HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE

TITLE 5. SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

SUBTITLE B. SOLID WASTE, TOXIC CHEMICALS, SEWAGE, LITTER, AND WATER

CHAPTER 370. TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE REPORTING

Sec. 370.001.  SHORT TITLE.  This chapter may be cited as the Texas Toxic Chemical Release Reporting Act.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.

Sec. 370.002.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
(1)  "Administrator" means the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(2)  "Commission" means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
(3)  "Environment" means water, air, and land and the interrelationship that exists among and between water, air, and land and all living things.
(4)  "Executive director" means the executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
(5)  "Facility" means all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items that are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and are owned or operated by the same person or by any person who controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with that person.
(6)  "Manufacture" means to produce, prepare, import, or compound a toxic chemical.
(7)  "Person" means an individual, trust, firm, joint-stock company, corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association, state, commission, municipality or other political subdivision of a state, or interstate body.
(8)  "Process" means to prepare a toxic chemical, after its manufacture, for distribution in commerce:
(A)  in the same form or physical state as, or in a different form or physical state from, the form in which the chemical was received by the person preparing the chemical;  or
(B)  as part of an article containing the toxic chemical.
(9)  "Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or otherwise disposing into the environment any toxic chemical.  The term includes the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed receptacles of any toxic chemical.
(10)  "Threshold amount" means the amount established by the administrator under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.).
(11)  "Toxic chemical" means a chemical designated as a toxic chemical by the administrator under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.).
(12)  "Toxic chemical release form" means the form published by the administrator under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.).
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 3, Sec. 1.044, eff. Aug. 12, 1991.

Sec. 370.003.  TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE FORM REQUIRED OF CERTAIN FACILITIES.  (a)  The owner or operator of a facility shall submit a toxic chemical release form to the executive director if the facility:
(1)  has 10 or more full-time employees and a standard industrial classification code between 20 and 39 that was in effect on July 1, 1985, or has been designated as a facility subject to these requirements by the administrator;  and
(2)  manufactured, processed, or otherwise used a toxic chemical in excess of the threshold amount during the calendar year for which a toxic chemical release form is required.
(b)  The owner or operator of a facility subject to Subsection (a) shall submit a toxic chemical release form for each toxic chemical manufactured, processed, or otherwise used at the facility during the preceding calendar year in a quantity exceeding the threshold amount.
(c)  The form shall be submitted not later than July 1 of each year and must contain data that reflect each release that occurred during the preceding calendar year.  The administrator may modify the frequency with which a report must be submitted under this section as provided under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.).
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.

Sec. 370.004.  THRESHOLD AMOUNTS FOR REPORTING.  (a)  The threshold amounts for purposes of reporting a toxic chemical under Section 370.003 are as follows:
(1)  for a toxic chemical used, but not manufactured or processed, at a facility, 10,000 pounds of the toxic chemical used at the facility during the preceding calendar year;  or
(2)  for a toxic chemical manufactured or processed at a facility, 25,000 pounds of the toxic chemical manufactured or processed at the facility during the preceding calendar year.
(b)  The administrator may establish a threshold amount for a toxic chemical different from the amount established under Subsection (a).
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.

Sec. 370.005.  USE OF AVAILABLE DATA.  (a)  To provide the information required on the toxic chemical release form, the owner or operator of a facility may use:
(1)  readily available data, including monitoring data, collected under other law;  or
(2)  reasonable estimates of the amounts involved if data under Subdivision (1) are not readily available.
(b)  This section does not require monitoring or measurement of the quantities, concentration, or frequency of a toxic chemical released into the environment beyond the monitoring and measurement required under other law or regulation.
(c)  To ensure consistency, data must be expressed in common units, as designated by the administrator.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.

Sec. 370.006.  PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE FORM.  (a)  A toxic chemical release form required under this chapter is intended to provide information to the public, including federal, state, and local governments and citizens of the communities surrounding a facility covered under Section 370.003.
(b)  A toxic chemical release form shall be made available in a manner consistent with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.) and Chapter 552, Government Code.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(88), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.

Sec. 370.007.  TOXIC CHEMICAL RELEASE REPORTING FUNDS.  (a)  Toxic chemical release reporting funds consist of money collected by the commission from:
(1)  fees imposed on owners and operators of facilities required to submit a toxic chemical release form;  and
(2)  penalties imposed under this chapter.
(b)  The commission may use the money collected under this chapter to pay for:
(1)  costs incurred by the commission in implementing this chapter;  and
(2)  other commission activities necessary to implement the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. Section 11001 et seq.).
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 564, Sec. 1.06, eff. June 11, 1993;  Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 746, Sec. 8, eff. Aug. 30, 1993.

Sec. 370.008.  DISPOSITION OF FEES.  (a)  The owner or operator of a facility required to submit a toxic chemical release form under this chapter shall pay, at the time of the submission, a fee of $25 for each toxic chemical release form submitted.
(b)  The maximum fee for a facility may not exceed $250.
(c)  The commission by rule may increase or decrease the toxic chemical release form reporting fee as necessary.
(d)  Fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the waste management account.
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 132, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 564, Sec. 1.06, eff. June 11, 1993;  Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 746, Sec. 8, eff. Aug. 30, 1993;  Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 333, Sec. 63, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.