Bill Text: TX HB819 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled


Bill Title: Relating to the definition of a public health nuisance; amending provisions subject to a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-09 - Effective immediately [HB819 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB819-Enrolled.html
 
 
  H.B. No. 819
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the definition of a public health nuisance; amending
  provisions subject to a criminal penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 341.011, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 341.011.  NUISANCE. Each of the following is a public
  health nuisance:
               (1)  a condition or place that is a breeding place for
  flies and that is in a populous area;
               (2)  spoiled or diseased meats intended for human
  consumption;
               (3)  a restaurant, food market, bakery, other place of
  business, or vehicle in which food is prepared, packed, stored,
  transported, sold, or served to the public and that is not
  constantly maintained in a sanitary condition;
               (4)  a place, condition, or building controlled or
  operated by a state or local government agency that is not
  maintained in a sanitary condition;
               (5)  sewage, human excreta, wastewater, garbage, or
  other organic wastes deposited, stored, discharged, or exposed in
  such a way as to be a potential instrument or medium in disease
  transmission to a person or between persons;
               (6)  a vehicle or container that is used to transport
  garbage, human excreta, or other organic material and that is
  defective and allows leakage or spilling of contents;
               (7)  a collection of water in which mosquitoes are
  breeding in the limits of a municipality or a collection of water
  that is a breeding area for [Culex quinquefasciatus] mosquitoes
  that can transmit diseases regardless of the collection's location
  other than a location or property where activities meeting the
  definition of Section 11.002(12)(A), Water Code, occur;
               (8)  a condition that may be proven to injuriously
  affect the public health and that may directly or indirectly result
  from the operations of a bone boiling or fat rendering plant, tallow
  or soap works, or other similar establishment;
               (9)  a place or condition harboring rats in a populous
  area;
               (10)  the presence of ectoparasites, including
  bedbugs, lice, and mites, suspected to be disease carriers in a
  place in which sleeping accommodations are offered to the public;
               (11)  the maintenance of an open surface privy or an
  overflowing septic tank so that the contents may be accessible to
  flies; and
               (12)  an object, place, or condition that is a possible
  and probable medium of disease transmission to or between humans.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 819 was passed by the House on April
  13, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 819 was passed by the Senate on May
  22, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor       
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