Bill Text: TX SB729 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the operation of rock crushing facilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-07 - Filed [SB729 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-SB729-Introduced.html

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89R2217 JDK-F
By: Johnson S.B. No. 729

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the operation of rock crushing facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 382.05101, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 382.05101. DE MINIMIS AIR CONTAMINANTS. The
commission may develop by rule the criteria to establish a de
minimis level of air contaminants for facilities or groups of
facilities below which the following types of permits are not
required:
(1) a permit under Section 382.0518 or 382.0519;
(2) a standard permit under Section 382.05195,
382.05198, [or] 382.051985, or 382.0651; or
(3) a permit by rule under Section 382.05196.
SECTION 2. Section 382.0511(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commission may authorize changes in a federal source
to proceed before the owner or operator obtains a federal operating
permit or revisions to a federal operating permit if:
(1) the changes are de minimis under Section
382.05101; or
(2) the owner or operator:
(A) has obtained a preconstruction permit or
permit amendment required by Section 382.0518; or
(B) is operating under:
(i) a standard permit under Section
382.05195, 382.05198, [or] 382.051985, or 382.0651;
(ii) a permit by rule under Section
382.05196; or
(iii) an exemption allowed under Section
382.057.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 382.0651, 382.0652, and
382.0653 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.0651. STANDARD PERMIT FOR CERTAIN ROCK CRUSHING
FACILITIES. (a) The commission shall issue a standard permit for a
rock crushing facility that:
(1) is located at an aggregate production operation
required to be registered under Section 28A.051, Water Code;
(2) processes not more than 1,500 tons of rock per
hour; and
(3) meets the requirements of this section.
(b) The standard permit issued under this section must
require that an owner or operator of a facility authorized to use
the permit, in addition to any other applicable requirements of
this chapter:
(1) install and operate for the first 12 consecutive
months of operation under the standard permit equipment to monitor:
(A) water quality in mining pits and
sedimentation ponds at the aggregate production operation for the
presence of contaminants related to aggregate extraction;
(B) the seismicity of extraction activities,
including blasting along active extraction areas; and
(C) emissions of air contaminants, if the
facility is located within 440 yards of two or more other aggregate
production operations;
(2) maintain records of monitoring data from the
monitoring equipment required by Subdivision (1) until the second
anniversary of the date on which the data was collected;
(3) establish a plan for providing notice of
emergencies to:
(A) owners and tenants of adjacent real property
and the property owners' association of each adjacent residential
subdivision, as applicable; and
(B) each member of the board of trustees of a
school district that serves the geographic area in which the
facility is located;
(4) implement best management practices for:
(A) conserving water;
(B) minimizing visible dust from active
extraction areas at the aggregate production operation, including
those areas not immediately revegetated;
(C) removing noncommercial material and old and
unused extraction equipment from the facility site; and
(D) cleaning and mowing of on-site equipment
yards; and
(5) submit to the commission a post-extraction land
use plan that includes:
(A) provisions for permanent removal of
extraction equipment;
(B) provisions for revegetation, including the
use of appropriate local vegetation types that are adequate for
post-extraction uses of land, as determined by the owner or
operator;
(C) slope and grading standards to allow for
traversing of livestock; and
(D) proposed land reuse options, such as
agricultural, natural, open space, or redevelopment uses or the
creation of a pond or lake.
(c) The commission by rule shall adopt best management
practices for the purposes of Subsection (b)(4). Before the
commission proposes a rule under this subsection, the commission
must use negotiated rulemaking procedures under Chapter 2008,
Government Code.
(d) The commission shall make each post-extraction land use
plan submitted under Subsection (b)(5) available on the
commission's Internet website.
(e) If the land on which the facility to be permitted is
located is owned by a person other than the owner or operator of the
facility, the owner or operator of the facility may submit to the
commission an agreement made between the landowner and the facility
owner or operator for post-extraction land uses instead of the
post-extraction land use plan required under Subsection (b)(5).
(f) The commission shall inspect a facility for compliance
with this section during regular inspections under this chapter and
Chapter 28A, Water Code.
Sec. 382.0652. STANDARD PERMIT FOR CERTAIN ROCK CRUSHING
FACILITIES: NOTICE AND HEARING. (a) A person may not begin
construction of a new or modification of an existing rock crushing
facility under a standard permit issued under Section 382.0651
unless the commission authorizes the person to use the permit as
provided by this section. The notice and hearing requirements of
this section apply only to an application for authorization to use a
standard permit issued under Section 382.0651. An applicant for a
permit for a rock crushing facility that does not meet the
requirements of a standard permit issued under Section 382.0651
must comply with:
(1) Section 382.058 to obtain authorization to use a
standard permit issued under Section 382.05195 or a permit by rule
adopted under Section 382.05196; or
(2) Section 382.056 to obtain a permit issued under
Section 382.0518.
(b) An applicant for an authorization to use a standard
permit issued under Section 382.0651 must publish notice under this
section not later than the earlier of:
(1) the 30th day after the date the applicant receives
written notice from the executive director that the application is
technically complete; or
(2) the 75th day after the date the executive director
receives the application.
(c) The applicant must publish notice at least once in a
newspaper of general circulation in the municipality in which the
facility is located or proposed to be located or in the municipality
nearest to the location or proposed location of the facility. If
the elementary or middle school nearest to the location or proposed
location of the facility provides a bilingual education program as
required by Subchapter B, Chapter 29, Education Code, the applicant
must also publish the notice at least once in an additional
publication of general circulation in each municipality or county
in which the facility is located or proposed to be located that is
published in the language taught in the bilingual education
program. This requirement is waived if such a publication does not
exist or if the publisher refuses to publish the notice.
(d) The notice must include:
(1) a brief description of the location or proposed
location and nature of the facility;
(2) a description, including a telephone number, of
the manner in which the executive director may be contacted for
further information;
(3) a description, including a telephone number, of
the manner in which the applicant may be contacted for further
information;
(4) the location and hours of operation of the
commission's regional office at which a copy of the application is
available for review and copying; and
(5) a brief description of the public comment process,
including the time and location of the public hearing, and the
mailing address and deadline for filing written comments.
(e) The public comment period begins on the first date
notice is published under Subsection (b) and extends to the close of
the public hearing.
(f) Not later than the 30th day before the date of the public
hearing, the commission shall notify the following entities of the
date, time, and place of the hearing:
(1) each municipality and county in which the facility
is located or proposed to be located;
(2) the Texas Department of Transportation;
(3) each groundwater conservation district with
jurisdiction over the area in which the facility is located or
proposed to be located; and
(4) each state representative and state senator
representing the area in which the facility is located or proposed
to be located.
(g) Section 382.056 of this code and Chapter 2001,
Government Code, do not apply to a public hearing held under this
section. A public hearing held under this section is not an
evidentiary proceeding. Any person may submit an oral or written
statement concerning the application at the public hearing. The
applicant may set reasonable limits on the time allowed for oral
statements at the public hearing.
(h) The applicant, in cooperation with the executive
director, must hold the public hearing not less than 30 days and not
more than 45 days after the first date notice is published under
Subsection (b). The public hearing must be held in the county in
which the facility is located or proposed to be located.
(i) Not later than the 35th day after the date the public
hearing is held, the executive director shall approve or deny the
application for authorization to use the standard permit. The
executive director shall base the decision on whether the
application meets the requirements of Section 382.0651. The
executive director shall consider all comments received during the
public comment period and at the public hearing in determining
whether to approve the application. If the executive director
denies the application, the executive director shall state the
reasons for the denial and any modifications to the application
that are necessary for the facility to qualify for the
authorization.
(j) The executive director shall issue a written response to
any relevant and material public comments received related to the
issuance of an authorization to use the standard permit at the same
time as or as soon as practicable after the executive director
grants or denies the application. Issuance of the response after
the granting or denial of the application does not affect the
validity of the executive director's decision to grant or deny the
application. The executive director shall:
(1) mail the response to each person who filed a
comment; and
(2) make the response available to the public.
Sec. 382.0653. CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR ROCK CRUSHING
FACILITIES. (a) This section applies only to a permit issued under
this chapter, or an authorization to use a permit issued under this
chapter, to operate a rock crushing facility.
(b) The commission shall establish a citizen advisory
committee to act as a liaison between the commission, an applicant
for a permit or an authorization to use a permit, and neighboring
communities during the application process to identify community
concerns. Section 2110.008, Government Code, does not apply to the
citizen advisory committee.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.