Bill Text: TX HB3798 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the regulation of and permit requirements for certain facilities that extract, produce, or process aggregates and of related facilities by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Railroad Commission of Texas; providing administrative penalties and other civil remedies; creating criminal offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-17 - Left pending in committee [HB3798 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3798-Introduced.html

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86R15856 JXC-D
By: Biedermann H.B. No. 3798

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of and permit requirements for certain
facilities that extract, produce, or process aggregates and of
related facilities by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
and the Railroad Commission of Texas; providing administrative
penalties and other civil remedies; creating criminal offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 382.0516, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) In addition to the notice required by Subsection (a),
for an application that relates to a facility that is or is proposed
to be part of an aggregate production operation required to be
registered under Section 28A.051, Water Code, on receiving the
application, the commission shall send notice of the application to
each school district in which the operation is located and any other
school district located less than five miles from the site of the
proposed facility.
SECTION 2. Section 382.056(r), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(r) This section does not apply to:
(1) the relocation or change of location of a portable
facility to a site where a portable facility has been located at the
proposed site at any time during the previous two years;
(2) a facility located temporarily in the
right-of-way, or contiguous to the right-of-way, of a public works
project; or
(3) a facility described by Section 382.065(c), unless
that facility is in a county with a population of one [3.3] million
or more or in a county adjacent to such a county.
SECTION 3. Sections 382.065(a), (b), and (d), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission by rule shall prohibit the operation of a
concrete crushing facility within one mile [440 yards] of a
building in use as a single or multifamily residence, school, or
place of worship at the time the application for a permit to operate
the facility at a site near the residence, school, or place of
worship is filed with the commission. The measurement of distance
for purposes of this subsection shall be taken from the point on the
concrete crushing facility that is nearest to the residence,
school, or place of worship toward the point on the residence,
school, or place of worship that is nearest the concrete crushing
facility.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a concrete crushing
facility:
(1) at a location for which commission authorization
for the operation of a concrete crushing facility was in effect on
September 1, 2001;
(2) at a location that satisfies the distance
requirements of Subsection (a) at the time the application for the
initial authorization for the operation of that facility at that
location is filed with the commission, provided that the
authorization is granted and maintained, regardless of whether a
single or multifamily residence, school, or place of worship is
subsequently built or put to use within one mile [440 yards] of the
facility; or
(3) that:
(A) uses a concrete crusher:
(i) in the manufacture of products that
contain recycled materials; and
(ii) that is located in an enclosed
building; and
(B) is located:
(i) within 25 miles of an international
border; and
(ii) in a municipality with a population of
not less than 6,100 but not more than 20,000.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), Subsection (a) applies
to a concrete crushing facility in a county with a population of one
[3.3] million or more or in a county adjacent to such a county.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 382.069 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.069. AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS. (a) This
section applies only to a permit for a facility that is or is
proposed to be part of an aggregate production operation required
to be registered under Section 28A.051, Water Code.
(b) The commission may adopt a standard audit and air
sampling program for permit holders.
(c) The commission shall adopt a policy to grant a permit
holder who is not subject to Chapter 1101 the privileges
established in Chapter 1101 if the permit holder chooses to comply
with the requirements of Chapter 1101 for the facility for which the
permit is issued.
(d) The commission may not grant a permit application that
relates to a proposed facility under this chapter unless the
applicant provides to the commission documentation of any required
permit issued to the applicant by:
(1) each groundwater conservation district in which
the proposed facility will be located; and
(2) the Railroad Commission of Texas under Chapter
135, Natural Resources Code.
SECTION 5. Title 4, Natural Resources Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 135 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 135. AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 135.0001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Affected land" means:
(A) the area from which any materials are to be or
have been displaced in an aggregate production operation;
(B) the area on which any materials that are
displaced are to be or have been deposited;
(C) the haul roads and impoundment basins within
the aggregate production operation; and
(D) other land whose natural state has been or
will be disturbed as a result of the aggregate production
operations.
(2) "Aggregate production operation" means an
extraction operation at an aggregate production operation site
described by Section 28A.001(1), Water Code.
(3) "Commission" means the Railroad Commission of
Texas.
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMISSION
Sec. 135.0051. GENERAL AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION. To
accomplish the purposes of this chapter, the commission may:
(1) adopt, amend, and enforce rules pertaining to
aggregate production operations consistent with this chapter;
(2) issue permits under this chapter;
(3) conduct hearings under this chapter and Chapter
2001, Government Code;
(4) issue orders requiring a person to take actions
necessary to comply with this chapter or rules adopted under this
chapter;
(5) issue orders modifying previous orders;
(6) issue a final order revoking the permit of a person
who has not complied with a commission order to take action required
by this chapter or rules adopted under this chapter;
(7) hire employees, adopt standards for employment,
and hire or authorize the hiring of outside contractors to assist in
carrying out this chapter;
(8) accept, receive, and administer grants, gifts,
loans, or other money made available from any source for the
purposes of this chapter; and
(9) perform any other duty or act required by or
provided for in this chapter.
Sec. 135.0052. MONITORING, REPORTING, AND INSPECTIONS. (a)
The commission may:
(1) require monitoring and reporting;
(2) enter and inspect aggregate production
operations; and
(3) take other actions necessary to administer,
enforce, or evaluate the administration of this chapter.
(b) For purposes of this section, the commission or its
authorized representative:
(1) without advance notice and on presentation of
appropriate credentials, has the right to enter:
(A) an aggregate production operation; or
(B) premises on which records required to be
maintained are located; and
(2) at reasonable times and without delay, may have
access to and copy records required under this chapter or rules
adopted under this chapter or inspect any monitoring equipment or
method of operation required under this chapter or rules adopted
under this chapter.
SUBCHAPTER C. RECLAMATION PERMIT
Sec. 135.0101. RECLAMATION OBJECTIVE. (a) The basic
objective of reclamation is to reestablish on a continuing basis,
where required, vegetation and other natural conditions consistent
with the anticipated subsequent use of the affected land.
(b) The process of reclamation may require contouring,
terracing, grading, backfilling, resoiling, revegetation,
compaction and stabilization and settling ponds, water
impoundments, diversion ditches, and other water treatment
facilities in order to minimize water diminution to existing water
sources, pollution, soil and wind erosion, or flooding resulting
from extraction or any other activity that may be considered
necessary to accomplish the reclamation of the affected land to a
substantially beneficial condition.
Sec. 135.0102. RECLAMATION PERMIT REQUIRED. (a) A person
may not conduct an aggregate production operation that includes a
facility for which a permit is required under Chapter 382, Health
and Safety Code, without first obtaining a reclamation permit for
that operation from the commission under this chapter.
(b) The commission by rule shall establish requirements for
obtaining a permit. The requirements must:
(1) ensure that the permit holder is capable of
completing a reclamation process for the permit area in a manner
that is compatible with the objective described by Section
135.0101; and
(2) be modeled on the reclamation requirements for
surface mining of uranium and uranium ore under Chapter 131 and
surface coal mining under Chapter 134, including the submission of
a reclamation plan and a performance bond.
Sec. 135.0103. PERMIT APPLICATION AND ISSUANCE. (a) The
commission by rule shall establish requirements for submitting a
permit application.
(b) Chapter 2001, Government Code, applies to a permit
application under this chapter.
(c) On the basis of a complete application for a permit, the
commission shall approve, require modification of, or deny a permit
application.
(d) An applicant for a permit has the burden of establishing
that the application complies with this chapter and rules adopted
under this chapter.
Sec. 135.0104. PERMIT REVISIONS. (a) The commission by
rule shall require that a permit holder:
(1) notify the commission of any significant changes
in a condition that the commission evaluated as part of the permit
application process that occur after the permit was issued; and
(2) apply for a permit revision if the commission
determines a revision is appropriate.
(b) A permit revision application is subject to the same
requirements for issuance as an initial permit.
SUBCHAPTER D. ENFORCEMENT
Sec. 135.0151. CIVIL OR ADMINISTRATIVE ENFORCEMENT.
Subchapter H, Chapter 134, applies to the civil or administrative
enforcement of this chapter or a rule, order, or permit adopted or
issued under this chapter in the same manner as that subchapter
applies to the civil or administrative enforcement of that chapter
or a rule, order, or permit adopted or issued under that chapter.
Sec. 135.0152. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR WILFUL AND KNOWING
VIOLATION. (a) A person commits an offense if the person wilfully
and knowingly violates a condition of a permit issued under this
chapter or does not comply with an order issued under this chapter,
except an order incorporated in a decision issued by the commission
under Section 134.175, as applicable under Section 135.0151.
(b) An offense under this section is punishable by:
(1) a fine of not more than $10,000;
(2) imprisonment for not more than one year; or
(3) both the fine and the imprisonment.
Sec. 135.0153. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR FALSE STATEMENT,
REPRESENTATION, OR CERTIFICATION. (a) A person commits an offense
if the person knowingly makes a false statement, representation, or
certification, or knowingly fails to make a statement,
representation, or certification, in an application, record,
report, or other document filed or required to be maintained under
this chapter or under an order of decision issued by the commission
under this chapter.
(b) An offense under this section is punishable by:
(1) a fine of not more than $10,000;
(2) imprisonment for not more than one year; or
(3) both the fine and the imprisonment.
SECTION 6. (a) Notwithstanding Chapter 382, Health and
Safety Code, after the effective date of this Act, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality may not issue a permit under
Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code, for a facility that is or is
proposed to be part of an aggregate production operation required
to be registered under Section 28A.051, Water Code, until the
commission completes the assessment and, if applicable, adopts any
revisions or programs described by Subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Not later than October 1, 2020, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall conduct an assessment of the effects on
air quality created by the aggregate production industry in this
state to determine whether air quality models used by the
commission to evaluate emissions from the production of aggregates,
as defined by Section 28A.001, Water Code, are contravening the
intent of Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code. The commission
shall:
(1) revise the air quality models and, if necessary,
any relevant permit requirements if the commission determines from
the assessment that revisions are necessary to accomplish the
intent of Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code; and
(2) adopt a standard audit and air sampling program as
authorized under Section 382.069(b), Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, if the commission determines from the assessment
that such a program is necessary to accomplish the intent of Chapter
382, Health and Safety Code.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall
submit to the legislature a report on the results of the assessment
required by Subsection (b) of this section.
SECTION 7. (a) Section 6(a) of this Act does not prohibit
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from granting an
application for a permit that is filed before the effective date of
this Act.
(b) Sections 382.0516(c) and 382.069(d), Health and Safety
Code, as added by this Act, and Sections 382.056(r) and 382.065,
Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to an
application for 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 filing, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.