| 1 | 1 | | By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 519 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the issuance of a permit for a municipal solid waste |
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| 7 | 7 | | landfill facility located in a special flood hazard area. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 361, Health and Safety |
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| 10 | 10 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 361.1232 to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 361.1232. LIMITATION ON MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE LANDFILL |
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| 12 | 12 | | IN SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREA. (a) In this section: |
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| 13 | 13 | | (1) "Facility" means all land, improvements on land, |
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| 14 | 14 | | structures, and appurtenances, including drainage structures, |
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| 15 | 15 | | groundwater monitoring wells, landfill gas probes, and gate or |
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| 16 | 16 | | scale houses, that are used for the storage, processing, or |
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| 17 | 17 | | disposal of solid waste. |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) "Special flood hazard area" means the land in a |
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| 19 | 19 | | floodplain subject to not less than one percent chance of flooding |
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| 20 | 20 | | in a year as designated by the director or administrator of the |
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| 21 | 21 | | Federal Emergency Management Agency. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (b) The commission may not issue a permit for a new |
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| 23 | 23 | | municipal solid waste landfill facility or a lateral expansion of |
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| 24 | 24 | | an existing municipal solid waste landfill facility that is |
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| 25 | 25 | | contingent on the removal of a part of the facility from a special |
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| 26 | 26 | | flood hazard area. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the commission may |
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| 28 | 28 | | not issue a permit for a new municipal solid waste landfill facility |
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| 29 | 29 | | to be located in a special flood hazard area or for a lateral |
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| 30 | 30 | | expansion of an existing municipal solid waste landfill facility if |
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| 31 | 31 | | a part of the facility is or will be located in a special flood |
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| 32 | 32 | | hazard area unless the applicant has obtained from the Federal |
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| 33 | 33 | | Emergency Management Agency a letter of map change demonstrating |
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| 34 | 34 | | that the entire facility has been removed from the special flood |
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| 35 | 35 | | hazard area. A conditional letter of map amendment issued by the |
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| 36 | 36 | | Federal Emergency Management Agency does not satisfy the |
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| 37 | 37 | | requirements of this subsection. |
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| 38 | 38 | | (d) The commission shall coordinate with all applicable |
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| 39 | 39 | | regional and local governments to verify that all required map |
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| 40 | 40 | | changes to the Flood Insurance Rate Map have been acquired from the |
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| 41 | 41 | | Federal Emergency Management Agency and that all necessary permits |
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| 42 | 42 | | have been issued for the facility by the governmental entities or |
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| 43 | 43 | | agencies with jurisdiction over the facility under Section 16.235, |
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| 44 | 44 | | Texas Water Code, or Chapter 16, Subchapter I, Texas Water Code. |
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| 45 | 45 | | SECTION 2. Section 361.1232, Health and Safety Code, as |
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| 46 | 46 | | added by this Act, applies only to an application for the issuance |
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| 47 | 47 | | or amendment of a permit for a municipal solid waste landfill |
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| 48 | 48 | | facility that is pending before the Texas Commission on |
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| 49 | 49 | | Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A |
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| 50 | 50 | | permit for a municipal solid waste landfill facility that is issued |
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| 51 | 51 | | or amended before the effective date of this Act is governed by the |
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| 52 | 52 | | law in effect when the permit was issued or amended, and the former |
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| 53 | 53 | | law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 54 | 54 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 55 | 55 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 56 | 56 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 57 | 57 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 58 | 58 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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