Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4957 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Zwiener H.B. No. 4957
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the regulation by the Texas Commission on Environmental
7	7	Quality of the discharge of preproduction plastic.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
10	10	by adding Section 26.0481 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 26.0481. REGULATION OF DISCHARGE OF PREPRODUCTION
12	12	PLASTIC. (a) In this section:
13	13	(1) "Facility" means a facility where preproduction
14	14	plastic is manufactured, handled, or transported.
15	15	(2) "Preproduction plastic" means plastic resin
16	16	pellets, flakes, fibers, and powders, and powdered coloring for
17	17	plastics.
18	18	(3) "Zero discharge or release" means zero
19	19	preproduction plastics discharged or released to a body of water or
20	20	to land outside the property line of a facility.
21	21	(b) The commission by rule shall adopt and implement a
22	22	program to:
23	23	(1) ensure zero discharge or release from point and
24	24	nonpoint sources at facilities; and
25	25	(2) require the prompt and environmentally
26	26	responsible containment and cleanup of discharged or released
27	27	preproduction plastic.
28	28	(c) Rules adopted under this section must require any permit
29	29	issued or renewed under the Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination
30	30	System program to prohibit the discharge or release of
31	31	preproduction plastic from the permitted location.
32	32	(d) A permit issued or renewed for a facility under the
33	33	Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program must:
34	34	(1) prohibit:
35	35	(A) any discharge of preproduction plastic by
36	36	stormwater or wastewater to a body of water outside the property
37	37	line of a facility; and
38	38	(B) any release of preproduction plastic to land
39	39	outside the property line of a facility; and
40	40	(2) require a permittee to promptly clean up any
41	41	plastic presumed to have been discharged or released from the
42	42	facility in a manner that cleans up the most plastic possible
43	43	without causing harm to the ecosystem or, if the facility contests
44	44	that the plastic was discharged or released from the facility,
45	45	immediately contain the plastic to prevent further spread of the
46	46	plastic.
47	47	(e) Any preproduction plastic matching the preproduction
48	48	plastic produced by the facility found outside the property line of
49	49	a facility is presumed to have been released or discharged by that
50	50	facility. A facility must be given an opportunity to prove that
51	51	preproduction plastic found outside the property line of the
52	52	facility did not originate from the facility, provided that the
53	53	facility complies with the requirements of Subsection (d)(2).
54	54	(f) Except as provided by Subsection (g), the program
55	55	adopted under this section must require a facility to adopt and
56	56	implement:
57	57	(1) monitoring and reporting practices for the
58	58	discharge of preproduction plastic from point and nonpoint sources
59	59	at the facility; and
60	60	(2) best management practices with respect to:
61	61	(A) a written maintenance program and schedule to
62	62	ensure that all containment systems are functioning properly;
63	63	(B) measures to contain preproduction plastic
64	64	during storage, handling, or transfer of the plastic, including the
65	65	use of:
66	66	(i) sealed containers that will not rupture
67	67	under typical loading and unloading activities;
68	68	(ii) capture devices under all transfer
69	69	valves and devices used in loading, unloading, or otherwise
70	70	transferring preproduction plastic;
71	71	(iii) vacuums or vacuum-type systems for
72	72	the quick cleanup of fugitive preproduction plastic; and
73	73	(iv) a source control and inspection
74	74	program for all transportation of plastics off site;
75	75	(D) updates in science and technology or advances
76	76	in detection and treatment technologies; and
77	77	(E) other good housekeeping measures as
78	78	determined by the commission.
79	79	(g) The commission may exempt a facility from the
80	80	requirements of Subsection (f) if the facility satisfies the
81	81	criteria for a no exposure certification under 40 C.F.R. Section
82	82	122.26. The commission shall:
83	83	(1) require a facility exempted under this subsection
84	84	to submit a no exposure certification to the commission not less
85	85	than once every five years; and
86	86	(2) include criteria for submitting a no exposure
87	87	certification in all permit applications related to authorized
88	88	discharges from a facility.
89	89	(h) Before approving an exemption under Subsection (g), the
90	90	commission must:
91	91	(1) conduct an on-site inspection to confirm that the
92	92	conditions at a facility requesting the exemption meet the criteria
93	93	for a no exposure certification; and
94	94	(2) inspect an off-site area at least 50 feet in all
95	95	directions of all stormwater and wastewater outfalls of the
96	96	facility for the presence of off-site preproduction plastic.
97	97	(i) The monitoring and reporting requirements under
98	98	Subsection (f)(1) must require a facility to:
99	99	(1) conduct monitoring:
100	100	(A) outside the property line of the facility and
101	101	in any receiving waters for wastewater or stormwater discharges of
102	102	preproduction plastic, including an area of at least 50 feet in all
103	103	directions from all release or discharge points;
104	104	(B) not less than once every month;
105	105	(C) within eight hours of each rainfall event at
106	106	the facility; and
107	107	(D) at other times and places when plastic is
108	108	most likely to be released or discharged;
109	109	(2) submit to the commission, not less than once every
110	110	quarter, a report of the regular monitoring results gathered by the
111	111	permittee or the permittee's agent under Subdivision (1); and
112	112	(3) submit to the commission, not less than two
113	113	working days after a violation of Subsection (d)(1), a report of the
114	114	violation, including:
115	115	(A) photographs and global positioning system
116	116	information of the location of all discharged or released plastic;
117	117	and
118	118	(B) an estimate of the amount and location of
119	119	plastic discharged or released based on a method that:
120	120	(i) counts the number of pellets in a short
121	121	period of time; and
122	122	(ii) estimates the geographic area over
123	123	which the pellets spread.
124	124	(j) A containment system required under Subsection
125	125	(f)(2)(A) must use a device or series of devices that:
126	126	(1) are properly designed and maintained to capture
127	127	preproduction plastic that floats or sinks in stormwater; and
128	128	(2) have a designed treatment capacity of not less
129	129	than the peak flow rate resulting from a 100-year, 24-hour storm and
130	130	taking into consideration any wash water that is regularly added by
131	131	the facility operator to the system.
132	132	(k) The commission may establish additional requirements
133	133	regarding the regulation of discharges and releases of
134	134	preproduction plastic from facilities into water or onto land in
135	135	the state.
136	136	SECTION 2. (a) Not later than January 1, 2024, the Texas
137	137	Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules necessary to
138	138	implement Section 26.0481, Water Code, as added by this Act.
139	139	(b) Not later than January 1, 2025, a facility subject to
140	140	Section 26.0481, Water Code, as added by this Act, must be in
141	141	compliance with that section.
142	142	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.