HBA-MPM S.B. 1447 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1447 By: Barrientos Environmental Regulation 5/4/1999 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, under Texas law, Councils of Government (councils) are required to conduct inventories of the location of landfills within their jurisdiction, located prior to state licensure of landfills, and to record the location on deed records with the county clerk, however, an exact survey of the landfill boundaries is often impossible because the landfills have been closed for some years, and the land over the landfills had been subdivided, subjecting the councils to liability for incorrectly identifying property as being located over a landfill. S.B. 1447 requires that notice to a landowner and a deed record identifying a former landfill are required only when the boundaries of a landfill are known, and maps be provided approximating the location of former landfills to county clerks, as well as municipal and county planning officials. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 363.064, Health and Safety Code, as follows: (a) Include the exact boundaries, rather than location, of each former landfill unit, or, if the exact boundaries are not known, the best approximation of each unit's boundaries and a map showing the approximate boundaries of each former landfill unit, if the exact boundaries are unknown, among that data required to be included in a regional or local solid waste management plan. Makes conforming changes. (b) Requires the council of governments (council) for an area in which a former landfill unit is located to notify the owner of the land that overlays the former landfill unit of the former use of the land and to notify the county clerk of the county or counties in which the former landfill unit is located, if the boundaries of a municipal solid waste unit that is no longer operating are known to be wholly on an identifiable tract. Deletes the qualification that the landfill unit is within the council's jurisdiction. Makes the notice requirements of this subsection inapplicable if the exact boundaries of a former landfill are unknown. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. (c) Requires a county clerk to record on the deed records of land formerly used as a municipal solid waste landfill a description of the exact boundaries of the former landfill unit, or, if the boundaries are unknown, the best approximation of each unit's boundaries, together with a legal description of the parcel or parcels of land in which the former landfill unit it located. Requires the clerk to make the records available for public inspection. Makes a nonsubstantive change. (d) Redesignated from existing Subsection (c). Makes no change. (e) Redesignated from existing Subsection (d). Requires each council to provide a copy of the inventory of municipal solid waste landfill units to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and to the chief planning official of each municipality and county in which a landfill is located. Requires TNRCC and the county to make the inventory available for public inspection. (f) Redesignated from existing Subsection (e). Makes no change. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.