraction
179	179	activities at the operation, the responsible party may submit a
180	180	proposal to the governing body of the municipality inside the
181	181	boundaries or extraterritorial jurisdiction of which the operation
182	182	is located to amend the plan.
183	183	(b) The governing body of the municipality shall approve the
184	184	proposed amendment to the reclamation plan if, after a public
185	185	meeting on the proposal, the governing body determines that the
186	186	proposed amendment appears to be in the best interest of the
187	187	municipality, the county in which the aggregate production
188	188	operation is located, and this state.
189	189	(c) If the governing body of the municipality approves the
190	190	proposed amendment to the reclamation plan, the governing body
191	191	shall notify the responsible party and the commission. The
192	192	commission shall give effect to the proposed amendment to the plan
193	193	and shall release all or part of the performance bond, as
194	194	applicable.
195	195	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.