Bill Text: TX HB3853 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to authorizing a change in the amount of certain administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for violating certain statutes under the jurisdiction of, rules or orders adopted by, or licenses, permits, or certificates issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-20 - Referred to Environmental Regulation [HB3853 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB3853-Introduced.html
| By: Morales Shaw | H.B. No. 3853 | |
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| relating to authorizing a change in the amount of certain | ||
| administrative, civil, and criminal penalties for violating | ||
| certain statutes under the jurisdiction of, rules or orders adopted | ||
| by, or licenses, permits, or certificates issued by the Texas | ||
| Commission on Environmental Quality. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 7, Water Code, is amended | ||
| by adding Section 7.007 to read as follows: | ||
| Sec. 7.007. ADJUSTMENT OF AMOUNT OF PENALTIES. (a) Not | ||
| later than August 1 of each year, the commission shall compute, | ||
| adopt, and publish a revised penalty amount for each penalty | ||
| imposed by this chapter to account for inflation since the penalty | ||
| was adopted. | ||
| (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the amount of a penalty | ||
| assessed under this chapter must be the greater of: | ||
| (1) the amount specified under the section imposing | ||
| the penalty; or | ||
| (2) the amount computed under Subsection (a) minus 10 | ||
| percent of that amount. | ||
| (c) In making the computation under Subsection (a), the | ||
| commission shall: | ||
| (1) consider the Consumer Price Index for All Urban | ||
| Consumers, or its successor in function, published by the United | ||
| States Bureau of Labor Statistics; | ||
| (2) use as the base year for each penalty imposed by | ||
| this chapter the year the penalty was enacted; and | ||
| (3) adjust the amount of each penalty imposed by this | ||
| chapter to account for inflation since the base year used under | ||
| Subdivision (2). | ||
| (d) The adjusted penalty amount adopted is effective | ||
| beginning September 1 following the adjustment. | ||
| (e) The commission shall make available to the public | ||
| information regarding adjustments made under this section. | ||
| SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | ||
| a violation committed on or after the effective date of this Act. A | ||
| violation committed before the effective date of this Act is | ||
| governed by the law in effect when the violation was committed, and | ||
| the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For | ||
| purposes of this section, a violation was committed before the | ||
| effective date of this Act if any element of the violation was | ||
| committed before that date. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
