Bill Text: TX SB674 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to standards for measuring the emission of air contaminants under the Texas Clean Air Act; providing a penalty.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-23 - Referred to Natural Resources [SB674 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB674-Introduced.html

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82R2139 JAM-F
By: Gallegos S.B. No. 674

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to standards for measuring the emission of air
contaminants under the Texas Clean Air Act; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.042 and 382.043 to read as
follows:
Sec. 382.042. EFFECTS SCREENING LEVELS. (a) The
commission by rule shall adopt effects screening levels for air
contaminants. Each effects screening level must:
(1) be set in a manner that takes into consideration
all acute and chronic health effects on a person resulting from
exposure to an air contaminant;
(2) be based in part on the health effects of:
(A) the one-hour, eight-hour, or 24-hour
exposure of a person to the highest concentration of the air
contaminant from an emission source; and
(B) the lifetime exposure of a person to the
highest concentration of the air contaminant from an emission
source; and
(3) be set at a level that does not increase the risk
of cancer in a person exposed to the air contaminant by greater than
one chance in 100,000 or another level set by the commission to
protect human health and welfare and the environment when compared
to a person not exposed to the contaminant.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2012, the commission shall
assemble a panel of independent, nationally recognized experts in
the fields of toxicology, epidemiology, medicine, and public health
to review the commission's effects screening levels and to
recommend standards to the commission that comply with the
requirements of Subsection (a). The panel shall consider the
effects screening levels, methods, and programs of other states as
part of the review. The panel shall provide opportunities for
public comment in conducting the review. The panel shall make
recommendations to the commission regarding the commission's
effects screening levels, methods, and programs not later than July
1, 2013. Not later than October 1, 2013, the commission shall adopt
effects screening levels as required under Subsection (a) that take
into consideration the panel's recommendations. The owner or
operator of an emission source shall comply with the effects
screening levels set by the commission under this section not later
than January 1, 2015. This subsection expires September 1, 2015.
(c) Until the commission adopts effects screening levels
that comply with the requirements of Subsection (a), the effects
screening levels adopted by the commission as of September 1, 2011,
are interim standards for purposes of Sections 382.043 and 382.085.
This subsection expires November 1, 2013.
Sec. 382.043. SANCTIONS; REPORT. (a) A person may not
cause, suffer, allow, or permit the emission of any air contaminant
or the performance of any activity that causes an effects screening
level set by the commission to be exceeded. The commission by rule
shall establish requirements for assessing a penalty or initiating
an action for an injunction against a person who violates this
section.
(b) The commission annually shall publish a report that
lists each violation of this section. The report must include any
instance in which the commission suspected a violation but later
determined that the evidence was not sufficient or credible enough
to prove a violation of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 382.085, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d),
and (e) to read as follows:
(a) A [Except as authorized by a commission rule or order,
a] person may not cause, suffer, allow, or permit the emission of
any air contaminant or the performance of any activity that causes
or contributes to, or that will cause or contribute to, either in
isolation or in conjunction with air contaminants from other
sources, a condition of air pollution.
(c) For purposes of this section, a condition of air
pollution is considered to exist if sufficient and credible
evidence demonstrates an unacceptable risk of health effects due to
air pollution as determined by:
(1) a measured level of an air contaminant in excess of
an effects screening level for the air contaminant for a relevant
period as provided by commission rule;
(2) a measured level of multiple air contaminants that
in conjunction with one another increase the risk of cancer in a
person exposed to the air contaminants by greater than one chance in
100,000 or another measured level of multiple air contaminants
established by the commission to protect human health and welfare
and the environment;
(3) a measured level of multiple air contaminants that
are associated with the same chronic health condition and that in
conjunction with one another are likely to result in a greater risk
to an exposed person's health than would one of the contaminants in
isolation if measured at the relevant effects screening level for
the contaminant; or
(4) any other evidence that is of sufficient value and
credibility to demonstrate an adverse effect to human health or
welfare, animal life, vegetation, or property, or an interference
with the normal use and enjoyment of animal life, vegetation, or
property.
(d) In addition to any other remedy authorized by law, the
commission by rule shall establish requirements for assessing a
penalty or initiating an action for an injunction against a person
who violates this section.
(e) If the commission brings an action for a violation of
this section, the burden is on the owner or operator of the facility
or source, through certification by a responsible official
designated by the owner or operator, to demonstrate to the
commission that:
(1) the facility or source is in compliance with all
technological requirements applicable to the facility or source;
(2) the facility or source is in compliance with all
monitoring requirements applicable to the facility or source; and
(3) the owner or operator is not aware of any evidence
that demonstrates that the facility or source has caused or
contributed to a condition of air pollution in violation of this
section.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2012, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt requirements for
assessing a penalty or initiating an action for an injunction
against a person who violates:
(1) Section 382.043, Health and Safety Code, as added
by this Act; or
(2) Section 382.085, Health and Safety Code, as
amended by this Act.
(b) Not later than March 1, 2012, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall publish the first annual report listing
violations of effects screening levels as required by Section
382.043, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(c) Section 382.085, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a violation of Section 382.085, Health and
Safety Code, that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.
A violation of Section 382.085, Health and Safety Code, that occurs
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect on the date the violation occurred, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(d) Section 382.043, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, applies to any violation of an effects screening level set
by the commission that occurs on or after the effective date of this
Act. A violation of an effects screening level that occurs before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the violation occurs, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.