HBA-AMW H.B. 1027 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1027
By: Cook
Environmental Regulation
7/18/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 77th Legislature, many properties in Texas known as
brownfields were abandoned or underused owing to the liability associated
with contamination from old industrial activity.  The Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission had undertaken initiatives to encourage
the cleanup of these contaminated properties, but many brownfields still
existed in Texas.  House Bill 1027 provides for the cleanup of these
contaminated sites through the use of sales and use tax proceeds, the
elimination of barriers discouraging the use of property tax breaks for
contaminated sites, and the encouraged use of supplemental environmental
projects. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1027 amends the Government, Tax, and Water codes and the
Development Corporation Act of 1979 to modify provisions regarding the
cleanup of contaminated property.  The bill authorizes the Texas Department
of Economic Development, with the assistance of the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC),  to encourage the cleanup of contaminated
property by certain industrial development corporations through the use of
sales and use tax proceeds. 

The bill amends the Government Code to require the General Services
Commission and state agencies to give preference to goods produced at a
facility located on property for which the owner has received a certificate
of completion for successfully completing a voluntary cleanup, if the goods
meet state specifications regarding quantity, quality, delivery, life cycle
costs, and price.  For the purposes of determining the average rate of
unemployment in an area of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and economic
distress, the bill specifies that individuals who are employed by a
business and whose principal place of employment is on property for which
the business has received a certificate of completion for successfully
completing a voluntary cleanup are not considered. 

H.B. 1027 amends the Tax Code to delete real property the value of which is
adversely affected by the release of a hazardous substance or contaminant
according to the two preceding appraisals by the appraisal office from the
list of criteria that determines the eligibility of a property for certain
municipal tax exemptions. 

The bill also amends the Water Code to authorize TNRCC to encourage the
cleanup of contaminated property through the use of supplemental
environmental projects. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.