HBA-AMW C.S.H.B. 1099 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1099 By: Chisum Environmental Regulation 3/18/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Texas Radiation Control Act (Act), enacted in 1961 and recodified in 1989, establishes the regulatory framework and authority for the state agencies that regulate sources of radiation, encompassing the use, possession, and disposal of such sources. C.S.H.B. 1099 adds provisions which further regulatory enforcement and clarify certain sections of the Act to increase enforcement capability and provide authority to better serve the regulated community. The bill also authorizes administrative penalties to be used to prevent or mitigate radiation contamination for the protection of public health and safety. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Board of Health in SECTION 2 (Section 401.108, Health and Safety Code) and SECTION 9 (Section 401.430, Health and Safety Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1099 amends the Health and Safety Code to modify provisions relating to the regulation of radioactive materials and other sources of radiation. The bill authorizes the Texas Department of Health (TDH) or the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to consider the applicant's financial qualifications in making a determination whether to take certain actions regarding a license or registration and includes the renewal of a license or registration among such actions (Sec. 401.110). C.S.H.B. 1099 requires the applicant to demonstrate to TNRCC, rather than the issuing agency, that the applicant is financially qualified to conduct the licensed activity, including any required decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, and disposal, before a license is issued or renewed by TNRCC. The bill also requires the Texas Board of Health (board), by rule, to require an applicant to demonstrate to TDH that the applicant is financially qualified to conduct the licensed activity before TDH issues or renews a license. The bill requires TDH, in addition to TNRCC, to reevaluate every five years certain qualifications and security (Sec. 401.108). C.S.H.B. 1099 authorizes TDH to require that each person who holds a specific license issued by TDH annually pay to TDH an additional five percent of the appropriate annual licensing and registration fee set by the board and requires the nonrefundable fee to be deposited to the credit of the radiation and perpetual care fund. The bill sets forth provisions relating to the suspended and reinstituted assessment of such a fee (Sec. 401.301). The bill sets forth provisions regarding the use of the money in and deposit of money to the radiation and perpetual care fund (Sec. 401.305). The bill authorizes TDH to provide, by the terms of a contract or lease entered into between TDH and any person or by the terms of a license issued by TDH to any person, for the decontamination, closure, decommissioning, reclamation, surveillance, or other care of a site or facility subject to TDH jurisdiction as needed to carry out the purpose of provisions relating to radioactive materials and other sources of radiation. The bill sets forth liability restrictions for TDH regarding the radiation and perpetual care fund (Sec. 401.305). The bill changes from a civil penalty to an administrative penalty the type of penalty that TDH and the commissioner of public health are authorized to impose against a person who causes, suffers, allows, or permits a violation of provisions regarding radioactive materials and other sources of radiation (Secs. 401.384, 401.385, and 401.388). The bill modifies the procedures for certified mammography system inspections by removing the requirements for TDH to conduct annual inspections and by requiring the board by rule to establish the routine inspection frequency for certified mammography systems (Sec. 401.430). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1099 modifies the original bill by requiring, rather than authorizing, the Texas Board of Health, by rule, to require an applicant to demonstrate to the Texas Department of Health (TDH) that the applicant is financially qualified to conduct the licensed activity before TDH issues or renews a license. The substitute adds TDH to the agencies required to reevaluate every five years the qualifications and security concerning low-level radioactive waste disposal and by-product material and restores the requirement that the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) reevaluate every five years the qualifications and security concerning by-product materials (Sec. 401.108, Health and Safety Code).