HBA-AMW H.B. 1898 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1898 By: Turner, Sylvester Environmental Regulation 3/29/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law considers the payment of an administrative penalty for an environmental violation full and complete satisfaction of the violation and expressly precludes any other civil or criminal penalty for the same violation. Under these provisions, a violator can pay a minor administrative penalty for an environmental offense that may have severely impacted citizens of this state and be protected from criminal prosecution for the offense. House Bill 1898 specifies that payment of an administrative penalty assessed by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission does not preclude a criminal penalty for the same violation. 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 1898 amends the Water Code to specify that payment of an administrative penalty assessed by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission for certain environmental offenses does not preclude a criminal penalty for the same violation. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.