Bill Text: TX HB2905 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to air quality permits issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-14 - Referred to Environmental Regulation [HB2905 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2905-Introduced.html
88R12495 JXC-D | ||
By: Goodwin | H.B. No. 2905 |
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relating to air quality permits issued by the Texas Commission on | ||
Environmental Quality. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 382.016, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows: | ||
(c) A member, employee, or agent of the commission may use | ||
emissions data obtained under Subsection (b) for modeling local and | ||
regional cumulative emissions. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.051991 and 382.051992 to | ||
read as follows: | ||
Sec. 382.051991. USE OF STANDARD PERMIT FOR AGGREGATE | ||
PRODUCTION OPERATIONS AND CONCRETE BATCH PLANTS: PUBLIC HEARING OR | ||
MEETING. (a) This section applies only to a hearing or meeting | ||
regarding an authorization to use a standard permit under this | ||
chapter for: | ||
(1) the production of aggregates, as defined by | ||
Section 28A.001, Water Code; or | ||
(2) the operation of a concrete plant that performs | ||
wet batching, dry batching, or central mixing. | ||
(b) The commission shall accept written questions about the | ||
facility from the public until the 15th day before the date of the | ||
hearing or meeting. | ||
(c) Not later than the 14th day before the date of the | ||
hearing or meeting, the commission shall notify the following | ||
entities of the date, time, and place of the hearing or meeting: | ||
(1) the Texas Department of Transportation; | ||
(2) each groundwater conservation district with | ||
jurisdiction over the area in which the facility is located or | ||
proposed to be located; | ||
(3) if no groundwater conservation district has | ||
jurisdiction over the area in which the facility is located or | ||
proposed to be located, the Texas Water Development Board; | ||
(4) any state agency with jurisdiction over a topic | ||
raised in a written question submitted to the commission under | ||
Subsection (b); and | ||
(5) each municipality and county in which the facility | ||
is located or proposed to be located. | ||
(d) Each entity that receives notice of a hearing or meeting | ||
under Subsection (c) shall send a representative of the entity to | ||
attend the hearing or meeting. This subsection does not apply to a | ||
municipality or county. | ||
Sec. 382.051992. ADDITIONAL STANDARD PERMIT REQUIREMENTS | ||
FOR AGGREGATE PRODUCTION OPERATIONS AND CONCRETE BATCH PLANTS. (a) | ||
This section applies only to the use of a standard permit under this | ||
chapter for: | ||
(1) the production of aggregates, as defined by | ||
Section 28A.001, Water Code; or | ||
(2) the operation of a concrete plant that performs | ||
wet batching, dry batching, or central mixing. | ||
(b) The commission may not authorize the use of a standard | ||
permit for or renew a standard permit authorization for a facility | ||
unless the applicant indicates on the application that the | ||
applicant: | ||
(1) has complied with the requirements of Subsection | ||
(c); and | ||
(2) will comply with any Texas Department of | ||
Transportation requirements for the construction or alteration of | ||
driveways as provided by Subsection (j). | ||
(c) In addition to requirements in any other applicable | ||
provision of this chapter, a person authorized to use a standard | ||
permit must: | ||
(1) install equipment to monitor noise levels and | ||
emissions of air contaminants, including particulate matter with a | ||
diameter equal to or less than 2.5 microns and equal to or less than | ||
10 microns, from the facility at three points on the perimeter of | ||
the property on which the facility is located that are as | ||
equidistant as possible, provided that: | ||
(A) one point must be at the point on the | ||
perimeter that is closest to the nearest building in use as a | ||
single-family or multifamily residence, school, place of worship, | ||
licensed day-care facility, or commercial enterprise; | ||
(B) one point must be at a point on the perimeter | ||
of the property on which the facility is located that is upwind, | ||
based on the predominant wind direction, from the facility; and | ||
(C) the commission may authorize one monitoring | ||
location to be used to satisfy the requirements of Paragraphs (A) | ||
and (B); | ||
(2) ensure that outdoor lighting installed at the | ||
facility complies with standards adopted by the Illuminating | ||
Engineering Society; | ||
(3) obtain computer-controlled blasting technology to | ||
minimize the effect of seismic forces on adjacent property caused | ||
by blasting at the facility; | ||
(4) either: | ||
(A) use water for the facility only from a | ||
metered source or under a permit from a groundwater conservation | ||
district; or | ||
(B) implement commission-approved methods of | ||
water recirculation to ensure efficient use of groundwater for the | ||
facility; | ||
(5) provide to the commission a plan to ensure that the | ||
area on which the facility operates will be safe and useful after | ||
operations cease, including a description of how the person will: | ||
(A) decommission the facility and ensure that | ||
equipment is removed; | ||
(B) minimize fugitive dust from areas the person | ||
does not plan to revegetate; and | ||
(C) control erosion by revegetating barren | ||
areas; and | ||
(6) provide to the commission a performance bond or | ||
other form of financial assurance to ensure payment of the costs of | ||
executing the plan required by Subdivision (5). | ||
(d) The commission is not required to inspect a facility | ||
solely to verify compliance with Subsection (c). The commission | ||
shall inspect a facility for compliance with Subsection (c) during | ||
regular inspections under this chapter and Chapter 28A, Water Code, | ||
and inspections made to respond to complaints. | ||
(e) The commission shall publish a list of monitoring | ||
equipment that a person may use to meet the requirements of | ||
Subsection (c)(1). | ||
(f) The person shall maintain records of monitoring data | ||
from the equipment required by Subsection (c)(1) until the fifth | ||
anniversary of the date on which the data was collected. The person | ||
may use physical instrument data storage and cloud-based storage. | ||
(g) A person authorized to use a standard permit shall | ||
ensure that noise created by the permitted facility does not | ||
exceed: | ||
(1) 70 decibels at the points at which monitors are | ||
installed under Subsection (c); or | ||
(2) 65 decibels at the perimeter of a property that is: | ||
(A) a single-family or multifamily residence, | ||
school, place of worship, licensed day-care facility, or commercial | ||
enterprise; and | ||
(B) located within 880 yards of the permitted | ||
facility. | ||
(h) If the commission receives a complaint about emissions | ||
or noise created by a permitted facility, the commission shall | ||
require the person authorized to use the permit to retain and make | ||
available to the commission on request all relevant available | ||
monitoring data from the monitoring equipment required by | ||
Subsection (c)(1) collected for a time period beginning 30 days | ||
before the date that is the subject of the complaint and ending 30 | ||
days after that date. | ||
(i) The commission is authorized to: | ||
(1) receive funds as the beneficiary of a financial | ||
assurance mechanism required under Subsection (c); and | ||
(2) expend funds from the financial assurance | ||
mechanism to ensure that the area on which the permitted facility | ||
operated is safe and useful. | ||
(j) If the Texas Department of Transportation determines | ||
that activities at a facility necessitate the construction or | ||
alteration of driveway access to or from a state highway, including | ||
to meet any applicable requirements under Chapter 133, Natural | ||
Resources Code, the person authorized to use a standard permit for | ||
the facility shall enter into a donation agreement with the | ||
department for the donation of costs or property needed by the state | ||
to facilitate the construction or alteration. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 382.058(c), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(c) For purposes of this section, only a representative of a | ||
place of worship, licensed day-care center, licensed nursing | ||
facility, licensed assisted living facility, licensed intermediate | ||
care facility, hospital, or medical facility or a person [ |
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yards of the proposed plant may request a hearing under Section | ||
382.056 as a person who may be affected. The commission shall adopt | ||
rules establishing who qualifies as a representative of a place of | ||
worship, licensed day-care center, licensed nursing facility, | ||
licensed assisted living facility, licensed intermediate care | ||
facility, hospital, or medical facility under this section. | ||
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Section 382.0581 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 382.0581. AIR DISPERSION MODELING FOR CERTAIN | ||
APPLICATIONS. (a) This section applies only to an application for: | ||
(1) a permit under Section 382.0518 for: | ||
(A) a concrete plant that performs wet batching, | ||
dry batching, or central mixing; | ||
(B) a rock crusher; | ||
(C) a hot mix asphalt plant; or | ||
(D) a bulk mineral handling facility; | ||
(2) an authorization to use a standard permit under | ||
Section 382.05195 for: | ||
(A) a concrete plant that performs wet batching, | ||
dry batching, or central mixing; | ||
(B) a rock crusher; or | ||
(C) a hot mix asphalt plant; or | ||
(3) an authorization to use a standard permit under | ||
Section 382.05198 for a concrete plant that performs wet batching, | ||
dry batching, or central mixing. | ||
(b) The commission shall require the use of air dispersion | ||
modeling to determine the overall cumulative effect on air quality | ||
of a facility that is the subject of an application described by | ||
Subsection (a) in conjunction with other proposed or existing | ||
facilities that: | ||
(1) are located less than five miles from the | ||
facility; and | ||
(2) emit more than a de minimis level of air | ||
contaminants. | ||
SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this | ||
section, the changes in law made by this Act apply only to a permit | ||
or an authorization to use a permit for which an application is | ||
submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. A permit or an authorization | ||
to use a permit for which an application was submitted to the Texas | ||
Commission on Environmental Quality before the effective date of | ||
this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the | ||
effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in | ||
effect for that purpose. | ||
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply to a permit or | ||
an authorization to use a permit for which an application for | ||
renewal is submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental | ||
Quality on or after January 1, 2025. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2024. |