Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2044 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R4398 DRS-F
2	2	By: Hancock S.B. No. 2044
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the regulation of recycling and recycled products.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sections 361.003(10-a), (10-b), (25-a), (25-b),
10	10	and (27), Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
11	11	(10-a) "Gasification" means a process through which
12	12	recoverable feedstocks are heated and converted into a fuel-gas
13	13	mixture in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and the mixture is
14	14	converted into [a] valuable raw materials or valuable[,]
15	15	intermediate[,] or final products [product], including plastic
16	16	monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, or chemical feedstocks and
17	17	other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic, monomer, chemical, wax,
18	18	lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil, diesel, gasoline,
19	19	diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil, ethanol, or
20	20	another fuel]. The term does not include incineration.
21	21	(10-b) "Gasification facility" means a facility that
22	22	receives, [separates,] stores, and converts post-use polymers and
23	23	recoverable feedstocks using gasification. The commission may not
24	24	consider a gasification facility to be a hazardous waste management
25	25	facility, a solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.
26	26	(25-a) "Pyrolysis" means a manufacturing process
27	27	through which post-use polymers are heated in an oxygen-deficient
28	28	atmosphere [until melted and thermally decomposed and then cooled,
29	29	condensed,] and converted into [a] valuable raw materials or
30	30	valuable[,] intermediate[,] or final products [product], including
31	31	plastic monomers, chemicals, naphtha, waxes, or plastic and
32	32	chemical feedstocks and other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic,
33	33	monomer, chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude
34	34	oil, diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating
35	35	oil, ethanol, or another fuel]. The term does not include
36	36	incineration.
37	37	(25-b) "Pyrolysis facility" means a manufacturing
38	38	facility that receives, [separates,] stores, and converts post-use
39	39	polymers using pyrolysis. The commission may not consider a
40	40	pyrolysis facility to be a hazardous waste management facility, a
41	41	solid waste management facility, or an incinerator.
42	42	(27) "Recycling" has the meaning assigned by Section
43	43	361.421 [means the legitimate use, reuse, or reclamation of solid
44	44	waste].
45	45	SECTION 2. Section 361.0151, Health and Safety Code, is
46	46	amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
47	47	(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission or
48	48	another political subdivision of this state that establishes goals
49	49	or requirements for recycling or the use of recycled material must
50	50	base those goals or requirements on the definitions and principles
51	51	established by Subchapter N. This subsection does not apply to a
52	52	program described by Subchapter Y or Z.
53	53	SECTION 3. Section 361.041(a), Health and Safety Code, is
54	54	amended to read as follows:
55	55	(a) The commission may not consider post-use polymers or
56	56	recoverable feedstock to be solid waste if they are converted using
57	57	pyrolysis or gasification into [a] valuable raw materials or
58	58	valuable[,] intermediate[,] or final products [product], including
59	59	plastic monomers, chemicals, waxes, lubricants, or chemical
60	60	feedstocks and other basic hydrocarbons [a plastic, monomer,
61	61	chemical, wax, lubricant, or chemical feedstock or crude oil,
62	62	diesel, gasoline, diesel and gasoline blendstock, home heating oil,
63	63	ethanol, or another fuel].
64	64	SECTION 4. Section 361.119(c-1), Health and Safety Code, is
65	65	amended to read as follows:
66	66	(c-1) A facility that reuses or converts recyclable
67	67	materials through pyrolysis or gasification, and the operations
68	68	conducted and materials handled at the facility, are not subject to
69	69	regulation under rules adopted under this section if the owner or
70	70	operator of the facility demonstrates that:
71	71	(1) the primary function of the facility is to convert
72	72	materials into products for subsequent beneficial use that have a
73	73	resale value greater than the cost of converting the materials [for
74	74	subsequent beneficial use]; and
75	75	(2) all the solid waste generated from converting the
76	76	materials is disposed of in a hazardous solid waste management
77	77	facility or a solid waste facility authorized under this chapter,
78	78	as appropriate, with the exception of small amounts of solid waste
79	79	that may be inadvertently and unintentionally disposed of in
80	80	another manner.
81	81	SECTION 5. Section 361.421, Health and Safety Code, is
82	82	amended by amending Subdivisions (5), (6), (7), and (8) and adding
83	83	Subdivision (6-a) to read as follows:
84	84	(5) "Recyclable material" means material that can be
85	85	or has been recovered or diverted from the solid waste stream for
86	86	purposes of reuse, recycling, or reclamation, a substantial portion
87	87	of which is consistently used in the manufacture of products which
88	88	may otherwise be produced using raw or virgin materials. The term
89	89	includes post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks that are
90	90	converted through pyrolysis or gasification into valuable raw
91	91	materials or valuable[,] intermediate[,] and final products.
92	92	Recyclable material is not solid waste unless the material is
93	93	deemed to be hazardous solid waste by the Administrator of the
94	94	United States Environmental Protection Agency, whereupon it shall
95	95	be regulated accordingly unless it is otherwise exempted in whole
96	96	or in part from regulation under the federal Solid Waste Disposal
97	97	Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of
98	98	1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), by Environmental Protection
99	99	Agency regulation. However, recyclable material may become solid
100	100	waste at such time, if any, as it is abandoned or disposed of rather
101	101	than recycled, whereupon it will be solid waste with respect only to
102	102	the party actually abandoning or disposing of the material.
103	103	(6) "Recycled material" means materials, goods, or
104	104	products that consist of recyclable material or materials derived
105	105	from post-use polymers or postconsumer waste[, industrial waste, or
106	106	hazardous waste] which may be used in place of a raw or virgin
107	107	material in manufacturing a new product or that are certified under
108	108	a mass balance attribution system identified by the commission
109	109	under Section 361.4215. The term includes recycled plastics
110	110	[post-use polymers and recoverable feedstocks used in pyrolysis or
111	111	gasification].
112	112	(6-a) "Recycled plastics" means products that are
113	113	produced from:
114	114	(A) mechanical recycling of post-use polymers;
115	115	or
116	116	(B) nonmechanical recycling of post-use polymers
117	117	certified under a mass balance attribution system identified by the
118	118	commission under Section 361.4215.
119	119	(7) "Recycled product" means a product that is
120	120	eligible to be considered a recycled product under [which meets the
121	121	requirements for recycled material content as prescribed by] the
122	122	rules established by the commission under [described in] Section
123	123	361.427.
124	124	(8) "Recycling" means a process by which materials
125	125	that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded,
126	126	used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, or processed
127	127	and returned to use in the form of raw materials or feedstocks used
128	128	in the production of new products. The term does not include
129	129	incineration of plastics or waste-to-energy processes. Recycling
130	130	includes:
131	131	(A) the composting process if the compost
132	132	material is put to beneficial reuse as defined by the commission;
133	133	(B) the application to land, as organic
134	134	fertilizer, of processed sludge or biosolids from municipal
135	135	wastewater treatment plants and other organic matter resulting from
136	136	poultry, dairy, livestock, or other agricultural operations; and
137	137	(C) the conversion of post-use polymers and
138	138	recoverable feedstocks through pyrolysis or gasification.
139	139	SECTION 6. Subchapter N, Chapter 361, Health and Safety
140	140	Code, is amended by adding Section 361.4215 to read as follows:
141	141	Sec. 361.4215. MASS BALANCE ATTRIBUTION. The commission by
142	142	rule shall identify third-party certification systems for mass
143	143	balance attribution that may be used for the purposes of Sections
144	144	361.421(6) and (6-a), such as the International Sustainability and
145	145	Carbon Certification system.
146	146	SECTION 7. Section 361.427(b), Health and Safety Code, is
147	147	amended to read as follows:
148	148	(b) The guidelines established under this section shall
149	149	specify a minimum percent of the recycled material in a product
150	150	which must be postconsumer waste or post-use polymer.
151	151	SECTION 8. As soon as practicable after the effective date
152	152	of this Act, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
153	153	adopt rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this
154	154	Act.
155	155	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
156	156	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
157	157	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
158	158	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
159	159	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.