Bill Text: TX SB1685 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to exemptions from property taxation and sales and use taxation for certain offshore spill response and well containment property used to control pollution.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-29 - Reported from s/c favorably with substitute [SB1685 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB1685-Introduced.html
 
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1685
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to exemptions from property taxation and sales and use
  taxation for certain offshore spill response and well containment
  property used to control pollution.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 11.31, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (m) and adding Subsections (o)
  and (p) to read as follows:
         (a)  A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of
  all or part of real and personal property that the person owns and
  that is used wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for
  the control of air, water, or land pollution. A person is not
  entitled to an exemption from taxation under this section solely on
  the basis that the person manufactures or produces a product or
  provides a service that prevents, monitors, controls, or reduces
  air, water, or land pollution, except as provided in Subsection
  (o). Property used for residential purposes, or for recreational,
  park, or scenic uses as defined by Section 23.81, is ineligible for
  an exemption under this section.
         (b)  In this section, "facility, device, or method for the
  control of air, water, or land pollution" means land that is
  acquired after January 1, 1994, or any structure, building,
  installation, excavation, machinery, equipment, or device, and any
  attachment or addition to or reconstruction, replacement, or
  improvement of that property, that is used, constructed, acquired,
  or installed wholly or partly to meet or exceed rules or regulations
  adopted by any environmental protection agency of the United
  States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state for the
  prevention, monitoring, control, or reduction of air, water, or
  land pollution and includes property described in Subsection (o).
  In this section, "pollution control property" includes property
  described in Subsection (o). This section does not apply to a motor
  vehicle.
         (c)  In applying for an exemption under this section, a
  person seeking the exemption shall present in a permit application
  or permit exemption request to the executive director of the Texas
  Commission on Environmental Quality information detailing:
               (1)  the anticipated environmental benefits from the
  installation of the facility, device, or method for the control of
  air, water, or land pollution;
               (2)  the estimated cost of the pollution control
  facility, device, or method; and
               (3)  the purpose of the installation of such facility,
  device, or method, and the proportion of the installation that is
  pollution control.
         If the installation includes property that is not used wholly
  for the control of air, water, or land pollution or described in
  Subsection (o), the person seeking the exemption shall also present
  such financial or other data as the executive director requires by
  rule for the determination of the proportion of the installation
  that is pollution control.
         (d)  Following submission of the information required by
  Subsection (c), the executive director of the Texas Commission on
  Environmental Quality shall determine if the facility, device, or
  method is used wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for
  the control of air, water, or land pollution. As soon as
  practicable, the executive director shall send notice by regular
  mail or by electronic means to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
  district for the county in which the property is located that the
  person has applied for a determination under this subsection. The
  executive director shall issue a letter to the person stating the
  executive director's determination of whether the facility,
  device, or method is used wholly or partly to control pollution or
  as property described in Subsection (o) and, if applicable, the
  proportion of the property that is pollution control property. The
  executive director shall send a copy of the letter by regular mail
  or by electronic means to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
  district for the county in which the property is located.
         (m)  Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section,
  if the facility, device, or method for the control of air, water, or
  land pollution described in an application for an exemption under
  this section is a facility, device, or method included on the list
  adopted under Subsection (k) or property described in Subsection
  (o), the executive director of the Texas Commission on
  Environmental Quality, not later than the 30th day after the date of
  receipt of the information required by Subsections (c)(2) and (3)
  and without regard to whether the information required by
  Subsection (c)(1) has been submitted, shall determine that the
  facility, device, or method described in the application is used
  wholly or partly as a facility, device, or method for the control of
  air, water, or land pollution and shall take the actions that are
  required by Subsection (d) in the event such a determination is
  made.
         (o)  Notwithstanding any other provision in this section, a
  person is entitled to an exemption from taxation of all or part of
  real and personal property that the person owns or leases and that
  is used, constructed, acquired, stored, or installed primarily as
  part of an offshore spill response containment system. For
  purposes of this section, property described in this subsection
  shall be treated as used wholly as a facility, device, or method for
  the control of air, water, or land pollution.
         (p)  In Subsection (o):
               (1)  "Offshore spill response containment system"
  means:
                     (A)  a containment system:
                           (i)  for a response plan to meet or exceed
  rules or regulations adopted by any environmental protection agency
  of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this
  state for the control, reduction, or monitoring of air, water, or
  land pollution in the event of a blowout or loss of control of an
  offshore well drilled or used for the exploration for or production
  of oil, gas, sulphur or other minerals; and
                           (ii)  having a design capability to respond
  to a blowout or loss of control of such an offshore well drilled in
  more than 5,000 feet of water; and
                     (B)  real and personal property used for the
  development, improvement, storage, deployment, repair,
  maintenance, or testing of such containment system.
               (2)  "Environmental protection agency of the United
  States" includes:
                     (A)  the United States Department of the Interior
  and agencies, bureaus, or other entities established in the United
  States Department of the Interior, including the Bureau of Safety
  and Environmental Enforcement and the Bureau of Ocean Energy
  Management; and
                     (B)  any other department, agency, bureau, or
  entity of the United States that prescribes rules or regulations
  described by Subsection (p)(1)(A)(i).
               (3)  "Rules or regulations adopted by any environmental
  protection agency of the United States" include Title 30, Code of
  Federal Regulations, Part 254, and any corresponding provision or
  provisions of succeeding, similar, substitute, proposed, or final
  federal regulations.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended by adding
  Section 151.356 to read as follows:
         Sec. 151.356  OFFSHORE SPILL RESPONSE AND WELL CONTAINMENT
  PROPERTY. (a) A person described in Section 11.31(o), Tax Code, is
  entitled to an exemption from the taxes imposed by this chapter for
  the purchase, sale, lease, rental, storage, use or consumption of
  property described in Section 11.31(o), Tax Code.
         (b)  A service performed on property described in Section
  11.31(o), Tax Code, is exempted from the taxes imposed by this
  chapter.
         SECTION 3.  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, 2013.
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