HBA-AMW H.B. 3355 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3355
By: McReynolds
Natural Resources
7/20/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Many agricultural producers currently operate with a water quality
management plan (plan) created by the State Soil and Water Conservation
Board (board) to assist in protecting and preserving water supplies. Prior
to the 77th Legislature, a person without a plan who intended to bury
agricultural waste followed the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission (TNRCC) guidelines for burial, including notifying TNRCC before
each burial and deed recordation of property for each burial.  House Bill
3355 authorizes the State Soil and Water Conservation Board to develop and
certify a water quality management plan at the request of a landowner and
sets forth provisions regarding the contents of the plan. 

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 3355 amends the Agriculture Code to authorize  the State Soil
and Water Conservation Board to develop and certify a water quality
management plan (plan) for any agricultural or silvicultural land at the
request of the landowner.  The bill provides that a plan that covers land
on which animal carcasses will be buried must include disposal management
practices for the carcasses, including a requirement that poultry carcasses
may be buried on site only in the event of a major die-off that exceeds the
capacity of a poultry facility to handle and dispose of poultry carcasses
by the normal means used by the facility.  The bill also provides that the
plan must include burial site requirements that identify suitable locations
for burial based on site-specific factors including land use, soil
conditions, and proximity to groundwater or surface water supplies.  The
bill prohibits the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission from
requiring a landowner who requests and complies with a plan to record the
burial of animal carcasses in the county deed records. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.