By: Zwiener H.B. No. 2608
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the consideration by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality of alternative waste collection, treatment,
and disposal options before issuing permits to discharge certain
waste.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.0282, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 26.0282. CONSIDERATION OF NEED AND REGIONAL TREATMENT
OPTIONS. (a) In considering the issuance, amendment, or renewal of
a permit to discharge waste, the commission may deny or alter the
terms and conditions of the proposed permit, amendment, or renewal
based on consideration of need, including the expected volume and
quality of the influent and the availability of existing or
proposed areawide or regional waste collection, treatment, and
disposal systems not designated as such by commission order
pursuant to provisions of this subchapter.
(b) The commission may not issue a permit to discharge waste
unless the applicant demonstrates to the commission that:
(1) it is not economically feasible for another holder
of a permit issued under this chapter to collect, treat, and dispose
of the waste proposed to be discharged by the applicant; or
(2) that it will treat and discharge waste to a higher
water quality standard than the waste would otherwise be treated to
if another holder of a permit issued under this chapter were to
collect, treat, and dispose of the waste proposed to be discharged
by the applicant.
(c) This section is expressly directed to the control and
treatment of conventional pollutants normally found in domestic
wastewater.
SECTION 2. Section 26.0282, Water Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an application for the issuance of a permit
that is filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on
or after the effective date of this Act. An application for a
permit filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date of the filing, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.