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


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3355
By: McReynolds
Natural Resources
4/10/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



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. Under
current law, a person without a plan who intends to bury agricultural waste
must follow the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC)
guidelines for burial, including notifying TNRCC before each burial and
deed recordation of property for each burial.  C.S.H.B. 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

C.S.H.B. 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.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3355 modifies the original bill by prohibiting the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission from requiring a landowner who complies
with a water quality management plan (plan) to record the burial of
carcasses in the county deed records, rather than exempting the landowner's
property from deed recordation requirements.  The substitute also removes
the provision in the original bill exempting a compliant landowner's
property from regulation related to the disposal or management of
industrial solid waste.   

The substitute removes the provision in the original bill which required a
plan that covers agricultural land on which animal carcasses will be
disposed of by burial to include provisions for siting criteria and
appropriate management practices for the disposal of carcasses.  The
substitute removes the provision in the original bill which required a
location of a suitable disposal area to be determined in a manner
prescribed by the State Soil and Water Conservation Board. 

C.S.H.B. 3355 adds provisions regarding the contents of a plan that covers
land on which animal carcasses will be buried.  The substitute modifies the
original bill by providing that the effective date of the bill is September
1, 2001, rather than on passage, or if the Act does not receive the
necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.