Legislative Spotlight
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. - Texas Environmental Update, April 2007
With the Texas legislature in full gear, environmental committees in both the House and Senate have considered and held hearings on a number of bills of interest. For this report, we summarize legislative action on certain selected measures showing some signs of traction.
Computer Recycling
HB 2714, a bill that would create a computer recycling program in Texas, has been voted favorably out of the House Environmental Regulation Committee as substituted and referred to the Local and Consent Calendar. The bill’s collection, recycling and reuse provisions would apply to computer equipment used and returned to the manufacturer by a consumer in Texas. The recycling program would not apply, however, to: (i) televisions, any part of a motor vehicle, a personal digital assistant or telephone, (ii) a consumer’s lease of computer equipment, or use of computer equipment under a lease agreement, or (iii) the sale or lease of computer equipment to a business. The bill would require manufactures to adopt and implement a recovery plan and satisfy certain labeling obligations. The recycling program would be administered by TCEQ and TCEQ and the Attorney General, as appropriate, would have authority to enforce the program. The bill, as substituted, differs from the original by specifying that any penalties assessed shall be deposited to TCEQ’s Waste Management Account, No. 549. The companion bill, SB 1324, remains pending before the Senate Natural Resources Committee as environmental interest groups push for inclusion of televisions in the recycling program.
Compliance History
In another legislative attempt to address the shortcomings of the current compliance history framework used for TCEQ decisions, Rep. Wayne Smith has authored a bill that would repeal the existing compliance history program and change the statute to reflect conditions in place just prior to its enactment in 2001. Among other things, HB 3960 would eliminate compliance history classification of poor, average and high performers and the existing provisions relating to components of compliance history. The changes in the law would affect permit applications filed on or after the effective date of the Act. After consideration by the House Environmental Regulation Committee, HB 3960 was reported favorably out of committee without amendment. Although this step moves the bill one step further along the legislative process, its fate will depend on how it fares during full House and Senate consideration. Notably, another bill by Rep. Smith, HB 2318, that would amend, rather than repeal, TCEQ’s compliance history program remains pending in committee. HB 2318 would include changes to: (i) limit the use of notices of violation for purposes of using compliance history to escalate penalties, (ii) modify compliance history rankings so that persons are identified as unsatisfactory, satisfactory or high performers rather than poor, average or high performers, (iii) establish criteria for repeat violator classification giving consideration to the size and complexity of the site.
Petroleum Storage Tanks
HB 3554 by Representative Carl Isett, a bill that would extend the petroleum storage tank remediation fund until September 2010 and would reduce the fees on delivery of certain petroleum products that fund the program, has now been voted out of committee favorably as substituted Under current law, the petroleum products delivery fee is set to expire on August 31, 2007 but obligations to the fund continue, including support for TCEQ’s state lead program. SB 1692, the companion bill to HB 3554, remains pending before the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
Municipal Setting Designation
HB 2018, a bill that would allow properties within small municipalities to be eligible to benefit from the creation of municipal setting designations (“MSDs”) to address contaminated groundwater not used for potable purposes, has received House approval, been referred to the Senate and is pending before the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Under current law, to be eligible for an MSD, two statutory eligibility criteria must be satisfied. First, a public water system satisfying the requirements of Chapter 341 of the Texas Health and Safety Code and that supplies or is capable of supplying drinking water to the property within the MSD and surrounding property within one-half mile must exist. Second, the property considered for the MSD must be within a municipality or the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality that has a population of at least 20,000. This bill would remove the existing population requirement.
With legislative deadlines looming and only about a month left in the session, these and other environmental bills will need to keep moving to achieve passage. We will continue to monitor and report on significant developments as the session proceeds.
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