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86th Texas Legislature Updates: April 9, 2019
April 11, 2019

86th Texas Legislature Updates: April 9, 2019

The 86th Legislature House and Senate have been assigning bills to committees, holding public committee hearings, distributing reports on bills, and voting on legislation.

The State of Texas Alliance for Recycling is a recycling organization whose mission is to advance recycling through partnerships, education, and advocacy for the benefit of Texas.This session, they are focused on two bills that, according the STAR, will create an end-use market plan for recyclables in Texas. The bills are as follows:

  • HB 286: Relating to promotion of the use of recyclable materials as feedstock for processing and manufacturing.
  • SB 649: Relating to promotion of the use of recyclable materials as feedstock for processing and manufacturing.

More information about STAR can be found athttps://www.recyclingstar.org/

The last day for House committees to report House Bills and House Joint Resolutions is May 6, 2019. The last day for Senate committees to report Senate and Senate Joint Resolutions is May 18, 2019.

We’d love to know what bills you are watching. Send an email tomadeline.bell@cechouston.org.

More information about the 86th Texas Legislative session can be found at capitol.texas.gov.

Now that the regular deadline for filing bills in the Texas Legislature has passed, the focus is on committee work. If a committee approves a bill, it is then set back to the legislative chamber for consideration. If approved, it is sent to the opposite chamber. If a bill makes it to a vote and is passed by both the House and Senate, it is sent to the Governor who will either sign it into law, allow it to become law without a signature, or veto it.

Senate

Bills received and assigned to senate committees

  • Water and Rural Affairs
    • HB 1066: Relating to extensions of an expired permit for the transfer of groundwater from a groundwater conservation district.

UPDATES ON SENATE COMMITTEES AND BILLS

  • Finance- will meet on April 11, 2019
    • Scheduled for a Public Hearing
      • SB 1205: Relating to an appropriation of money from the general revenue fund to the State Soil and Water Conservation Board for the purpose of eradicating Carrizo cane, contingent on the receipt of federal funds for the same purpose.
  • Natural Resources and Economic Development- will meet on April 11, 2019
  • Water and Rural Affairs- met on April 9, 2019

House of Representatives

BILLS RECEIVED FROM SENATE AND ASSIGNED TO HOUSE COMMITTEES

  • Natural Resources
    • SB 1041: Relating to the deadline by which the Texas Water Development Board is required to identify and designate brackish groundwater production zones for certain areas of the state.
    • SB 1010: Relating to rules adopted by groundwater conservation districts overlying a common aquifer.

Updates on house committees and bills

  • Agriculture and Livestock- met on April 9, 2019
    • Bills out of Committee
      • HB 792: Relating to the use of land in the William Goodrich Jones State Forest.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
  • Environmental Regulation- met on April 9, 2019
    • Bills out of Committee
      • HB 1331: Relating to the application fee for a permit for a municipal solid waste facility; imposing a fee.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 1346: Relating to the eligibility requirements for the diesel emissions reduction incentive program.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 1435: Relating to the inspection of a municipal solid waste management facility or site by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before a permit application is issued, amended, extended, or renewed.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 1627: Relating to the removal of certain counties from the Texas emissions reduction plan.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 2269: Relating to the operations of the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact waste disposal facility.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
      • HB 2771: Relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue permits for the discharge into water of this state of produced water, hydro-static test water, and gas plant effluent resulting from certain oil and gas activities.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
      • HB 3224: Relating to the creation of a defense under the Solid Waste Disposal Act for persons engaged in certain recycling transactions.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
      • HB 4116: Relating to a voluntary financial assurance program for permit holders under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
      • SB 698: Relating to the expedited processing of certain applications for permits under the Texas Clean Air Act.
  • Natural Resources- met on April 9, 2019
    • Bills out of Committee
      • HB 137: Relating to reports by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality about dams that have certain hazard classifications.
        • Reported favorably a substituted
      • HB 721: Relating to the duty of the Texas Water Development Board to conduct studies of and prepare and submit reports on aquifer storage and recovery and aquifer recharge projects.
      • HB 724: Relating to the authorization by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of the discharge, diversion, and transfer or other reuse of treated brackish groundwater and return flows derived from treated brackish groundwater.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 1066: Relating to extensions of an expired permit for the transfer of groundwater from a groundwater conservation district.
      • HB 2201: Relating to the date for the confirmation election for the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District.
      • HB 3142: Relating to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reminders to public drinking water supply system operators regarding reporting requirements.
        • Reported favorably a substituted
  • Public Health- will meet on April 11, 2019
    • Bills out of Committee
      • HB 1694: Relating to limitations on food regulations at farms, farmers’ markets, and cottage food production operations.
        • Reported favorably as substituted
  • Ways and Means- met on April 10, 2019
    • Bills out of Committee
      • HB 3348: Relating to the eligibility of land on which the Texas Animal Health Commission has established a temporary quarantine for ticks for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as agricultural or open-space land.
        • Reported favorably without amendment
      • HB 1409: Relating to the qualification of land for appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes as timber land or restricted-use timber land.

More information about the 86th Texas Legislative session can be found at capitol.texas.gov.