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Statutes > Texas > Health-and-safety-code > Title-5-sanitation-and-environmental-quality > Chapter-361-solid-waste-disposal-act

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 5. SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

SUBTITLE B. SOLID WASTE, TOXIC CHEMICALS, SEWAGE, LITTER, AND

WATER

CHAPTER 361. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 361.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the

Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.002. POLICY; FINDINGS. (a) It is this state's policy

and the purpose of this chapter to safeguard the health, welfare,

and physical property of the people and to protect the

environment by controlling the management of solid waste,

including accounting for hazardous waste that is generated.

(b) The storage, processing, and disposal of hazardous waste at

municipal solid waste facilities pose a risk to public health and

the environment, and in order to protect the environment and to

provide measures for adequate protection of public health, it is

in the public interest to require hazardous waste to be stored,

processed, and disposed of only at permitted hazardous industrial

solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

1, eff. Sept. 6, 1990.

Sec. 361.003. DEFINITIONS. Unless the context requires a

different definition, in this chapter:

(1) "Apparent recharge zone" means that recharge zone designated

on maps prepared or compiled by, and located in the offices of,

the commission.

(2) "Class I industrial solid waste" means an industrial solid

waste or mixture of industrial solid waste, including hazardous

industrial waste, that because of its concentration or physical

or chemical characteristics:

(A) is toxic, corrosive, flammable, a strong sensitizer or

irritant, or a generator of sudden pressure by decomposition,

heat, or other means; and

(B) poses or may pose a substantial present or potential danger

to human health or the environment if improperly processed,

stored, transported, or otherwise managed.

(3) "Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste" means any

Class I industrial solid waste that has not been identified or

listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid

Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.).

(4) "Commercial hazardous waste management facility" means any

hazardous waste management facility that accepts hazardous waste

or PCBs for a charge, except a captured facility or a facility

that accepts waste only from other facilities owned or

effectively controlled by the same person, where "captured

facility" means a manufacturing or production facility that

generates an industrial solid waste or hazardous waste that is

routinely stored, processed, or disposed of on a shared basis in

an integrated waste management unit owned, operated by, and

located within a contiguous manufacturing complex.

(5) "Commission" means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation

Commission.

(6) "Composting" means the controlled biological decomposition

of organic solid waste under aerobic conditions.

(7) "Disposal" means the discharging, depositing, injecting,

dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of solid waste or

hazardous waste, whether containerized or uncontainerized, into

or on land or water so that the solid waste or hazardous waste or

any constituent thereof may be emitted into the air, discharged

into surface water or groundwater, or introduced into the

environment in any other manner.

(8) "Environmental response law" means the federal Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980,

42 U.S.C. Sections 9601 through 9675, as amended by the Superfund

Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.

(9) "Executive director" means the executive director of the

commission.

(10) "Garbage" means solid waste that is putrescible animal and

vegetable waste materials from the handling, preparation,

cooking, or consumption of food, including waste materials from

markets, storage facilities, and the handling and sale of produce

and other food products.

(11) "Hazardous substance":

(A) means:

(i) a substance designated under Section 311(b)(2)(A) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C.

Section 1321);

(ii) an element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance

designated under Section 102 of the environmental response law;

(iii) a hazardous waste having the characteristics identified

under or listed under Section 3001 of the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6921), excluding

waste, the regulation of which under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) has been suspended

by Act of Congress;

(iv) a toxic pollutant listed under Section 307(a) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1317);

(v) a hazardous air pollutant listed under Section 112 of the

federal Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 7412); and

(vi) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with

respect to which the administrator of the Environmental

Protection Agency has taken action under Section 7 of the Toxic

Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Section 2606); but

(B) does not include:

(i) petroleum, which means crude oil or any fraction of crude

oil that is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a

hazardous substance under Paragraphs (i) through (vi) of

Subdivision (A);

(ii) natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, or

synthetic gas usable for fuel mixtures of natural gas and

synthetic gas; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources or any other substance or material regulated

by the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code.

(12) "Hazardous waste" means solid waste identified or listed as

a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States

Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et

seq.).

(13) "Hazardous waste management facility" means all contiguous

land, including structures, appurtenances, and other improvements

on the land, used for processing, storing, or disposing of

hazardous waste. The term includes a publicly or privately owned

hazardous waste management facility consisting of processing,

storage, or disposal operational hazardous waste management units

such as one or more landfills, surface impoundments, waste piles,

incinerators, boilers, and industrial furnaces, including cement

kilns, injection wells, salt dome waste containment caverns, land

treatment facilities, or a combination of units.

(14) "Hazardous waste management unit" means a landfill, surface

impoundment, waste pile, industrial furnace, incinerator, cement

kiln, injection well, container, drum, salt dome waste

containment cavern, or land treatment unit, or any other

structure, vessel, appurtenance, or other improvement on land

used to manage hazardous waste.

(15) "Industrial furnace" includes cement kilns, lime kilns,

aggregate kilns, phosphate kilns, coke ovens, blast furnaces,

smelting, melting, or refining furnaces, including

pyrometallurgical devices such as cupolas, reverberator furnaces,

sintering machines, roasters, or foundry furnaces, titanium

dioxide chloride process oxidation reactors, methane reforming

furnaces, pulping liquor recovery furnaces, combustion devices

used in the recovery of sulfur values from spent sulfuric acid,

and other devices the commission may list.

(16) "Industrial solid waste" means solid waste resulting from

or incidental to a process of industry or manufacturing, or

mining or agricultural operations.

(17) "Local government" means:

(A) a county;

(B) a municipality; or

(C) a political subdivision exercising the authority granted

under Section 361.165.

(18) "Management" means the systematic control of the activities

of generation, source separation, collection, handling, storage,

transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, or disposal of

solid waste.

(19) "Motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section

541.201, Transportation Code.

(20) "Municipal solid waste" means solid waste resulting from or

incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, or

recreational activities, and includes garbage, rubbish, ashes,

street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and other

solid waste other than industrial solid waste.

(21) "Notice of intent to file an application" means the notice

filed under Section 361.063.

(22) "PCBs" or "polychlorinated biphenyl compounds" means

compounds subject to Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part

761.

(23) "Person" means an individual, corporation, organization,

government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust,

partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

(24) "Person affected" means a person who demonstrates that the

person has suffered or will suffer actual injury or economic

damage and, if the person is not a local government:

(A) is a resident of a county, or a county adjacent or

contiguous to the county, in which a solid waste facility is to

be located; or

(B) is doing business or owns land in the county or adjacent or

contiguous county.

(25) "Processing" means the extraction of materials from or the

transfer, volume reduction, conversion to energy, or other

separation and preparation of solid waste for reuse or disposal.

The term includes the treatment or neutralization of hazardous

waste designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological

character or composition of a hazardous waste so as to neutralize

the waste, recover energy or material from the waste, render the

waste nonhazardous or less hazardous, make it safer to transport,

store, or dispose of, or render it amenable for recovery or

storage, or reduce its volume. The term does not include

activities concerning those materials exempted by the

administrator of the United States Environmental Protection

Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), unless the commission

determines that regulation of the activity under this chapter is

necessary to protect human health or the environment.

(26) "Radioactive waste" means waste that requires specific

licensing under Chapter 401 and the rules adopted by the

commission under that law.

(27) "Recycling" means the legitimate use, reuse, or reclamation

of solid waste.

(28) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring,

emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,

dumping, or disposing into the environment. The term does not

include:

(A) a release that results in an exposure to a person solely

within a workplace, concerning a claim that the person may assert

against the person's employer;

(B) an emission from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle,

rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station

engine;

(C) a release of source, by-product, or special nuclear material

from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined by the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 2011 et seq.),

if the release is subject to requirements concerning financial

protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under

Section 170 of that Act;

(D) for the purposes of Section 104 of the environmental

response law, or other response action, a release of source,

by-product, or special nuclear material from a processing site

designated under Section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium Mill

Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. Sections 7912

and 7942); and

(E) the normal application of fertilizer.

(29) "Remedial action" means an action consistent with a

permanent remedy taken instead of or in addition to a removal

action in the event of a release or threatened release of a

hazardous waste into the environment to prevent or minimize the

release of hazardous waste so that the hazardous waste does not

migrate to cause an imminent and substantial danger to present or

future public health and safety or the environment. The term

includes:

(A) actions at the location of the release, including storage,

confinement, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches, or

ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released

hazardous waste or contaminated materials, recycling or reuse,

diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive waste, dredging

or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking containers,

collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or

incineration, provision of alternate water supplies, and any

monitoring reasonably required to assure that those actions

protect the public health and safety or the environment; and

(B) the costs of permanent relocation of residents, businesses,

and community facilities if the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency or the executive director

determines that, alone or in combination with other measures, the

relocation:

(i) is more cost-effective than and environmentally preferable

to the transportation, storage, treatment, destruction, or secure

disposition off-site of hazardous waste; or

(ii) may otherwise be necessary to protect the public health or

safety.

(30) "Removal" includes:

(A) cleaning up or removing released hazardous waste from the

environment;

(B) taking necessary action in the event of the threat of

release of hazardous waste into the environment;

(C) taking necessary action to monitor, assess, and evaluate the

release or threat of release of hazardous waste;

(D) disposing of removed material;

(E) erecting a security fence or other measure to limit access;

(F) providing alternate water supplies, temporary evacuation,

and housing for threatened individuals not otherwise provided

for;

(G) acting under Section 104(b) of the environmental response

law;

(H) providing emergency assistance under the federal Disaster

Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.); or

(I) taking any other necessary action to prevent, minimize, or

mitigate damage to the public health and welfare or the

environment that may otherwise result from a release or threat of

release.

(31) "Rubbish" means nonputrescible solid waste, excluding

ashes, that consists of:

(A) combustible waste materials, including paper, rags, cartons,

wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, yard trimmings,

leaves, and similar materials; and

(B) noncombustible waste materials, including glass, crockery,

tin cans, aluminum cans, metal furniture, and similar materials

that do not burn at ordinary incinerator temperatures (1,600 to

1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).

(32) "Sanitary landfill" means a controlled area of land on

which solid waste is disposed of in accordance with standards,

rules, or orders established by the commission.

(33) "Sludge" means solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated

from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, excluding the treated effluent from a wastewater

treatment plant.

(34) This subdivision expires on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code, unless the waste, substance, or material results

from activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or

natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance

plants, or repressurizing plants and is hazardous waste as

defined by the administrator of the United States Environmental

Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as

amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.); and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(35) This subdivision is effective on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code; and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(36) "Solid waste facility" means all contiguous land, including

structures, appurtenances, and other improvements on the land,

used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. The

term includes a publicly or privately owned solid waste facility

consisting of several processing, storage, or disposal

operational units such as one or more landfills, surface

impoundments, or a combination of units.

(37) "Solid waste technician" means an individual who is trained

in the practical aspects of the design, operation, and

maintenance of a solid waste facility in accordance with

standards, rules, or orders established by the commission.

(38) "Storage" means the temporary holding of solid waste, after

which the solid waste is processed, disposed of, or stored

elsewhere.

(39) "Pollution" means the alteration of the physical, thermal,

chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any

land or surface or subsurface water in the state that renders the

land or water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans,

animal life, vegetation, or property or to public health, safety,

or welfare or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of

the land or water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

2, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296, Sec. 1.01,

eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 1, eff.

Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 1.025,

eff. Aug. 12, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec.

8.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.18, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec.

30.204, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCE

CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Sec. 361.011. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

(a) The commission is responsible under this section for the

management of municipal solid waste, excluding hazardous

municipal waste, and shall coordinate municipal solid waste

activities, excluding activities concerning hazardous municipal

waste.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of municipal solid

waste, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, by all

practical and economically feasible methods consistent with its

powers and duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter relating to municipal solid waste

management, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste,

and all other powers necessary or convenient to carry out those

responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to municipal solid waste management,

excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, the commission

shall consider water pollution control and water quality aspects

and air pollution control and ambient air quality aspects.

(e) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.02, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 28, 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.013. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL AND TRANSPORTATION FEES. (a)

Except as provided by Subsections (e) through (i), the

commission shall charge a fee on all solid waste that is disposed

of within this state. The fee is $1.25 per ton received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill if the solid waste

is measured by weight. If the solid waste is measured by volume,

the fee for compacted solid waste is 40 cents per cubic yard or,

for uncompacted solid waste, 25 cents per cubic yard received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill. The commission

shall set the fee for sludge or similar waste applied to the land

for beneficial use on a dry weight basis and for solid waste

received at an incinerator or a shredding and composting facility

at half the fee set for solid waste received for disposal at a

landfill. The commission may charge comparable fees for other

means of solid waste disposal that are used.

(b) The commission may raise or lower the fees established under

Subsection (a) in accordance with commission spending levels

established by the legislature.

(c) The commission shall charge an annual registration fee to a

transporter of municipal solid waste who is required to register

with the commission under rules adopted by the commission. The

commission by rule shall adopt a fee schedule. The fee shall be

reasonably related to the volume, the type, or both the volume

and type of waste transported. The registration fee charged under

this subsection may not be less than $25 or more than $500.

(d) The operator of each municipal solid waste facility shall

maintain records and report to the commission annually on the

amount of solid waste that the facility transfers, processes,

stores, treats, or disposes of. Each transporter required to

register with the commission shall maintain records and report to

the commission annually on the amount of solid waste that the

transporter transports. The commission by rule shall establish

procedures for recordkeeping and reporting required under this

subsection.

(e) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

scrap tires that are deposited in a designated recycling

collection area at a landfill permitted by the commission or

licensed by a county or by a political subdivision exercising the

authority granted by Section 361.165 and that are temporarily

stored for eventual recycling, reuse, or energy recovery.

(f) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

source separated yard waste materials that are composted at a

composting facility, including a composting facility located at a

permitted landfill site. The commission shall credit any fee

payment due under Subsection (a) for any material received and

converted to compost or product for composting through a

composting process. Any compost or product for composting that is

not used as compost and is deposited in a landfill is not exempt

from the fee.

(g) The commission shall allow a home-rule municipality that has

enacted an ordinance imposing a local environmental protection

fee for disposal services as of January 1, 1993, to offer

disposal or environmental programs or services to persons within

its jurisdiction, from the revenues generated by said fee, as

such services are required by state or federal mandates. If such

services or programs are offered, the home-rule municipality may

require their use by those persons within its jurisdiction.

(h) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) on

solid waste resulting from a public entity's effort to protect

the public health and safety of the community from the effects of

a natural or man-made disaster or from structures that have been

contributing to drug trafficking or other crimes if the disposal

facility at which that solid waste is offered for disposal has

donated to a municipality, county, or other political subdivision

the cost of disposing of that waste.

(i) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

the disposal of:

(1) Class I industrial solid waste or hazardous waste subject to

the assessment of fees under Section 361.136;

(2) an industrial solid waste for which no permit may be

required under Section 361.090; or

(3) sewage sludge that:

(A) has been treated to reduce the density of pathogens to the

lowest level provided by commission rules; and

(B) complies with commission rules regarding:

(i) metal concentration limits;

(ii) pathogen reduction; and

(iii) vector attraction reduction.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 370, Sec. 2, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 9.13,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.08,

eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 376, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.

1, 1999.

Sec. 361.0135. COMPOSTING REFUND. (a) The operator of a public

or privately owned municipal solid waste facility is entitled to

a refund of 15 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility under Section 361.013(a) if:

(1) the refunds are used to lease or purchase and operate

equipment necessary to compost yard waste;

(2) composting operations are actually performed; and

(3) the finished compost material produced by the facility is

returned to beneficial reuse.

(b) The amount of the refund authorized by this section

increases to 20 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility if, in addition to composting the yard waste, the

operator of the facility voluntarily bans the disposal of yard

waste at the facility.

(c) In order to receive a refund authorized by this section, the

operator of the facility must submit a composting plan to the

commission. The commission by rule may set a fee for reviewing a

composting plan in an amount not to exceed the costs of review.

(d) The operator is entitled to a refund of fees collected by

the facility under Section 361.013(a) on or after the date on

which the commission approves the composting plan. The refund is

collectable beginning on the date that the first composting

operations occur in accordance with the approved plan. The

commission may allow the refund to be applied as a credit against

fees required to be collected by the facility under Section

361.013(a).

(e) In this section, the terms "compost," "composting," and

"yard waste" have the meanings assigned by Section 361.421.

(f) This section expires September 1, 1999, if the commission on

or before that date determines that a market in composting

materials has developed sufficiently to ensure that composting

activities will continue without the incentives provided by this

section.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.09, eff. Aug. 30,

1993.

Sec. 361.014. USE OF SOLID WASTE FEE REVENUE. (a) Revenue

received by the commission under Section 361.013 shall be

deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the commission.

Half of the revenue is dedicated to the commission's municipal

solid waste permitting and enforcement programs and related

support activities and to pay for activities that will enhance

the state's solid waste management program, including:

(1) provision of funds for the municipal solid waste management

planning fund and the municipal solid waste resource recovery

applied research and technical assistance fund established by the

Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Management, Resource

Recovery, and Conservation Act (Chapter 363);

(2) conduct of demonstration projects and studies to help local

governments of various populations and the private sector to

convert to accounting systems and set rates that reflect the full

costs of providing waste management services and are

proportionate to the amount of waste generated;

(3) provision of technical assistance to local governments

concerning solid waste management;

(4) establishment of a solid waste resource center in the

commission and an office of waste minimization and recycling;

(5) provision of supplemental funding to local governments for

the enforcement of this chapter, the Texas Litter Abatement Act

(Chapter 365), and Chapters 391 and 683, Transportation Code;

(6) conduct of a statewide public awareness program concerning

solid waste management;

(7) provision of supplemental funds for other state agencies

with responsibilities concerning solid waste management,

recycling, and other initiatives with the purpose of diverting

recyclable waste from landfills;

(8) conduct of research to promote the development and

stimulation of markets for recycled waste products;

(9) creation of a state municipal solid waste superfund, from

funds appropriated, for:

(A) the cleanup of unauthorized tire dumps and solid waste dumps

for which a responsible party cannot be located or is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup;

(B) the cleanup or proper closure of abandoned or contaminated

municipal solid waste sites for which a responsible party is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup; and

(C) remediation, cleanup, and proper closure of unauthorized

recycling sites for which a responsible party is not immediately

financially able to perform the remediation, cleanup, and

closure;

(10) provision of funds to mitigate the economic and

environmental impacts of lead-acid battery recycling activities

on local governments; and

(11) provision of funds for the conduct of research by a public

or private entity to assist the state in developing new

technologies and methods to reduce the amount of municipal waste

disposed of in landfills.

(b) Half of the revenue is dedicated to local and regional solid

waste projects consistent with regional plans approved by the

commission in accordance with this chapter and to update and

maintain those plans. Those revenues shall be allocated to

municipal solid waste geographic planning regions for use by

local governments and regional planning commissions according to

a formula established by the commission that takes into account

population, area, solid waste fee generation, and public health

needs. Each planning region shall issue a biennial report to the

legislature detailing how the revenue is spent. A project or

service funded under this subsection must promote cooperation

between public and private entities and may not be otherwise

readily available or create a competitive advantage over a

private industry that provides recycling or solid waste services.

(c) Revenue derived from fees charged under Section 361.013(c)

to a transporter of whole used or scrap tires or shredded tire

pieces shall be deposited to the credit of the waste tire

recycling account.

(d) Revenues allocated to the commission for the purposes

authorized by Subsection (a) shall be deposited to the credit of

the waste management account. Revenues allocated to local and

regional solid waste projects shall be deposited to the credit of

an account in the general revenue fund known as the municipal

solid waste disposal account.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.10,

3.10, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.21,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 838, Sec. 1, eff.

June 16, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 30.205, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 35, eff; Sept.

1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 340, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 361.0145. RESPONSE TO OR REMEDIATION OF FIRE OR EMERGENCY.

(a) The commission may make an immediate response to or

remediation of a fire or other emergency that involves solid

waste, including processed or unprocessed material suitable for

recycling or composting, as the commission determines necessary

to protect the public health or safety.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 361.014(b), revenue otherwise

dedicated under that section may be used for an action authorized

by Subsection (a).

(c) The commission may recover from a person who is responsible

for the solid waste as provided by Section 361.271 the reasonable

expenses incurred by the commission during an immediate response

and remediation action under Subsection (a). The state may bring

an action to recover those reasonable expenses.

(d) If the commission used for an action under Subsection (a)

money otherwise dedicated under Section 361.014(b), money

recovered under Subsection (c) shall be deposited in the state

treasury to the credit of the commission until the amount

deposited equals the amount of the dedicated money used. Money

credited under this subsection may be used only as provided by

Section 361.014(b).

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1362, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 361.015. JURISDICTION: RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The

commission is the state agency under Chapter 401 that licenses

and regulates radioactive waste storage, processing, and disposal

activities not preemptively regulated by the federal government.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), the Health and Human

Services Commission, acting through the Department of State

Health Services or other department as designated by the

executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services

Commission, is the state agency under Chapter 401 that regulates

radioactive waste activities not preemptively regulated by the

federal government.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1332, Sec. 31, eff. June 15, 2007.

Sec. 361.0151. RECYCLING. (a) The commission shall establish

and administer a waste minimization and recycling office within

the commission that provides technical assistance to local

governments concerning waste minimization and recycling.

(b) The commission shall work in conjunction with the Texas

Department of Commerce to pursue the development of markets for

recycled materials, including composting products.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.22, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.016. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BY COMMISSION. The

commission by rule shall adopt:

(1) any memorandum of understanding between the commission and

any other state agency; and

(2) any revision of a memorandum of understanding.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.017. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE

AND HAZARDOUS MUNICIPAL WASTE. (a) The commission is

responsible for the management of industrial solid waste and

hazardous municipal waste and shall coordinate industrial solid

waste activities and hazardous municipal waste activities.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of industrial solid

waste and hazardous municipal waste by all practical and

economically feasible methods consistent with its powers and

duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter and all other powers necessary or

convenient to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to industrial solid waste and hazardous

municipal waste, the commission shall:

(1) consider the public health aspects and the air pollution

control and ambient air quality aspects; and

(2) consult with the attorney general's office for assistance in

determining whether referral to the attorney general for

enforcement is mandatory under Section 361.224 or whether

referral is appropriate, in the commission's discretion, for the

disposition of enforcement matters under this chapter.

(e) If referral is determined to be mandatory or appropriate,

the commission shall consult with the attorney general's office

for assistance in determining whether criminal or civil

enforcement action should be taken. The commission shall use all

available enforcement options.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.03, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.23, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.018. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION OVER HAZARDOUS WASTE

COMPONENTS OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The commission has the

powers under this chapter necessary or convenient to carry out

its responsibilities concerning the regulation of the management

of hazardous waste components of radioactive waste under the

jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Health.

(b) The commission shall consult with the Texas Department of

Health concerning regulation and management under this section,

except for activities solely under the commission's jurisdiction.

(c) The commission may not adopt rules or engage in management

activities under this section that conflict with state or federal

laws and rules concerning the regulation of radioactive waste.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.019. APPROVAL OF INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY. (a) Except as provided by

Subsection (b), Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste and

small quantities of hazardous waste generated by conditionally

exempt small quantity generators, as defined by the commission,

may be accepted in a municipal solid waste facility if:

(1) authorized in writing by, or by rule of, the commission; and

(2) the generator of the Class I nonhazardous waste certifies on

an appropriate commission form that the waste is not a hazardous

waste.

(b) Except as otherwise prohibited by this chapter, nonhazardous

industrial solid waste generated by the mechanical shredding of

motor vehicles, appliances, or other items of scrap, used, or

obsolete metals shall be accepted, without authorization by the

commission under Subsection (a), in a municipal solid waste

facility that has previously been authorized to accept and has

accepted Class I nonhazardous industrial solid wastes or Class II

industrial solid wastes if the waste contains no free liquids, is

not a hazardous waste as defined in Section 361.003, and

satisfies other criteria that may be established by commission

rule. Until the commission adopts rules establishing additional

criteria, generators of this type of waste shall satisfy the two

criteria described in this subsection when these wastes are

disposed of in municipal solid waste facilities.

(c) Municipal solid waste may be accepted in an industrial solid

waste facility if authorized in writing by the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

5, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 2,

eff. Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.0202. DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS. (a) The

commission shall develop a public awareness program to increase

awareness of individual responsibility for properly reducing and

disposing of municipal solid waste and to encourage participation

in waste source reduction, composting, reuse, and recycling. The

program shall include:

(1) a media campaign to develop and disseminate educational

materials designed to establish broad public understanding and

compliance with the state's waste reduction and recycling goals;

and

(2) a curriculum, developed in cooperation with the commissioner

of education and suitable for use in programs from kindergarten

through high school, that promotes waste reduction and recycling.

(b) As part of the program, the commission may:

(1) advise and consult with individuals, businesses, and

manufacturers on source reduction techniques and recycling; and

(2) sponsor or cosponsor with public and private organizations

technical workshops and seminars on source reduction and

recycling.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.04, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 361.0215. POLLUTION PREVENTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a)

The pollution prevention advisory committee is composed of nine

members with a balanced representation of environmental and

public interest groups and the regulated community.

(b) The committee shall advise the commission and interagency

coordination council on:

(1) the appropriate organization of state agencies and the

financial and technical resources required to aid the state in

its efforts to promote waste reduction and minimization;

(2) the development of public awareness programs to educate

citizens about hazardous waste and the appropriate disposal of

hazardous waste and hazardous materials that are used and

collected by households;

(3) the provision of technical assistance to local governments

for the development of waste management strategies designed to

assist small quantity generators of hazardous waste; and

(4) other possible programs to more effectively implement the

state's hierarchy of preferred waste management technologies as

set forth in Section 361.023(a).

(c) The committee shall advise the commission on the creation

and implementation of the strategically directed regulatory

structure developed under Section 5.755, Water Code.

(d) The committee shall report quarterly to the commission on

its activities, including suggestions or proposals for future

activities and other matters the committee considers important.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.04, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

4, eff. June 16, 1991; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 1,

eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 4.04,

eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0216. OFFICE OF POLLUTION PREVENTION. The office of

pollution prevention is created in the executive office of the

commission to direct and coordinate all source reduction and

waste minimization activities of the commission.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.05, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

5, eff. June 16, 1991.

Sec. 361.0219. OFFICE OF WASTE EXCHANGE. (a) The office of

waste exchange is an office of the commission.

(b) The office shall facilitate the exchange of solid waste,

recyclable or compostable materials, and other secondary

materials among persons that generate, recycle, compost, or reuse

those materials, in order to foster greater recycling,

composting, and reuse in the state. At least one party to such an

exchange must be in the state. The office shall provide

information to interested persons on arranging exchanges of these

materials in order to allow greater recycling, composting, and

reuse of the materials, and may act as broker for exchanges of

the materials if private brokers are not available.

(c) The office of waste exchange shall adopt a plan for

providing to interested persons information on waste exchange.

Biennially the office of waste exchange shall report to the

commission on progress in implementing this section, including

the plan to provide information on waste exchange, the state's

participation in any national or regional waste exchange program,

and information on the movement and exchange of materials and the

effect on recycling, composting, and reuse rates in the state.

The commission shall submit the report by December 1 of each

even-numbered year as required by Section 5.178(b), Water Code.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.05, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1,

1993. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1082, Sec. 5, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.022. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE AND

SLUDGE. (a) To protect the public health and environment, it is

the state's goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the

generation of municipal solid waste and municipal sludge to the

maximum extent that is technologically and economically feasible.

Therefore, it is the state's public policy that, in generating,

treating, storing, and disposing of municipal solid waste or

municipal sludge, the methods listed under Subsections (b) and

(c) are preferred to the extent economically and technologically

feasible and considering the appropriateness of the method to the

type of solid waste material or sludge generated, treated,

disposed of, or stored.

(b) For municipal solid waste, not including sludge, the

following methods are preferred, in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and waste minimization;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste;

(3) treatment to destroy or reprocess waste to recover energy or

other beneficial resources if the treatment does not threaten

public health, safety, or the environment; or

(4) land disposal.

(c) For municipal sludge, the following methods are preferred,

in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and minimization of sludge production and

concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins in sludge;

(2) treatment of sludge to reduce pathogens and recover energy,

produce beneficial by-products, or reduce the quantity of sludge;

(3) marketing and distribution of sludge and sludge products if

the marketing and distribution do not threaten public health,

safety, or the environment;

(4) applying sludge to land for beneficial use;

(5) land treatment; or

(6) landfilling.

(d) In adopting rules to implement public policy concerning

municipal solid waste management, the commission shall consider

the preference of municipal solid waste management methods under

this section.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.27, eff. Sept. 1,

1995.

Sec. 361.023. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To

protect the public health and environment, it is the state's

goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the generation of

hazardous waste to the maximum extent that is technologically and

economically feasible. Therefore, it is the state's public policy

that, in generating, treating, storing, and disposing of

hazardous waste, the following methods are preferred to the

extent economically and technologically feasible, in the order

listed:

(1) source reduction;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste, or both;

(3) treatment to destroy hazardous characteristics;

(4) treatment to reduce hazardous characteristics;

(5) underground injection; and

(6) land disposal.

(b) Under Subsection (a)(3), on-site destruction is preferred,

but it shall be evaluated in the context of other relevant

factors such as transportation hazard, distribution of risk,

quality of destruction, operator capability, and site

suitability.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

1991.

Sec. 361.0231. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR

INDUSTRIAL AND HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To protect the public

health and environment taking into consideration the economic

development of the state, and assure the continuation of the

federal funding for abandoned facility response actions, it is

the state public policy that adequate capacity should exist for

the proper management of industrial and hazardous waste generated

in this state.

(b) "Adequate capacity" is the capacity necessary to manage the

industrial and hazardous waste that remains after application, to

the maximum extent economically and technologically feasible, of

waste reduction techniques.

(c) It is further the state's policy that, wherever feasible,

the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated

as expeditiously as possible.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 8,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965,

Sec. 1.25, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0235. HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATED IN FOREIGN COUNTRY.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a person may

not receive, transport, or cause to be transported into this

state, for the purpose of treatment, storage, or disposal in this

state, hazardous waste generated in a country other than the

United States.

(b) This section may not be construed or applied in a manner

that interferes with the authority of the federal government to

regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several

states provided by Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the United

States Constitution.

(c) This section does not apply to a person who transports or

receives material from a country other than the United States

for:

(1) recycling or reuse of the material; or

(2) use of the material as a feedstock or ingredient in the

production of a new product.

(d) This section does not apply to waste transported or received

for treatment, storage, or disposal at a hazardous waste

management facility that is owned by the generator of the waste

or by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of the

generator.

(e) This section does not apply to waste received by:

(1) a producer of the product or material from which the waste

is generated; or

(2) a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of such

producer.

(f) This section does not apply to waste generated in Mexico at

an approved maquiladora facility to the extent that such waste:

(1) was generated as a result of the processing or fabrication

of materials imported into Mexico from Texas on a temporary

basis; and

(2) is required to be re-exported to the United States under

Mexican law.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991. Renumbered from Health & Safety Code Sec. 361.0232 by

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 17.01(27), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.024. RULES AND STANDARDS. (a) The commission may

adopt rules consistent with this chapter and establish minimum

standards of operation for the management and control of solid

waste under this chapter.

(b) In developing rules concerning hazardous waste, the

commission shall consult with the State Soil and Water

Conservation Board, the Bureau of Economic Geology of The

University of Texas at Austin, and other appropriate state

sources.

(c) The minimum standards set by the commission for on-site

storage of hazardous waste must be at least the minimum standards

set by the manufacturer of the chemical.

(d) Rules adopted by the commission under Section 361.036 and

Sections 361.097-361.108 for solid waste facilities may differ

according to the type or hazard of hazardous waste managed and

the type of waste management method used.

(e) Rules shall be adopted as provided by Chapter 2001,

Government Code. As provided by that Act, the commission must

adopt rules when adopting, repealing, or amending any agency

statement of general applicability that interprets or prescribes

law or policy or describes the procedure or practice requirements

of the agency. The commission shall follow its own rules as

adopted until it changes them in accordance with that Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.06, eff. Aug.

30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1,

1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(49), 11.30, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.025. EXEMPT ACTIVITIES. (a) The commission and the

Railroad Commission of Texas shall jointly prepare an exclusive

list of activities that are associated with oil and gas

exploration, development, and production and are therefore exempt

from regulation under this chapter.

(b) The list shall be adopted by rule and amended as necessary.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.026. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION. The commission

may:

(1) provide educational, advisory, and technical services

concerning solid waste management to other state agencies,

regional planning agencies, local governments, special districts,

institutions, and individuals; and

(2) assist other state agencies, regional planning agencies,

local governments, special districts, and institutions in

acquiring federal grants for:

(A) the development of solid waste facilities and management

programs; and

(B) research to improve solid waste management.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.31, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.027. LICENSURE OF SOLID WASTE FACILITY SUPERVISORS.

The commission may implement a program under Chapter 37, Water

Code, to license persons who supervise the operation or

maintenance of solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.32, eff. Sept.

1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 36, eff. Sept. 1,

1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 880, Sec. 20, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.028. INDUSTRIAL SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MATERIALS

EXCHANGE. (a) The commission shall establish an industrial

solid and hazardous waste materials exchange that provides for

the exchange, between interested persons, of information

concerning:

(1) particular quantities of industrial solid or hazardous waste

available in this state for recovery;

(2) persons interested in acquiring certain types of industrial

solid or hazardous waste for purposes of recovery; and

(3) methods for the treatment and recovery of industrial solid

or hazardous waste.

(b) The industrial solid and hazardous waste materials exchange

may be operated under one or more reciprocity agreements

providing for the exchange of information described by Subsection

(a) for similar information from a program operated in another

state.

(c) The commission may contract for a private person or public

entity to establish or operate the industrial solid and hazardous

waste materials exchange.

(d) The commission may prescribe rules concerning the

establishment and operation of the industrial solid and hazardous

waste exchange, including the setting of a necessary subscription

fee to offset the cost of participation in the program.

(e) The commission may seek grants and contract support from

federal and other sources to the extent possible and may accept

gifts to support its purposes and programs.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.029. COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS

THAT COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) The commission

shall provide by rule for interested persons to engage in

activities that involve the collection and disposal of household

materials that could be classified as hazardous waste.

(b) The rules must specify the necessary requirements concerning

the training of persons involved in the collection and disposal

of those household materials.

(c) A person is not liable for damages as a result of any act or

omission in the course of advertising, promoting, or distributing

educational materials concerning the collection or disposal of

those household materials in accordance with the rules. This

subsection does not preclude liability for damages as a result of

gross negligence of or intentional misconduct by the person.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.33, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.030. FEDERAL FUNDS. The commission may accept funds

from the federal government for purposes concerning solid waste

management and spend money received from the federal government

for those purposes in the manner prescribed by law and in

accordance with agreements as are necessary and appropriate

between the federal government and the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.34, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.031. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. (a)

The commission may administer and spend state funds provided to

the commission by legislative appropriations, or otherwise, to

make grants to local governments for:

(1) solid waste planning;

(2) installation of solid waste facilities; and

(3) administration of solid waste programs.

(b) The grants made under this chapter shall be distributed in a

manner determined by the commission.

(c) The amount of financial assistance

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Texas > Health-and-safety-code > Title-5-sanitation-and-environmental-quality > Chapter-361-solid-waste-disposal-act

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 5. SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

SUBTITLE B. SOLID WASTE, TOXIC CHEMICALS, SEWAGE, LITTER, AND

WATER

CHAPTER 361. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 361.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the

Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.002. POLICY; FINDINGS. (a) It is this state's policy

and the purpose of this chapter to safeguard the health, welfare,

and physical property of the people and to protect the

environment by controlling the management of solid waste,

including accounting for hazardous waste that is generated.

(b) The storage, processing, and disposal of hazardous waste at

municipal solid waste facilities pose a risk to public health and

the environment, and in order to protect the environment and to

provide measures for adequate protection of public health, it is

in the public interest to require hazardous waste to be stored,

processed, and disposed of only at permitted hazardous industrial

solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

1, eff. Sept. 6, 1990.

Sec. 361.003. DEFINITIONS. Unless the context requires a

different definition, in this chapter:

(1) "Apparent recharge zone" means that recharge zone designated

on maps prepared or compiled by, and located in the offices of,

the commission.

(2) "Class I industrial solid waste" means an industrial solid

waste or mixture of industrial solid waste, including hazardous

industrial waste, that because of its concentration or physical

or chemical characteristics:

(A) is toxic, corrosive, flammable, a strong sensitizer or

irritant, or a generator of sudden pressure by decomposition,

heat, or other means; and

(B) poses or may pose a substantial present or potential danger

to human health or the environment if improperly processed,

stored, transported, or otherwise managed.

(3) "Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste" means any

Class I industrial solid waste that has not been identified or

listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid

Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.).

(4) "Commercial hazardous waste management facility" means any

hazardous waste management facility that accepts hazardous waste

or PCBs for a charge, except a captured facility or a facility

that accepts waste only from other facilities owned or

effectively controlled by the same person, where "captured

facility" means a manufacturing or production facility that

generates an industrial solid waste or hazardous waste that is

routinely stored, processed, or disposed of on a shared basis in

an integrated waste management unit owned, operated by, and

located within a contiguous manufacturing complex.

(5) "Commission" means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation

Commission.

(6) "Composting" means the controlled biological decomposition

of organic solid waste under aerobic conditions.

(7) "Disposal" means the discharging, depositing, injecting,

dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of solid waste or

hazardous waste, whether containerized or uncontainerized, into

or on land or water so that the solid waste or hazardous waste or

any constituent thereof may be emitted into the air, discharged

into surface water or groundwater, or introduced into the

environment in any other manner.

(8) "Environmental response law" means the federal Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980,

42 U.S.C. Sections 9601 through 9675, as amended by the Superfund

Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.

(9) "Executive director" means the executive director of the

commission.

(10) "Garbage" means solid waste that is putrescible animal and

vegetable waste materials from the handling, preparation,

cooking, or consumption of food, including waste materials from

markets, storage facilities, and the handling and sale of produce

and other food products.

(11) "Hazardous substance":

(A) means:

(i) a substance designated under Section 311(b)(2)(A) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C.

Section 1321);

(ii) an element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance

designated under Section 102 of the environmental response law;

(iii) a hazardous waste having the characteristics identified

under or listed under Section 3001 of the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6921), excluding

waste, the regulation of which under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) has been suspended

by Act of Congress;

(iv) a toxic pollutant listed under Section 307(a) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1317);

(v) a hazardous air pollutant listed under Section 112 of the

federal Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 7412); and

(vi) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with

respect to which the administrator of the Environmental

Protection Agency has taken action under Section 7 of the Toxic

Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Section 2606); but

(B) does not include:

(i) petroleum, which means crude oil or any fraction of crude

oil that is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a

hazardous substance under Paragraphs (i) through (vi) of

Subdivision (A);

(ii) natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, or

synthetic gas usable for fuel mixtures of natural gas and

synthetic gas; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources or any other substance or material regulated

by the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code.

(12) "Hazardous waste" means solid waste identified or listed as

a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States

Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et

seq.).

(13) "Hazardous waste management facility" means all contiguous

land, including structures, appurtenances, and other improvements

on the land, used for processing, storing, or disposing of

hazardous waste. The term includes a publicly or privately owned

hazardous waste management facility consisting of processing,

storage, or disposal operational hazardous waste management units

such as one or more landfills, surface impoundments, waste piles,

incinerators, boilers, and industrial furnaces, including cement

kilns, injection wells, salt dome waste containment caverns, land

treatment facilities, or a combination of units.

(14) "Hazardous waste management unit" means a landfill, surface

impoundment, waste pile, industrial furnace, incinerator, cement

kiln, injection well, container, drum, salt dome waste

containment cavern, or land treatment unit, or any other

structure, vessel, appurtenance, or other improvement on land

used to manage hazardous waste.

(15) "Industrial furnace" includes cement kilns, lime kilns,

aggregate kilns, phosphate kilns, coke ovens, blast furnaces,

smelting, melting, or refining furnaces, including

pyrometallurgical devices such as cupolas, reverberator furnaces,

sintering machines, roasters, or foundry furnaces, titanium

dioxide chloride process oxidation reactors, methane reforming

furnaces, pulping liquor recovery furnaces, combustion devices

used in the recovery of sulfur values from spent sulfuric acid,

and other devices the commission may list.

(16) "Industrial solid waste" means solid waste resulting from

or incidental to a process of industry or manufacturing, or

mining or agricultural operations.

(17) "Local government" means:

(A) a county;

(B) a municipality; or

(C) a political subdivision exercising the authority granted

under Section 361.165.

(18) "Management" means the systematic control of the activities

of generation, source separation, collection, handling, storage,

transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, or disposal of

solid waste.

(19) "Motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section

541.201, Transportation Code.

(20) "Municipal solid waste" means solid waste resulting from or

incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, or

recreational activities, and includes garbage, rubbish, ashes,

street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and other

solid waste other than industrial solid waste.

(21) "Notice of intent to file an application" means the notice

filed under Section 361.063.

(22) "PCBs" or "polychlorinated biphenyl compounds" means

compounds subject to Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part

761.

(23) "Person" means an individual, corporation, organization,

government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust,

partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

(24) "Person affected" means a person who demonstrates that the

person has suffered or will suffer actual injury or economic

damage and, if the person is not a local government:

(A) is a resident of a county, or a county adjacent or

contiguous to the county, in which a solid waste facility is to

be located; or

(B) is doing business or owns land in the county or adjacent or

contiguous county.

(25) "Processing" means the extraction of materials from or the

transfer, volume reduction, conversion to energy, or other

separation and preparation of solid waste for reuse or disposal.

The term includes the treatment or neutralization of hazardous

waste designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological

character or composition of a hazardous waste so as to neutralize

the waste, recover energy or material from the waste, render the

waste nonhazardous or less hazardous, make it safer to transport,

store, or dispose of, or render it amenable for recovery or

storage, or reduce its volume. The term does not include

activities concerning those materials exempted by the

administrator of the United States Environmental Protection

Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), unless the commission

determines that regulation of the activity under this chapter is

necessary to protect human health or the environment.

(26) "Radioactive waste" means waste that requires specific

licensing under Chapter 401 and the rules adopted by the

commission under that law.

(27) "Recycling" means the legitimate use, reuse, or reclamation

of solid waste.

(28) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring,

emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,

dumping, or disposing into the environment. The term does not

include:

(A) a release that results in an exposure to a person solely

within a workplace, concerning a claim that the person may assert

against the person's employer;

(B) an emission from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle,

rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station

engine;

(C) a release of source, by-product, or special nuclear material

from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined by the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 2011 et seq.),

if the release is subject to requirements concerning financial

protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under

Section 170 of that Act;

(D) for the purposes of Section 104 of the environmental

response law, or other response action, a release of source,

by-product, or special nuclear material from a processing site

designated under Section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium Mill

Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. Sections 7912

and 7942); and

(E) the normal application of fertilizer.

(29) "Remedial action" means an action consistent with a

permanent remedy taken instead of or in addition to a removal

action in the event of a release or threatened release of a

hazardous waste into the environment to prevent or minimize the

release of hazardous waste so that the hazardous waste does not

migrate to cause an imminent and substantial danger to present or

future public health and safety or the environment. The term

includes:

(A) actions at the location of the release, including storage,

confinement, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches, or

ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released

hazardous waste or contaminated materials, recycling or reuse,

diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive waste, dredging

or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking containers,

collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or

incineration, provision of alternate water supplies, and any

monitoring reasonably required to assure that those actions

protect the public health and safety or the environment; and

(B) the costs of permanent relocation of residents, businesses,

and community facilities if the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency or the executive director

determines that, alone or in combination with other measures, the

relocation:

(i) is more cost-effective than and environmentally preferable

to the transportation, storage, treatment, destruction, or secure

disposition off-site of hazardous waste; or

(ii) may otherwise be necessary to protect the public health or

safety.

(30) "Removal" includes:

(A) cleaning up or removing released hazardous waste from the

environment;

(B) taking necessary action in the event of the threat of

release of hazardous waste into the environment;

(C) taking necessary action to monitor, assess, and evaluate the

release or threat of release of hazardous waste;

(D) disposing of removed material;

(E) erecting a security fence or other measure to limit access;

(F) providing alternate water supplies, temporary evacuation,

and housing for threatened individuals not otherwise provided

for;

(G) acting under Section 104(b) of the environmental response

law;

(H) providing emergency assistance under the federal Disaster

Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.); or

(I) taking any other necessary action to prevent, minimize, or

mitigate damage to the public health and welfare or the

environment that may otherwise result from a release or threat of

release.

(31) "Rubbish" means nonputrescible solid waste, excluding

ashes, that consists of:

(A) combustible waste materials, including paper, rags, cartons,

wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, yard trimmings,

leaves, and similar materials; and

(B) noncombustible waste materials, including glass, crockery,

tin cans, aluminum cans, metal furniture, and similar materials

that do not burn at ordinary incinerator temperatures (1,600 to

1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).

(32) "Sanitary landfill" means a controlled area of land on

which solid waste is disposed of in accordance with standards,

rules, or orders established by the commission.

(33) "Sludge" means solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated

from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, excluding the treated effluent from a wastewater

treatment plant.

(34) This subdivision expires on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code, unless the waste, substance, or material results

from activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or

natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance

plants, or repressurizing plants and is hazardous waste as

defined by the administrator of the United States Environmental

Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as

amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.); and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(35) This subdivision is effective on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code; and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(36) "Solid waste facility" means all contiguous land, including

structures, appurtenances, and other improvements on the land,

used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. The

term includes a publicly or privately owned solid waste facility

consisting of several processing, storage, or disposal

operational units such as one or more landfills, surface

impoundments, or a combination of units.

(37) "Solid waste technician" means an individual who is trained

in the practical aspects of the design, operation, and

maintenance of a solid waste facility in accordance with

standards, rules, or orders established by the commission.

(38) "Storage" means the temporary holding of solid waste, after

which the solid waste is processed, disposed of, or stored

elsewhere.

(39) "Pollution" means the alteration of the physical, thermal,

chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any

land or surface or subsurface water in the state that renders the

land or water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans,

animal life, vegetation, or property or to public health, safety,

or welfare or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of

the land or water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

2, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296, Sec. 1.01,

eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 1, eff.

Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 1.025,

eff. Aug. 12, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec.

8.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.18, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec.

30.204, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCE

CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Sec. 361.011. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

(a) The commission is responsible under this section for the

management of municipal solid waste, excluding hazardous

municipal waste, and shall coordinate municipal solid waste

activities, excluding activities concerning hazardous municipal

waste.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of municipal solid

waste, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, by all

practical and economically feasible methods consistent with its

powers and duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter relating to municipal solid waste

management, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste,

and all other powers necessary or convenient to carry out those

responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to municipal solid waste management,

excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, the commission

shall consider water pollution control and water quality aspects

and air pollution control and ambient air quality aspects.

(e) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.02, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 28, 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.013. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL AND TRANSPORTATION FEES. (a)

Except as provided by Subsections (e) through (i), the

commission shall charge a fee on all solid waste that is disposed

of within this state. The fee is $1.25 per ton received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill if the solid waste

is measured by weight. If the solid waste is measured by volume,

the fee for compacted solid waste is 40 cents per cubic yard or,

for uncompacted solid waste, 25 cents per cubic yard received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill. The commission

shall set the fee for sludge or similar waste applied to the land

for beneficial use on a dry weight basis and for solid waste

received at an incinerator or a shredding and composting facility

at half the fee set for solid waste received for disposal at a

landfill. The commission may charge comparable fees for other

means of solid waste disposal that are used.

(b) The commission may raise or lower the fees established under

Subsection (a) in accordance with commission spending levels

established by the legislature.

(c) The commission shall charge an annual registration fee to a

transporter of municipal solid waste who is required to register

with the commission under rules adopted by the commission. The

commission by rule shall adopt a fee schedule. The fee shall be

reasonably related to the volume, the type, or both the volume

and type of waste transported. The registration fee charged under

this subsection may not be less than $25 or more than $500.

(d) The operator of each municipal solid waste facility shall

maintain records and report to the commission annually on the

amount of solid waste that the facility transfers, processes,

stores, treats, or disposes of. Each transporter required to

register with the commission shall maintain records and report to

the commission annually on the amount of solid waste that the

transporter transports. The commission by rule shall establish

procedures for recordkeeping and reporting required under this

subsection.

(e) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

scrap tires that are deposited in a designated recycling

collection area at a landfill permitted by the commission or

licensed by a county or by a political subdivision exercising the

authority granted by Section 361.165 and that are temporarily

stored for eventual recycling, reuse, or energy recovery.

(f) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

source separated yard waste materials that are composted at a

composting facility, including a composting facility located at a

permitted landfill site. The commission shall credit any fee

payment due under Subsection (a) for any material received and

converted to compost or product for composting through a

composting process. Any compost or product for composting that is

not used as compost and is deposited in a landfill is not exempt

from the fee.

(g) The commission shall allow a home-rule municipality that has

enacted an ordinance imposing a local environmental protection

fee for disposal services as of January 1, 1993, to offer

disposal or environmental programs or services to persons within

its jurisdiction, from the revenues generated by said fee, as

such services are required by state or federal mandates. If such

services or programs are offered, the home-rule municipality may

require their use by those persons within its jurisdiction.

(h) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) on

solid waste resulting from a public entity's effort to protect

the public health and safety of the community from the effects of

a natural or man-made disaster or from structures that have been

contributing to drug trafficking or other crimes if the disposal

facility at which that solid waste is offered for disposal has

donated to a municipality, county, or other political subdivision

the cost of disposing of that waste.

(i) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

the disposal of:

(1) Class I industrial solid waste or hazardous waste subject to

the assessment of fees under Section 361.136;

(2) an industrial solid waste for which no permit may be

required under Section 361.090; or

(3) sewage sludge that:

(A) has been treated to reduce the density of pathogens to the

lowest level provided by commission rules; and

(B) complies with commission rules regarding:

(i) metal concentration limits;

(ii) pathogen reduction; and

(iii) vector attraction reduction.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 370, Sec. 2, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 9.13,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.08,

eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 376, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.

1, 1999.

Sec. 361.0135. COMPOSTING REFUND. (a) The operator of a public

or privately owned municipal solid waste facility is entitled to

a refund of 15 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility under Section 361.013(a) if:

(1) the refunds are used to lease or purchase and operate

equipment necessary to compost yard waste;

(2) composting operations are actually performed; and

(3) the finished compost material produced by the facility is

returned to beneficial reuse.

(b) The amount of the refund authorized by this section

increases to 20 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility if, in addition to composting the yard waste, the

operator of the facility voluntarily bans the disposal of yard

waste at the facility.

(c) In order to receive a refund authorized by this section, the

operator of the facility must submit a composting plan to the

commission. The commission by rule may set a fee for reviewing a

composting plan in an amount not to exceed the costs of review.

(d) The operator is entitled to a refund of fees collected by

the facility under Section 361.013(a) on or after the date on

which the commission approves the composting plan. The refund is

collectable beginning on the date that the first composting

operations occur in accordance with the approved plan. The

commission may allow the refund to be applied as a credit against

fees required to be collected by the facility under Section

361.013(a).

(e) In this section, the terms "compost," "composting," and

"yard waste" have the meanings assigned by Section 361.421.

(f) This section expires September 1, 1999, if the commission on

or before that date determines that a market in composting

materials has developed sufficiently to ensure that composting

activities will continue without the incentives provided by this

section.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.09, eff. Aug. 30,

1993.

Sec. 361.014. USE OF SOLID WASTE FEE REVENUE. (a) Revenue

received by the commission under Section 361.013 shall be

deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the commission.

Half of the revenue is dedicated to the commission's municipal

solid waste permitting and enforcement programs and related

support activities and to pay for activities that will enhance

the state's solid waste management program, including:

(1) provision of funds for the municipal solid waste management

planning fund and the municipal solid waste resource recovery

applied research and technical assistance fund established by the

Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Management, Resource

Recovery, and Conservation Act (Chapter 363);

(2) conduct of demonstration projects and studies to help local

governments of various populations and the private sector to

convert to accounting systems and set rates that reflect the full

costs of providing waste management services and are

proportionate to the amount of waste generated;

(3) provision of technical assistance to local governments

concerning solid waste management;

(4) establishment of a solid waste resource center in the

commission and an office of waste minimization and recycling;

(5) provision of supplemental funding to local governments for

the enforcement of this chapter, the Texas Litter Abatement Act

(Chapter 365), and Chapters 391 and 683, Transportation Code;

(6) conduct of a statewide public awareness program concerning

solid waste management;

(7) provision of supplemental funds for other state agencies

with responsibilities concerning solid waste management,

recycling, and other initiatives with the purpose of diverting

recyclable waste from landfills;

(8) conduct of research to promote the development and

stimulation of markets for recycled waste products;

(9) creation of a state municipal solid waste superfund, from

funds appropriated, for:

(A) the cleanup of unauthorized tire dumps and solid waste dumps

for which a responsible party cannot be located or is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup;

(B) the cleanup or proper closure of abandoned or contaminated

municipal solid waste sites for which a responsible party is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup; and

(C) remediation, cleanup, and proper closure of unauthorized

recycling sites for which a responsible party is not immediately

financially able to perform the remediation, cleanup, and

closure;

(10) provision of funds to mitigate the economic and

environmental impacts of lead-acid battery recycling activities

on local governments; and

(11) provision of funds for the conduct of research by a public

or private entity to assist the state in developing new

technologies and methods to reduce the amount of municipal waste

disposed of in landfills.

(b) Half of the revenue is dedicated to local and regional solid

waste projects consistent with regional plans approved by the

commission in accordance with this chapter and to update and

maintain those plans. Those revenues shall be allocated to

municipal solid waste geographic planning regions for use by

local governments and regional planning commissions according to

a formula established by the commission that takes into account

population, area, solid waste fee generation, and public health

needs. Each planning region shall issue a biennial report to the

legislature detailing how the revenue is spent. A project or

service funded under this subsection must promote cooperation

between public and private entities and may not be otherwise

readily available or create a competitive advantage over a

private industry that provides recycling or solid waste services.

(c) Revenue derived from fees charged under Section 361.013(c)

to a transporter of whole used or scrap tires or shredded tire

pieces shall be deposited to the credit of the waste tire

recycling account.

(d) Revenues allocated to the commission for the purposes

authorized by Subsection (a) shall be deposited to the credit of

the waste management account. Revenues allocated to local and

regional solid waste projects shall be deposited to the credit of

an account in the general revenue fund known as the municipal

solid waste disposal account.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.10,

3.10, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.21,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 838, Sec. 1, eff.

June 16, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 30.205, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 35, eff; Sept.

1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 340, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 361.0145. RESPONSE TO OR REMEDIATION OF FIRE OR EMERGENCY.

(a) The commission may make an immediate response to or

remediation of a fire or other emergency that involves solid

waste, including processed or unprocessed material suitable for

recycling or composting, as the commission determines necessary

to protect the public health or safety.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 361.014(b), revenue otherwise

dedicated under that section may be used for an action authorized

by Subsection (a).

(c) The commission may recover from a person who is responsible

for the solid waste as provided by Section 361.271 the reasonable

expenses incurred by the commission during an immediate response

and remediation action under Subsection (a). The state may bring

an action to recover those reasonable expenses.

(d) If the commission used for an action under Subsection (a)

money otherwise dedicated under Section 361.014(b), money

recovered under Subsection (c) shall be deposited in the state

treasury to the credit of the commission until the amount

deposited equals the amount of the dedicated money used. Money

credited under this subsection may be used only as provided by

Section 361.014(b).

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1362, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 361.015. JURISDICTION: RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The

commission is the state agency under Chapter 401 that licenses

and regulates radioactive waste storage, processing, and disposal

activities not preemptively regulated by the federal government.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), the Health and Human

Services Commission, acting through the Department of State

Health Services or other department as designated by the

executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services

Commission, is the state agency under Chapter 401 that regulates

radioactive waste activities not preemptively regulated by the

federal government.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1332, Sec. 31, eff. June 15, 2007.

Sec. 361.0151. RECYCLING. (a) The commission shall establish

and administer a waste minimization and recycling office within

the commission that provides technical assistance to local

governments concerning waste minimization and recycling.

(b) The commission shall work in conjunction with the Texas

Department of Commerce to pursue the development of markets for

recycled materials, including composting products.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.22, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.016. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BY COMMISSION. The

commission by rule shall adopt:

(1) any memorandum of understanding between the commission and

any other state agency; and

(2) any revision of a memorandum of understanding.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.017. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE

AND HAZARDOUS MUNICIPAL WASTE. (a) The commission is

responsible for the management of industrial solid waste and

hazardous municipal waste and shall coordinate industrial solid

waste activities and hazardous municipal waste activities.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of industrial solid

waste and hazardous municipal waste by all practical and

economically feasible methods consistent with its powers and

duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter and all other powers necessary or

convenient to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to industrial solid waste and hazardous

municipal waste, the commission shall:

(1) consider the public health aspects and the air pollution

control and ambient air quality aspects; and

(2) consult with the attorney general's office for assistance in

determining whether referral to the attorney general for

enforcement is mandatory under Section 361.224 or whether

referral is appropriate, in the commission's discretion, for the

disposition of enforcement matters under this chapter.

(e) If referral is determined to be mandatory or appropriate,

the commission shall consult with the attorney general's office

for assistance in determining whether criminal or civil

enforcement action should be taken. The commission shall use all

available enforcement options.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.03, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.23, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.018. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION OVER HAZARDOUS WASTE

COMPONENTS OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The commission has the

powers under this chapter necessary or convenient to carry out

its responsibilities concerning the regulation of the management

of hazardous waste components of radioactive waste under the

jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Health.

(b) The commission shall consult with the Texas Department of

Health concerning regulation and management under this section,

except for activities solely under the commission's jurisdiction.

(c) The commission may not adopt rules or engage in management

activities under this section that conflict with state or federal

laws and rules concerning the regulation of radioactive waste.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.019. APPROVAL OF INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY. (a) Except as provided by

Subsection (b), Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste and

small quantities of hazardous waste generated by conditionally

exempt small quantity generators, as defined by the commission,

may be accepted in a municipal solid waste facility if:

(1) authorized in writing by, or by rule of, the commission; and

(2) the generator of the Class I nonhazardous waste certifies on

an appropriate commission form that the waste is not a hazardous

waste.

(b) Except as otherwise prohibited by this chapter, nonhazardous

industrial solid waste generated by the mechanical shredding of

motor vehicles, appliances, or other items of scrap, used, or

obsolete metals shall be accepted, without authorization by the

commission under Subsection (a), in a municipal solid waste

facility that has previously been authorized to accept and has

accepted Class I nonhazardous industrial solid wastes or Class II

industrial solid wastes if the waste contains no free liquids, is

not a hazardous waste as defined in Section 361.003, and

satisfies other criteria that may be established by commission

rule. Until the commission adopts rules establishing additional

criteria, generators of this type of waste shall satisfy the two

criteria described in this subsection when these wastes are

disposed of in municipal solid waste facilities.

(c) Municipal solid waste may be accepted in an industrial solid

waste facility if authorized in writing by the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

5, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 2,

eff. Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.0202. DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS. (a) The

commission shall develop a public awareness program to increase

awareness of individual responsibility for properly reducing and

disposing of municipal solid waste and to encourage participation

in waste source reduction, composting, reuse, and recycling. The

program shall include:

(1) a media campaign to develop and disseminate educational

materials designed to establish broad public understanding and

compliance with the state's waste reduction and recycling goals;

and

(2) a curriculum, developed in cooperation with the commissioner

of education and suitable for use in programs from kindergarten

through high school, that promotes waste reduction and recycling.

(b) As part of the program, the commission may:

(1) advise and consult with individuals, businesses, and

manufacturers on source reduction techniques and recycling; and

(2) sponsor or cosponsor with public and private organizations

technical workshops and seminars on source reduction and

recycling.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.04, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 361.0215. POLLUTION PREVENTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a)

The pollution prevention advisory committee is composed of nine

members with a balanced representation of environmental and

public interest groups and the regulated community.

(b) The committee shall advise the commission and interagency

coordination council on:

(1) the appropriate organization of state agencies and the

financial and technical resources required to aid the state in

its efforts to promote waste reduction and minimization;

(2) the development of public awareness programs to educate

citizens about hazardous waste and the appropriate disposal of

hazardous waste and hazardous materials that are used and

collected by households;

(3) the provision of technical assistance to local governments

for the development of waste management strategies designed to

assist small quantity generators of hazardous waste; and

(4) other possible programs to more effectively implement the

state's hierarchy of preferred waste management technologies as

set forth in Section 361.023(a).

(c) The committee shall advise the commission on the creation

and implementation of the strategically directed regulatory

structure developed under Section 5.755, Water Code.

(d) The committee shall report quarterly to the commission on

its activities, including suggestions or proposals for future

activities and other matters the committee considers important.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.04, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

4, eff. June 16, 1991; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 1,

eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 4.04,

eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0216. OFFICE OF POLLUTION PREVENTION. The office of

pollution prevention is created in the executive office of the

commission to direct and coordinate all source reduction and

waste minimization activities of the commission.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.05, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

5, eff. June 16, 1991.

Sec. 361.0219. OFFICE OF WASTE EXCHANGE. (a) The office of

waste exchange is an office of the commission.

(b) The office shall facilitate the exchange of solid waste,

recyclable or compostable materials, and other secondary

materials among persons that generate, recycle, compost, or reuse

those materials, in order to foster greater recycling,

composting, and reuse in the state. At least one party to such an

exchange must be in the state. The office shall provide

information to interested persons on arranging exchanges of these

materials in order to allow greater recycling, composting, and

reuse of the materials, and may act as broker for exchanges of

the materials if private brokers are not available.

(c) The office of waste exchange shall adopt a plan for

providing to interested persons information on waste exchange.

Biennially the office of waste exchange shall report to the

commission on progress in implementing this section, including

the plan to provide information on waste exchange, the state's

participation in any national or regional waste exchange program,

and information on the movement and exchange of materials and the

effect on recycling, composting, and reuse rates in the state.

The commission shall submit the report by December 1 of each

even-numbered year as required by Section 5.178(b), Water Code.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.05, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1,

1993. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1082, Sec. 5, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.022. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE AND

SLUDGE. (a) To protect the public health and environment, it is

the state's goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the

generation of municipal solid waste and municipal sludge to the

maximum extent that is technologically and economically feasible.

Therefore, it is the state's public policy that, in generating,

treating, storing, and disposing of municipal solid waste or

municipal sludge, the methods listed under Subsections (b) and

(c) are preferred to the extent economically and technologically

feasible and considering the appropriateness of the method to the

type of solid waste material or sludge generated, treated,

disposed of, or stored.

(b) For municipal solid waste, not including sludge, the

following methods are preferred, in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and waste minimization;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste;

(3) treatment to destroy or reprocess waste to recover energy or

other beneficial resources if the treatment does not threaten

public health, safety, or the environment; or

(4) land disposal.

(c) For municipal sludge, the following methods are preferred,

in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and minimization of sludge production and

concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins in sludge;

(2) treatment of sludge to reduce pathogens and recover energy,

produce beneficial by-products, or reduce the quantity of sludge;

(3) marketing and distribution of sludge and sludge products if

the marketing and distribution do not threaten public health,

safety, or the environment;

(4) applying sludge to land for beneficial use;

(5) land treatment; or

(6) landfilling.

(d) In adopting rules to implement public policy concerning

municipal solid waste management, the commission shall consider

the preference of municipal solid waste management methods under

this section.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.27, eff. Sept. 1,

1995.

Sec. 361.023. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To

protect the public health and environment, it is the state's

goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the generation of

hazardous waste to the maximum extent that is technologically and

economically feasible. Therefore, it is the state's public policy

that, in generating, treating, storing, and disposing of

hazardous waste, the following methods are preferred to the

extent economically and technologically feasible, in the order

listed:

(1) source reduction;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste, or both;

(3) treatment to destroy hazardous characteristics;

(4) treatment to reduce hazardous characteristics;

(5) underground injection; and

(6) land disposal.

(b) Under Subsection (a)(3), on-site destruction is preferred,

but it shall be evaluated in the context of other relevant

factors such as transportation hazard, distribution of risk,

quality of destruction, operator capability, and site

suitability.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

1991.

Sec. 361.0231. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR

INDUSTRIAL AND HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To protect the public

health and environment taking into consideration the economic

development of the state, and assure the continuation of the

federal funding for abandoned facility response actions, it is

the state public policy that adequate capacity should exist for

the proper management of industrial and hazardous waste generated

in this state.

(b) "Adequate capacity" is the capacity necessary to manage the

industrial and hazardous waste that remains after application, to

the maximum extent economically and technologically feasible, of

waste reduction techniques.

(c) It is further the state's policy that, wherever feasible,

the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated

as expeditiously as possible.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 8,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965,

Sec. 1.25, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0235. HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATED IN FOREIGN COUNTRY.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a person may

not receive, transport, or cause to be transported into this

state, for the purpose of treatment, storage, or disposal in this

state, hazardous waste generated in a country other than the

United States.

(b) This section may not be construed or applied in a manner

that interferes with the authority of the federal government to

regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several

states provided by Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the United

States Constitution.

(c) This section does not apply to a person who transports or

receives material from a country other than the United States

for:

(1) recycling or reuse of the material; or

(2) use of the material as a feedstock or ingredient in the

production of a new product.

(d) This section does not apply to waste transported or received

for treatment, storage, or disposal at a hazardous waste

management facility that is owned by the generator of the waste

or by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of the

generator.

(e) This section does not apply to waste received by:

(1) a producer of the product or material from which the waste

is generated; or

(2) a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of such

producer.

(f) This section does not apply to waste generated in Mexico at

an approved maquiladora facility to the extent that such waste:

(1) was generated as a result of the processing or fabrication

of materials imported into Mexico from Texas on a temporary

basis; and

(2) is required to be re-exported to the United States under

Mexican law.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991. Renumbered from Health & Safety Code Sec. 361.0232 by

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 17.01(27), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.024. RULES AND STANDARDS. (a) The commission may

adopt rules consistent with this chapter and establish minimum

standards of operation for the management and control of solid

waste under this chapter.

(b) In developing rules concerning hazardous waste, the

commission shall consult with the State Soil and Water

Conservation Board, the Bureau of Economic Geology of The

University of Texas at Austin, and other appropriate state

sources.

(c) The minimum standards set by the commission for on-site

storage of hazardous waste must be at least the minimum standards

set by the manufacturer of the chemical.

(d) Rules adopted by the commission under Section 361.036 and

Sections 361.097-361.108 for solid waste facilities may differ

according to the type or hazard of hazardous waste managed and

the type of waste management method used.

(e) Rules shall be adopted as provided by Chapter 2001,

Government Code. As provided by that Act, the commission must

adopt rules when adopting, repealing, or amending any agency

statement of general applicability that interprets or prescribes

law or policy or describes the procedure or practice requirements

of the agency. The commission shall follow its own rules as

adopted until it changes them in accordance with that Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.06, eff. Aug.

30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1,

1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(49), 11.30, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.025. EXEMPT ACTIVITIES. (a) The commission and the

Railroad Commission of Texas shall jointly prepare an exclusive

list of activities that are associated with oil and gas

exploration, development, and production and are therefore exempt

from regulation under this chapter.

(b) The list shall be adopted by rule and amended as necessary.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.026. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION. The commission

may:

(1) provide educational, advisory, and technical services

concerning solid waste management to other state agencies,

regional planning agencies, local governments, special districts,

institutions, and individuals; and

(2) assist other state agencies, regional planning agencies,

local governments, special districts, and institutions in

acquiring federal grants for:

(A) the development of solid waste facilities and management

programs; and

(B) research to improve solid waste management.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.31, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.027. LICENSURE OF SOLID WASTE FACILITY SUPERVISORS.

The commission may implement a program under Chapter 37, Water

Code, to license persons who supervise the operation or

maintenance of solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.32, eff. Sept.

1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 36, eff. Sept. 1,

1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 880, Sec. 20, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.028. INDUSTRIAL SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MATERIALS

EXCHANGE. (a) The commission shall establish an industrial

solid and hazardous waste materials exchange that provides for

the exchange, between interested persons, of information

concerning:

(1) particular quantities of industrial solid or hazardous waste

available in this state for recovery;

(2) persons interested in acquiring certain types of industrial

solid or hazardous waste for purposes of recovery; and

(3) methods for the treatment and recovery of industrial solid

or hazardous waste.

(b) The industrial solid and hazardous waste materials exchange

may be operated under one or more reciprocity agreements

providing for the exchange of information described by Subsection

(a) for similar information from a program operated in another

state.

(c) The commission may contract for a private person or public

entity to establish or operate the industrial solid and hazardous

waste materials exchange.

(d) The commission may prescribe rules concerning the

establishment and operation of the industrial solid and hazardous

waste exchange, including the setting of a necessary subscription

fee to offset the cost of participation in the program.

(e) The commission may seek grants and contract support from

federal and other sources to the extent possible and may accept

gifts to support its purposes and programs.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.029. COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS

THAT COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) The commission

shall provide by rule for interested persons to engage in

activities that involve the collection and disposal of household

materials that could be classified as hazardous waste.

(b) The rules must specify the necessary requirements concerning

the training of persons involved in the collection and disposal

of those household materials.

(c) A person is not liable for damages as a result of any act or

omission in the course of advertising, promoting, or distributing

educational materials concerning the collection or disposal of

those household materials in accordance with the rules. This

subsection does not preclude liability for damages as a result of

gross negligence of or intentional misconduct by the person.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.33, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.030. FEDERAL FUNDS. The commission may accept funds

from the federal government for purposes concerning solid waste

management and spend money received from the federal government

for those purposes in the manner prescribed by law and in

accordance with agreements as are necessary and appropriate

between the federal government and the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.34, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.031. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. (a)

The commission may administer and spend state funds provided to

the commission by legislative appropriations, or otherwise, to

make grants to local governments for:

(1) solid waste planning;

(2) installation of solid waste facilities; and

(3) administration of solid waste programs.

(b) The grants made under this chapter shall be distributed in a

manner determined by the commission.

(c) The amount of financial assistance


State Codes and Statutes

State Codes and Statutes

Statutes > Texas > Health-and-safety-code > Title-5-sanitation-and-environmental-quality > Chapter-361-solid-waste-disposal-act

HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 5. SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

SUBTITLE B. SOLID WASTE, TOXIC CHEMICALS, SEWAGE, LITTER, AND

WATER

CHAPTER 361. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL ACT

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 361.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the

Solid Waste Disposal Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.002. POLICY; FINDINGS. (a) It is this state's policy

and the purpose of this chapter to safeguard the health, welfare,

and physical property of the people and to protect the

environment by controlling the management of solid waste,

including accounting for hazardous waste that is generated.

(b) The storage, processing, and disposal of hazardous waste at

municipal solid waste facilities pose a risk to public health and

the environment, and in order to protect the environment and to

provide measures for adequate protection of public health, it is

in the public interest to require hazardous waste to be stored,

processed, and disposed of only at permitted hazardous industrial

solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

1, eff. Sept. 6, 1990.

Sec. 361.003. DEFINITIONS. Unless the context requires a

different definition, in this chapter:

(1) "Apparent recharge zone" means that recharge zone designated

on maps prepared or compiled by, and located in the offices of,

the commission.

(2) "Class I industrial solid waste" means an industrial solid

waste or mixture of industrial solid waste, including hazardous

industrial waste, that because of its concentration or physical

or chemical characteristics:

(A) is toxic, corrosive, flammable, a strong sensitizer or

irritant, or a generator of sudden pressure by decomposition,

heat, or other means; and

(B) poses or may pose a substantial present or potential danger

to human health or the environment if improperly processed,

stored, transported, or otherwise managed.

(3) "Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste" means any

Class I industrial solid waste that has not been identified or

listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid

Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.).

(4) "Commercial hazardous waste management facility" means any

hazardous waste management facility that accepts hazardous waste

or PCBs for a charge, except a captured facility or a facility

that accepts waste only from other facilities owned or

effectively controlled by the same person, where "captured

facility" means a manufacturing or production facility that

generates an industrial solid waste or hazardous waste that is

routinely stored, processed, or disposed of on a shared basis in

an integrated waste management unit owned, operated by, and

located within a contiguous manufacturing complex.

(5) "Commission" means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation

Commission.

(6) "Composting" means the controlled biological decomposition

of organic solid waste under aerobic conditions.

(7) "Disposal" means the discharging, depositing, injecting,

dumping, spilling, leaking, or placing of solid waste or

hazardous waste, whether containerized or uncontainerized, into

or on land or water so that the solid waste or hazardous waste or

any constituent thereof may be emitted into the air, discharged

into surface water or groundwater, or introduced into the

environment in any other manner.

(8) "Environmental response law" means the federal Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980,

42 U.S.C. Sections 9601 through 9675, as amended by the Superfund

Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.

(9) "Executive director" means the executive director of the

commission.

(10) "Garbage" means solid waste that is putrescible animal and

vegetable waste materials from the handling, preparation,

cooking, or consumption of food, including waste materials from

markets, storage facilities, and the handling and sale of produce

and other food products.

(11) "Hazardous substance":

(A) means:

(i) a substance designated under Section 311(b)(2)(A) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C.

Section 1321);

(ii) an element, compound, mixture, solution, or substance

designated under Section 102 of the environmental response law;

(iii) a hazardous waste having the characteristics identified

under or listed under Section 3001 of the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6921), excluding

waste, the regulation of which under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.) has been suspended

by Act of Congress;

(iv) a toxic pollutant listed under Section 307(a) of the

Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1317);

(v) a hazardous air pollutant listed under Section 112 of the

federal Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 7412); and

(vi) any imminently hazardous chemical substance or mixture with

respect to which the administrator of the Environmental

Protection Agency has taken action under Section 7 of the Toxic

Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. Section 2606); but

(B) does not include:

(i) petroleum, which means crude oil or any fraction of crude

oil that is not otherwise specifically listed or designated as a

hazardous substance under Paragraphs (i) through (vi) of

Subdivision (A);

(ii) natural gas, natural gas liquids, liquefied natural gas, or

synthetic gas usable for fuel mixtures of natural gas and

synthetic gas; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources or any other substance or material regulated

by the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code.

(12) "Hazardous waste" means solid waste identified or listed as

a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States

Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste

Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and

Recovery Act of 1976, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et

seq.).

(13) "Hazardous waste management facility" means all contiguous

land, including structures, appurtenances, and other improvements

on the land, used for processing, storing, or disposing of

hazardous waste. The term includes a publicly or privately owned

hazardous waste management facility consisting of processing,

storage, or disposal operational hazardous waste management units

such as one or more landfills, surface impoundments, waste piles,

incinerators, boilers, and industrial furnaces, including cement

kilns, injection wells, salt dome waste containment caverns, land

treatment facilities, or a combination of units.

(14) "Hazardous waste management unit" means a landfill, surface

impoundment, waste pile, industrial furnace, incinerator, cement

kiln, injection well, container, drum, salt dome waste

containment cavern, or land treatment unit, or any other

structure, vessel, appurtenance, or other improvement on land

used to manage hazardous waste.

(15) "Industrial furnace" includes cement kilns, lime kilns,

aggregate kilns, phosphate kilns, coke ovens, blast furnaces,

smelting, melting, or refining furnaces, including

pyrometallurgical devices such as cupolas, reverberator furnaces,

sintering machines, roasters, or foundry furnaces, titanium

dioxide chloride process oxidation reactors, methane reforming

furnaces, pulping liquor recovery furnaces, combustion devices

used in the recovery of sulfur values from spent sulfuric acid,

and other devices the commission may list.

(16) "Industrial solid waste" means solid waste resulting from

or incidental to a process of industry or manufacturing, or

mining or agricultural operations.

(17) "Local government" means:

(A) a county;

(B) a municipality; or

(C) a political subdivision exercising the authority granted

under Section 361.165.

(18) "Management" means the systematic control of the activities

of generation, source separation, collection, handling, storage,

transportation, processing, treatment, recovery, or disposal of

solid waste.

(19) "Motor vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section

541.201, Transportation Code.

(20) "Municipal solid waste" means solid waste resulting from or

incidental to municipal, community, commercial, institutional, or

recreational activities, and includes garbage, rubbish, ashes,

street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and other

solid waste other than industrial solid waste.

(21) "Notice of intent to file an application" means the notice

filed under Section 361.063.

(22) "PCBs" or "polychlorinated biphenyl compounds" means

compounds subject to Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part

761.

(23) "Person" means an individual, corporation, organization,

government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust,

partnership, association, or any other legal entity.

(24) "Person affected" means a person who demonstrates that the

person has suffered or will suffer actual injury or economic

damage and, if the person is not a local government:

(A) is a resident of a county, or a county adjacent or

contiguous to the county, in which a solid waste facility is to

be located; or

(B) is doing business or owns land in the county or adjacent or

contiguous county.

(25) "Processing" means the extraction of materials from or the

transfer, volume reduction, conversion to energy, or other

separation and preparation of solid waste for reuse or disposal.

The term includes the treatment or neutralization of hazardous

waste designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological

character or composition of a hazardous waste so as to neutralize

the waste, recover energy or material from the waste, render the

waste nonhazardous or less hazardous, make it safer to transport,

store, or dispose of, or render it amenable for recovery or

storage, or reduce its volume. The term does not include

activities concerning those materials exempted by the

administrator of the United States Environmental Protection

Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.), unless the commission

determines that regulation of the activity under this chapter is

necessary to protect human health or the environment.

(26) "Radioactive waste" means waste that requires specific

licensing under Chapter 401 and the rules adopted by the

commission under that law.

(27) "Recycling" means the legitimate use, reuse, or reclamation

of solid waste.

(28) "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring,

emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching,

dumping, or disposing into the environment. The term does not

include:

(A) a release that results in an exposure to a person solely

within a workplace, concerning a claim that the person may assert

against the person's employer;

(B) an emission from the engine exhaust of a motor vehicle,

rolling stock, aircraft, vessel, or pipeline pumping station

engine;

(C) a release of source, by-product, or special nuclear material

from a nuclear incident, as those terms are defined by the Atomic

Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. Section 2011 et seq.),

if the release is subject to requirements concerning financial

protection established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under

Section 170 of that Act;

(D) for the purposes of Section 104 of the environmental

response law, or other response action, a release of source,

by-product, or special nuclear material from a processing site

designated under Section 102(a)(1) or 302(a) of the Uranium Mill

Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. Sections 7912

and 7942); and

(E) the normal application of fertilizer.

(29) "Remedial action" means an action consistent with a

permanent remedy taken instead of or in addition to a removal

action in the event of a release or threatened release of a

hazardous waste into the environment to prevent or minimize the

release of hazardous waste so that the hazardous waste does not

migrate to cause an imminent and substantial danger to present or

future public health and safety or the environment. The term

includes:

(A) actions at the location of the release, including storage,

confinement, perimeter protection using dikes, trenches, or

ditches, clay cover, neutralization, cleanup of released

hazardous waste or contaminated materials, recycling or reuse,

diversion, destruction, segregation of reactive waste, dredging

or excavations, repair or replacement of leaking containers,

collection of leachate and runoff, on-site treatment or

incineration, provision of alternate water supplies, and any

monitoring reasonably required to assure that those actions

protect the public health and safety or the environment; and

(B) the costs of permanent relocation of residents, businesses,

and community facilities if the administrator of the United

States Environmental Protection Agency or the executive director

determines that, alone or in combination with other measures, the

relocation:

(i) is more cost-effective than and environmentally preferable

to the transportation, storage, treatment, destruction, or secure

disposition off-site of hazardous waste; or

(ii) may otherwise be necessary to protect the public health or

safety.

(30) "Removal" includes:

(A) cleaning up or removing released hazardous waste from the

environment;

(B) taking necessary action in the event of the threat of

release of hazardous waste into the environment;

(C) taking necessary action to monitor, assess, and evaluate the

release or threat of release of hazardous waste;

(D) disposing of removed material;

(E) erecting a security fence or other measure to limit access;

(F) providing alternate water supplies, temporary evacuation,

and housing for threatened individuals not otherwise provided

for;

(G) acting under Section 104(b) of the environmental response

law;

(H) providing emergency assistance under the federal Disaster

Relief Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. Section 5121 et seq.); or

(I) taking any other necessary action to prevent, minimize, or

mitigate damage to the public health and welfare or the

environment that may otherwise result from a release or threat of

release.

(31) "Rubbish" means nonputrescible solid waste, excluding

ashes, that consists of:

(A) combustible waste materials, including paper, rags, cartons,

wood, excelsior, furniture, rubber, plastics, yard trimmings,

leaves, and similar materials; and

(B) noncombustible waste materials, including glass, crockery,

tin cans, aluminum cans, metal furniture, and similar materials

that do not burn at ordinary incinerator temperatures (1,600 to

1,800 degrees Fahrenheit).

(32) "Sanitary landfill" means a controlled area of land on

which solid waste is disposed of in accordance with standards,

rules, or orders established by the commission.

(33) "Sludge" means solid, semisolid, or liquid waste generated

from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, excluding the treated effluent from a wastewater

treatment plant.

(34) This subdivision expires on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code, unless the waste, substance, or material results

from activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas or

natural gas liquids processing plants, pressure maintenance

plants, or repressurizing plants and is hazardous waste as

defined by the administrator of the United States Environmental

Protection Agency under the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as

amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended

(42 U.S.C. Section 6901 et seq.); and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(35) This subdivision is effective on delegation of the Resource

Conservation and Recovery Act authority to the Railroad

Commission of Texas. Subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C.

Section 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. Section 261.4(a), "solid waste"

means garbage, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment

plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control

facility, and other discarded material, including solid, liquid,

semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and agricultural

operations and from community and institutional activities. The

term:

(A) does not include:

(i) solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or

dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial

discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under Chapter

26, Water Code;

(ii) soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert

solid materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to

make the land suitable for the construction of surface

improvements; or

(iii) waste materials that result from activities associated

with the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas or

geothermal resources and other substance or material regulated by

the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural

Resources Code; and

(B) does include hazardous substances, for the purposes of

Sections 361.271 through 361.277, 361.280, and 361.343 through

361.345.

(36) "Solid waste facility" means all contiguous land, including

structures, appurtenances, and other improvements on the land,

used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. The

term includes a publicly or privately owned solid waste facility

consisting of several processing, storage, or disposal

operational units such as one or more landfills, surface

impoundments, or a combination of units.

(37) "Solid waste technician" means an individual who is trained

in the practical aspects of the design, operation, and

maintenance of a solid waste facility in accordance with

standards, rules, or orders established by the commission.

(38) "Storage" means the temporary holding of solid waste, after

which the solid waste is processed, disposed of, or stored

elsewhere.

(39) "Pollution" means the alteration of the physical, thermal,

chemical, or biological quality of, or the contamination of, any

land or surface or subsurface water in the state that renders the

land or water harmful, detrimental, or injurious to humans,

animal life, vegetation, or property or to public health, safety,

or welfare or impairs the usefulness or the public enjoyment of

the land or water for any lawful or reasonable purpose.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

2, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296, Sec. 1.01,

eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 1, eff.

Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 1.025,

eff. Aug. 12, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec.

8.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.18, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec.

30.204, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCE

CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Sec. 361.011. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.

(a) The commission is responsible under this section for the

management of municipal solid waste, excluding hazardous

municipal waste, and shall coordinate municipal solid waste

activities, excluding activities concerning hazardous municipal

waste.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of municipal solid

waste, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, by all

practical and economically feasible methods consistent with its

powers and duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter relating to municipal solid waste

management, excluding management of hazardous municipal waste,

and all other powers necessary or convenient to carry out those

responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to municipal solid waste management,

excluding management of hazardous municipal waste, the commission

shall consider water pollution control and water quality aspects

and air pollution control and ambient air quality aspects.

(e) Repealed by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.02, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1072, Sec. 28, 60(b)(1),

eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.013. SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL AND TRANSPORTATION FEES. (a)

Except as provided by Subsections (e) through (i), the

commission shall charge a fee on all solid waste that is disposed

of within this state. The fee is $1.25 per ton received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill if the solid waste

is measured by weight. If the solid waste is measured by volume,

the fee for compacted solid waste is 40 cents per cubic yard or,

for uncompacted solid waste, 25 cents per cubic yard received for

disposal at a municipal solid waste landfill. The commission

shall set the fee for sludge or similar waste applied to the land

for beneficial use on a dry weight basis and for solid waste

received at an incinerator or a shredding and composting facility

at half the fee set for solid waste received for disposal at a

landfill. The commission may charge comparable fees for other

means of solid waste disposal that are used.

(b) The commission may raise or lower the fees established under

Subsection (a) in accordance with commission spending levels

established by the legislature.

(c) The commission shall charge an annual registration fee to a

transporter of municipal solid waste who is required to register

with the commission under rules adopted by the commission. The

commission by rule shall adopt a fee schedule. The fee shall be

reasonably related to the volume, the type, or both the volume

and type of waste transported. The registration fee charged under

this subsection may not be less than $25 or more than $500.

(d) The operator of each municipal solid waste facility shall

maintain records and report to the commission annually on the

amount of solid waste that the facility transfers, processes,

stores, treats, or disposes of. Each transporter required to

register with the commission shall maintain records and report to

the commission annually on the amount of solid waste that the

transporter transports. The commission by rule shall establish

procedures for recordkeeping and reporting required under this

subsection.

(e) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

scrap tires that are deposited in a designated recycling

collection area at a landfill permitted by the commission or

licensed by a county or by a political subdivision exercising the

authority granted by Section 361.165 and that are temporarily

stored for eventual recycling, reuse, or energy recovery.

(f) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

source separated yard waste materials that are composted at a

composting facility, including a composting facility located at a

permitted landfill site. The commission shall credit any fee

payment due under Subsection (a) for any material received and

converted to compost or product for composting through a

composting process. Any compost or product for composting that is

not used as compost and is deposited in a landfill is not exempt

from the fee.

(g) The commission shall allow a home-rule municipality that has

enacted an ordinance imposing a local environmental protection

fee for disposal services as of January 1, 1993, to offer

disposal or environmental programs or services to persons within

its jurisdiction, from the revenues generated by said fee, as

such services are required by state or federal mandates. If such

services or programs are offered, the home-rule municipality may

require their use by those persons within its jurisdiction.

(h) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) on

solid waste resulting from a public entity's effort to protect

the public health and safety of the community from the effects of

a natural or man-made disaster or from structures that have been

contributing to drug trafficking or other crimes if the disposal

facility at which that solid waste is offered for disposal has

donated to a municipality, county, or other political subdivision

the cost of disposing of that waste.

(i) The commission may not charge a fee under Subsection (a) for

the disposal of:

(1) Class I industrial solid waste or hazardous waste subject to

the assessment of fees under Section 361.136;

(2) an industrial solid waste for which no permit may be

required under Section 361.090; or

(3) sewage sludge that:

(A) has been treated to reduce the density of pathogens to the

lowest level provided by commission rules; and

(B) complies with commission rules regarding:

(i) metal concentration limits;

(ii) pathogen reduction; and

(iii) vector attraction reduction.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 370, Sec. 2, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 9.13,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.08,

eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.20,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 956, Sec. 1, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 376, Sec. 1, eff. Sept.

1, 1999.

Sec. 361.0135. COMPOSTING REFUND. (a) The operator of a public

or privately owned municipal solid waste facility is entitled to

a refund of 15 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility under Section 361.013(a) if:

(1) the refunds are used to lease or purchase and operate

equipment necessary to compost yard waste;

(2) composting operations are actually performed; and

(3) the finished compost material produced by the facility is

returned to beneficial reuse.

(b) The amount of the refund authorized by this section

increases to 20 percent of the solid waste fees collected by the

facility if, in addition to composting the yard waste, the

operator of the facility voluntarily bans the disposal of yard

waste at the facility.

(c) In order to receive a refund authorized by this section, the

operator of the facility must submit a composting plan to the

commission. The commission by rule may set a fee for reviewing a

composting plan in an amount not to exceed the costs of review.

(d) The operator is entitled to a refund of fees collected by

the facility under Section 361.013(a) on or after the date on

which the commission approves the composting plan. The refund is

collectable beginning on the date that the first composting

operations occur in accordance with the approved plan. The

commission may allow the refund to be applied as a credit against

fees required to be collected by the facility under Section

361.013(a).

(e) In this section, the terms "compost," "composting," and

"yard waste" have the meanings assigned by Section 361.421.

(f) This section expires September 1, 1999, if the commission on

or before that date determines that a market in composting

materials has developed sufficiently to ensure that composting

activities will continue without the incentives provided by this

section.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.09, eff. Aug. 30,

1993.

Sec. 361.014. USE OF SOLID WASTE FEE REVENUE. (a) Revenue

received by the commission under Section 361.013 shall be

deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the commission.

Half of the revenue is dedicated to the commission's municipal

solid waste permitting and enforcement programs and related

support activities and to pay for activities that will enhance

the state's solid waste management program, including:

(1) provision of funds for the municipal solid waste management

planning fund and the municipal solid waste resource recovery

applied research and technical assistance fund established by the

Comprehensive Municipal Solid Waste Management, Resource

Recovery, and Conservation Act (Chapter 363);

(2) conduct of demonstration projects and studies to help local

governments of various populations and the private sector to

convert to accounting systems and set rates that reflect the full

costs of providing waste management services and are

proportionate to the amount of waste generated;

(3) provision of technical assistance to local governments

concerning solid waste management;

(4) establishment of a solid waste resource center in the

commission and an office of waste minimization and recycling;

(5) provision of supplemental funding to local governments for

the enforcement of this chapter, the Texas Litter Abatement Act

(Chapter 365), and Chapters 391 and 683, Transportation Code;

(6) conduct of a statewide public awareness program concerning

solid waste management;

(7) provision of supplemental funds for other state agencies

with responsibilities concerning solid waste management,

recycling, and other initiatives with the purpose of diverting

recyclable waste from landfills;

(8) conduct of research to promote the development and

stimulation of markets for recycled waste products;

(9) creation of a state municipal solid waste superfund, from

funds appropriated, for:

(A) the cleanup of unauthorized tire dumps and solid waste dumps

for which a responsible party cannot be located or is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup;

(B) the cleanup or proper closure of abandoned or contaminated

municipal solid waste sites for which a responsible party is not

immediately financially able to provide the cleanup; and

(C) remediation, cleanup, and proper closure of unauthorized

recycling sites for which a responsible party is not immediately

financially able to perform the remediation, cleanup, and

closure;

(10) provision of funds to mitigate the economic and

environmental impacts of lead-acid battery recycling activities

on local governments; and

(11) provision of funds for the conduct of research by a public

or private entity to assist the state in developing new

technologies and methods to reduce the amount of municipal waste

disposed of in landfills.

(b) Half of the revenue is dedicated to local and regional solid

waste projects consistent with regional plans approved by the

commission in accordance with this chapter and to update and

maintain those plans. Those revenues shall be allocated to

municipal solid waste geographic planning regions for use by

local governments and regional planning commissions according to

a formula established by the commission that takes into account

population, area, solid waste fee generation, and public health

needs. Each planning region shall issue a biennial report to the

legislature detailing how the revenue is spent. A project or

service funded under this subsection must promote cooperation

between public and private entities and may not be otherwise

readily available or create a competitive advantage over a

private industry that provides recycling or solid waste services.

(c) Revenue derived from fees charged under Section 361.013(c)

to a transporter of whole used or scrap tires or shredded tire

pieces shall be deposited to the credit of the waste tire

recycling account.

(d) Revenues allocated to the commission for the purposes

authorized by Subsection (a) shall be deposited to the credit of

the waste management account. Revenues allocated to local and

regional solid waste projects shall be deposited to the credit of

an account in the general revenue fund known as the municipal

solid waste disposal account.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

3, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1.10,

3.10, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 2,

eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.21,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 838, Sec. 1, eff.

June 16, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 30.205, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 35, eff; Sept.

1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 340, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Sec. 361.0145. RESPONSE TO OR REMEDIATION OF FIRE OR EMERGENCY.

(a) The commission may make an immediate response to or

remediation of a fire or other emergency that involves solid

waste, including processed or unprocessed material suitable for

recycling or composting, as the commission determines necessary

to protect the public health or safety.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 361.014(b), revenue otherwise

dedicated under that section may be used for an action authorized

by Subsection (a).

(c) The commission may recover from a person who is responsible

for the solid waste as provided by Section 361.271 the reasonable

expenses incurred by the commission during an immediate response

and remediation action under Subsection (a). The state may bring

an action to recover those reasonable expenses.

(d) If the commission used for an action under Subsection (a)

money otherwise dedicated under Section 361.014(b), money

recovered under Subsection (c) shall be deposited in the state

treasury to the credit of the commission until the amount

deposited equals the amount of the dedicated money used. Money

credited under this subsection may be used only as provided by

Section 361.014(b).

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1362, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2007.

Sec. 361.015. JURISDICTION: RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The

commission is the state agency under Chapter 401 that licenses

and regulates radioactive waste storage, processing, and disposal

activities not preemptively regulated by the federal government.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (a), the Health and Human

Services Commission, acting through the Department of State

Health Services or other department as designated by the

executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services

Commission, is the state agency under Chapter 401 that regulates

radioactive waste activities not preemptively regulated by the

federal government.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

1332, Sec. 31, eff. June 15, 2007.

Sec. 361.0151. RECYCLING. (a) The commission shall establish

and administer a waste minimization and recycling office within

the commission that provides technical assistance to local

governments concerning waste minimization and recycling.

(b) The commission shall work in conjunction with the Texas

Department of Commerce to pursue the development of markets for

recycled materials, including composting products.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 4,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec.

11.22, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.016. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BY COMMISSION. The

commission by rule shall adopt:

(1) any memorandum of understanding between the commission and

any other state agency; and

(2) any revision of a memorandum of understanding.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.22, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.017. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION: INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE

AND HAZARDOUS MUNICIPAL WASTE. (a) The commission is

responsible for the management of industrial solid waste and

hazardous municipal waste and shall coordinate industrial solid

waste activities and hazardous municipal waste activities.

(b) The commission shall accomplish the purposes of this chapter

by controlling all aspects of the management of industrial solid

waste and hazardous municipal waste by all practical and

economically feasible methods consistent with its powers and

duties under this chapter and other law.

(c) The commission has the powers and duties specifically

prescribed by this chapter and all other powers necessary or

convenient to carry out its responsibilities under this chapter.

(d) In matters relating to industrial solid waste and hazardous

municipal waste, the commission shall:

(1) consider the public health aspects and the air pollution

control and ambient air quality aspects; and

(2) consult with the attorney general's office for assistance in

determining whether referral to the attorney general for

enforcement is mandatory under Section 361.224 or whether

referral is appropriate, in the commission's discretion, for the

disposition of enforcement matters under this chapter.

(e) If referral is determined to be mandatory or appropriate,

the commission shall consult with the attorney general's office

for assistance in determining whether criminal or civil

enforcement action should be taken. The commission shall use all

available enforcement options.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 8.03, eff.

Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.23, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.018. COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION OVER HAZARDOUS WASTE

COMPONENTS OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE. (a) The commission has the

powers under this chapter necessary or convenient to carry out

its responsibilities concerning the regulation of the management

of hazardous waste components of radioactive waste under the

jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Health.

(b) The commission shall consult with the Texas Department of

Health concerning regulation and management under this section,

except for activities solely under the commission's jurisdiction.

(c) The commission may not adopt rules or engage in management

activities under this section that conflict with state or federal

laws and rules concerning the regulation of radioactive waste.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.019. APPROVAL OF INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN

MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY. (a) Except as provided by

Subsection (b), Class I nonhazardous industrial solid waste and

small quantities of hazardous waste generated by conditionally

exempt small quantity generators, as defined by the commission,

may be accepted in a municipal solid waste facility if:

(1) authorized in writing by, or by rule of, the commission; and

(2) the generator of the Class I nonhazardous waste certifies on

an appropriate commission form that the waste is not a hazardous

waste.

(b) Except as otherwise prohibited by this chapter, nonhazardous

industrial solid waste generated by the mechanical shredding of

motor vehicles, appliances, or other items of scrap, used, or

obsolete metals shall be accepted, without authorization by the

commission under Subsection (a), in a municipal solid waste

facility that has previously been authorized to accept and has

accepted Class I nonhazardous industrial solid wastes or Class II

industrial solid wastes if the waste contains no free liquids, is

not a hazardous waste as defined in Section 361.003, and

satisfies other criteria that may be established by commission

rule. Until the commission adopts rules establishing additional

criteria, generators of this type of waste shall satisfy the two

criteria described in this subsection when these wastes are

disposed of in municipal solid waste facilities.

(c) Municipal solid waste may be accepted in an industrial solid

waste facility if authorized in writing by the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec.

5, eff. Sept. 6, 1990; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 703, Sec. 2,

eff. Aug. 26, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.24,

eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.0202. DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS. (a) The

commission shall develop a public awareness program to increase

awareness of individual responsibility for properly reducing and

disposing of municipal solid waste and to encourage participation

in waste source reduction, composting, reuse, and recycling. The

program shall include:

(1) a media campaign to develop and disseminate educational

materials designed to establish broad public understanding and

compliance with the state's waste reduction and recycling goals;

and

(2) a curriculum, developed in cooperation with the commissioner

of education and suitable for use in programs from kindergarten

through high school, that promotes waste reduction and recycling.

(b) As part of the program, the commission may:

(1) advise and consult with individuals, businesses, and

manufacturers on source reduction techniques and recycling; and

(2) sponsor or cosponsor with public and private organizations

technical workshops and seminars on source reduction and

recycling.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.04, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1,

1993.

Sec. 361.0215. POLLUTION PREVENTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a)

The pollution prevention advisory committee is composed of nine

members with a balanced representation of environmental and

public interest groups and the regulated community.

(b) The committee shall advise the commission and interagency

coordination council on:

(1) the appropriate organization of state agencies and the

financial and technical resources required to aid the state in

its efforts to promote waste reduction and minimization;

(2) the development of public awareness programs to educate

citizens about hazardous waste and the appropriate disposal of

hazardous waste and hazardous materials that are used and

collected by households;

(3) the provision of technical assistance to local governments

for the development of waste management strategies designed to

assist small quantity generators of hazardous waste; and

(4) other possible programs to more effectively implement the

state's hierarchy of preferred waste management technologies as

set forth in Section 361.023(a).

(c) The committee shall advise the commission on the creation

and implementation of the strategically directed regulatory

structure developed under Section 5.755, Water Code.

(d) The committee shall report quarterly to the commission on

its activities, including suggestions or proposals for future

activities and other matters the committee considers important.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.04, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

4, eff. June 16, 1991; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 1,

eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965, Sec. 4.04,

eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0216. OFFICE OF POLLUTION PREVENTION. The office of

pollution prevention is created in the executive office of the

commission to direct and coordinate all source reduction and

waste minimization activities of the commission.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 7,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 296,

Sec. 2.05, eff. June 7, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 590, Sec.

5, eff. June 16, 1991.

Sec. 361.0219. OFFICE OF WASTE EXCHANGE. (a) The office of

waste exchange is an office of the commission.

(b) The office shall facilitate the exchange of solid waste,

recyclable or compostable materials, and other secondary

materials among persons that generate, recycle, compost, or reuse

those materials, in order to foster greater recycling,

composting, and reuse in the state. At least one party to such an

exchange must be in the state. The office shall provide

information to interested persons on arranging exchanges of these

materials in order to allow greater recycling, composting, and

reuse of the materials, and may act as broker for exchanges of

the materials if private brokers are not available.

(c) The office of waste exchange shall adopt a plan for

providing to interested persons information on waste exchange.

Biennially the office of waste exchange shall report to the

commission on progress in implementing this section, including

the plan to provide information on waste exchange, the state's

participation in any national or regional waste exchange program,

and information on the movement and exchange of materials and the

effect on recycling, composting, and reuse rates in the state.

The commission shall submit the report by December 1 of each

even-numbered year as required by Section 5.178(b), Water Code.

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.05, eff. Aug. 30,

1993 and Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1,

1993. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1082, Sec. 5, eff.

Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 361.022. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE AND

SLUDGE. (a) To protect the public health and environment, it is

the state's goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the

generation of municipal solid waste and municipal sludge to the

maximum extent that is technologically and economically feasible.

Therefore, it is the state's public policy that, in generating,

treating, storing, and disposing of municipal solid waste or

municipal sludge, the methods listed under Subsections (b) and

(c) are preferred to the extent economically and technologically

feasible and considering the appropriateness of the method to the

type of solid waste material or sludge generated, treated,

disposed of, or stored.

(b) For municipal solid waste, not including sludge, the

following methods are preferred, in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and waste minimization;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste;

(3) treatment to destroy or reprocess waste to recover energy or

other beneficial resources if the treatment does not threaten

public health, safety, or the environment; or

(4) land disposal.

(c) For municipal sludge, the following methods are preferred,

in the order listed:

(1) source reduction and minimization of sludge production and

concentrations of heavy metals and other toxins in sludge;

(2) treatment of sludge to reduce pathogens and recover energy,

produce beneficial by-products, or reduce the quantity of sludge;

(3) marketing and distribution of sludge and sludge products if

the marketing and distribution do not threaten public health,

safety, or the environment;

(4) applying sludge to land for beneficial use;

(5) land treatment; or

(6) landfilling.

(d) In adopting rules to implement public policy concerning

municipal solid waste management, the commission shall consider

the preference of municipal solid waste management methods under

this section.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.27, eff. Sept. 1,

1995.

Sec. 361.023. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To

protect the public health and environment, it is the state's

goal, through source reduction, to eliminate the generation of

hazardous waste to the maximum extent that is technologically and

economically feasible. Therefore, it is the state's public policy

that, in generating, treating, storing, and disposing of

hazardous waste, the following methods are preferred to the

extent economically and technologically feasible, in the order

listed:

(1) source reduction;

(2) reuse or recycling of waste, or both;

(3) treatment to destroy hazardous characteristics;

(4) treatment to reduce hazardous characteristics;

(5) underground injection; and

(6) land disposal.

(b) Under Subsection (a)(3), on-site destruction is preferred,

but it shall be evaluated in the context of other relevant

factors such as transportation hazard, distribution of risk,

quality of destruction, operator capability, and site

suitability.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 231, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

1991.

Sec. 361.0231. PUBLIC POLICY CONCERNING ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR

INDUSTRIAL AND HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) To protect the public

health and environment taking into consideration the economic

development of the state, and assure the continuation of the

federal funding for abandoned facility response actions, it is

the state public policy that adequate capacity should exist for

the proper management of industrial and hazardous waste generated

in this state.

(b) "Adequate capacity" is the capacity necessary to manage the

industrial and hazardous waste that remains after application, to

the maximum extent economically and technologically feasible, of

waste reduction techniques.

(c) It is further the state's policy that, wherever feasible,

the generation of hazardous waste is to be reduced or eliminated

as expeditiously as possible.

Added by Acts 1990, 71st Leg., 6th C.S., ch. 10, art. 2, Sec. 8,

eff. Sept. 6, 1990. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 965,

Sec. 1.25, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.0235. HAZARDOUS WASTE GENERATED IN FOREIGN COUNTRY.

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a person may

not receive, transport, or cause to be transported into this

state, for the purpose of treatment, storage, or disposal in this

state, hazardous waste generated in a country other than the

United States.

(b) This section may not be construed or applied in a manner

that interferes with the authority of the federal government to

regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several

states provided by Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of the United

States Constitution.

(c) This section does not apply to a person who transports or

receives material from a country other than the United States

for:

(1) recycling or reuse of the material; or

(2) use of the material as a feedstock or ingredient in the

production of a new product.

(d) This section does not apply to waste transported or received

for treatment, storage, or disposal at a hazardous waste

management facility that is owned by the generator of the waste

or by a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of the

generator.

(e) This section does not apply to waste received by:

(1) a producer of the product or material from which the waste

is generated; or

(2) a parent, subsidiary, or affiliated corporation of such

producer.

(f) This section does not apply to waste generated in Mexico at

an approved maquiladora facility to the extent that such waste:

(1) was generated as a result of the processing or fabrication

of materials imported into Mexico from Texas on a temporary

basis; and

(2) is required to be re-exported to the United States under

Mexican law.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,

1991. Renumbered from Health & Safety Code Sec. 361.0232 by

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 17.01(27), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.024. RULES AND STANDARDS. (a) The commission may

adopt rules consistent with this chapter and establish minimum

standards of operation for the management and control of solid

waste under this chapter.

(b) In developing rules concerning hazardous waste, the

commission shall consult with the State Soil and Water

Conservation Board, the Bureau of Economic Geology of The

University of Texas at Austin, and other appropriate state

sources.

(c) The minimum standards set by the commission for on-site

storage of hazardous waste must be at least the minimum standards

set by the manufacturer of the chemical.

(d) Rules adopted by the commission under Section 361.036 and

Sections 361.097-361.108 for solid waste facilities may differ

according to the type or hazard of hazardous waste managed and

the type of waste management method used.

(e) Rules shall be adopted as provided by Chapter 2001,

Government Code. As provided by that Act, the commission must

adopt rules when adopting, repealing, or amending any agency

statement of general applicability that interprets or prescribes

law or policy or describes the procedure or practice requirements

of the agency. The commission shall follow its own rules as

adopted until it changes them in accordance with that Act.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 2.06, eff. Aug.

30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1045, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1,

1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(49), 11.30, eff.

Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 361.025. EXEMPT ACTIVITIES. (a) The commission and the

Railroad Commission of Texas shall jointly prepare an exclusive

list of activities that are associated with oil and gas

exploration, development, and production and are therefore exempt

from regulation under this chapter.

(b) The list shall be adopted by rule and amended as necessary.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.026. ASSISTANCE PROVIDED BY COMMISSION. The commission

may:

(1) provide educational, advisory, and technical services

concerning solid waste management to other state agencies,

regional planning agencies, local governments, special districts,

institutions, and individuals; and

(2) assist other state agencies, regional planning agencies,

local governments, special districts, and institutions in

acquiring federal grants for:

(A) the development of solid waste facilities and management

programs; and

(B) research to improve solid waste management.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.31, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.027. LICENSURE OF SOLID WASTE FACILITY SUPERVISORS.

The commission may implement a program under Chapter 37, Water

Code, to license persons who supervise the operation or

maintenance of solid waste facilities.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.32, eff. Sept.

1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 36, eff. Sept. 1,

1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 880, Sec. 20, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.

Sec. 361.028. INDUSTRIAL SOLID AND HAZARDOUS WASTE MATERIALS

EXCHANGE. (a) The commission shall establish an industrial

solid and hazardous waste materials exchange that provides for

the exchange, between interested persons, of information

concerning:

(1) particular quantities of industrial solid or hazardous waste

available in this state for recovery;

(2) persons interested in acquiring certain types of industrial

solid or hazardous waste for purposes of recovery; and

(3) methods for the treatment and recovery of industrial solid

or hazardous waste.

(b) The industrial solid and hazardous waste materials exchange

may be operated under one or more reciprocity agreements

providing for the exchange of information described by Subsection

(a) for similar information from a program operated in another

state.

(c) The commission may contract for a private person or public

entity to establish or operate the industrial solid and hazardous

waste materials exchange.

(d) The commission may prescribe rules concerning the

establishment and operation of the industrial solid and hazardous

waste exchange, including the setting of a necessary subscription

fee to offset the cost of participation in the program.

(e) The commission may seek grants and contract support from

federal and other sources to the extent possible and may accept

gifts to support its purposes and programs.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Sec. 361.029. COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF HOUSEHOLD MATERIALS

THAT COULD BE CLASSIFIED AS HAZARDOUS WASTE. (a) The commission

shall provide by rule for interested persons to engage in

activities that involve the collection and disposal of household

materials that could be classified as hazardous waste.

(b) The rules must specify the necessary requirements concerning

the training of persons involved in the collection and disposal

of those household materials.

(c) A person is not liable for damages as a result of any act or

omission in the course of advertising, promoting, or distributing

educational materials concerning the collection or disposal of

those household materials in accordance with the rules. This

subsection does not preclude liability for damages as a result of

gross negligence of or intentional misconduct by the person.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.33, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.030. FEDERAL FUNDS. The commission may accept funds

from the federal government for purposes concerning solid waste

management and spend money received from the federal government

for those purposes in the manner prescribed by law and in

accordance with agreements as are necessary and appropriate

between the federal government and the commission.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.

Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.34, eff. Sept.

1, 1995.

Sec. 361.031. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. (a)

The commission may administer and spend state funds provided to

the commission by legislative appropriations, or otherwise, to

make grants to local governments for:

(1) solid waste planning;

(2) installation of solid waste facilities; and

(3) administration of solid waste programs.

(b) The grants made under this chapter shall be distributed in a

manner determined by the commission.

(c) The amount of financial assistance