88R4617 JXC-D
By: Springer S.B. No. 471
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the imposition of a fee by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality for the investigation of certain complaints.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 5.1774 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.1774. FEES FOR MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS. (a) The
commission shall charge a person who files a complaint a fee before
the commission investigates the complaint if, in the same calendar
year in which the complaint is filed, the person has filed at least
three complaints with the commission for which neither the
commission nor a local enforcement official took enforcement action
before closing the file on the complaint.
(b) The commission by rule shall establish for each type of
complaint a fee amount to be charged under Subsection (a) that the
commission estimates is less than or equal to the cost to the
commission of investigating most complaints of that type.
(c) The commission may waive the fee required by Subsection
(a) for good cause.
SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality shall adopt the rules required by Section 5.1774, Water
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the
effective date of this Act.
(b) Section 5.1774, Water Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a complaint filed on or after the effective date of
the rules adopted under that section. The Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality may not consider a complaint filed before the
effective date of the rules for the purposes of determining whether
to charge a fee under Section 5.1774(a), Water Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.