HBA-KDB H.B. 2363 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2363 By: Lewis, Ron Environmental Regulation 3/29/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE There is concern that illegal trash dumps are circumventing legal requirements imposed on them by claiming to be recycling centers, despite the fact that little or no recycling may be done. It is difficult for authorities to take appropriate action because there are no standards governing recycling centers. House Bill 2363 requires the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to adopt rules for governing recycling centers, modifies weight and volume limits for the imposition of penalties, permits municipal environmental code enforcement officers to use unmarked cars, and authorizes a city attorney to also bring a civil suit for an injunction to prevent or restrain the illegal dumping of litter or other solid waste. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission in SECTION 2 (Section 361.0151) and SECTION 6 of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 2363 amends the Transportation Code to exempt from the inscription requirement on municipal and county-owned motor vehicles an automobile when used to perform an official duty by a municipal code enforcement officer designated to enforce environmental laws. H.B. 2363 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission to adopt rules, on or before January 1, 2002, including recordkeeping and reporting requirements and limitations on the storage of recyclable material to ensure that recyclable material is reused and not abandoned or disposed, that recyclable material does not create a nuisance, or threaten or impair the environment or public health and safety, and the facility will be properly cleaned up and closed. The bill provides that recyclable material that has been improperly stored is solid waste with respect to the person improperly storing the material or to the owner of the real property on which the material is located. The bill provides that an offense of illegal dumping of litter or other solid waste is a Class C misdemeanor if the litter or other solid waste to which the offense applies weighs five, rather than 15, pounds or less or has a volume of five, rather than 13, gallons or less. Such an offense is a Class B misdemeanor if the litter or other solid waste to which the offense applies weighs more than five, rather than 15, pounds but less than 500 pounds or has a volume of more than five, rather than 13, gallons but less than 100 cubic feet. Such an offense is a Class A misdemeanor if the litter or other solid waste is disposed for a commercial purpose and weighs more than five pounds or has a volume of more than five, rather 13, gallons. The bill no longer limits the reward a municipality or county is authorized to offer for reporting such a violation. Such an offense is authorized to be prosecuted without alleging or proving any culpable mental state. The bill authorizes a city attorney to also bring a civil suit for an injunction to prevent or restrain illegal dumping of litter or other solid waste. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.