HBA-SEP H.B. 3086 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3086 By: Burnam Environmental Regulation 3/29/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) is authorized to select and license a site for a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility without considering public opinion. Requiring voter approval of a potential host site may address public concern more effectively. House Bill 3086 authorizes TNRCC to choose a site as a potential disposal site only if certain conditions are met. 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 3086 amends the Health and Safety Code to remove provisions limiting the location of a lowlevel radioactive waste disposal site to Hudspeth County. The bill also requires the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), before choosing a site, to publish notice of its intent to choose the site and to mail written notice of its intent to the commissioners court of the counties in which the potential site is located and in each adjacent county and owners of property adjacent to the site. The notice must include a legal description of the site. The bill authorizes the commissioners court of each county in which the potential site is located and in each adjacent county to order, on its own motion, an election in the county on the question of whether TNRCC should be authorized to choose the site as a potential disposal site for further analysis. A commissioners court is required to order an election on the question if the court receives a petition signed by a number of registered voters of the county equal to at least 10 percent of the number of votes cast for governor in the county in the most recent gubernatorial election. TNRCC is authorized to choose the site as a potential disposal site only if the majority of the votes cast in the election favor authorizing TNRCC to choose the site or an election is not held. The bill sets forth provisions regarding election procedures and ballot text. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.