HBA-AMW C.S.H.B. 1027 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1027
By: Cook
Environmental Regulation
33/18/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, many properties in Texas known as brownfields are abandoned or
underused owing to the liability associated with contamination from old
industrial activity.  The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission
has undertaken initiatives to encourage the cleanup of these contaminated
properties, but many brownfields still exist in Texas.  C.S.H.B. 1027
provides for the cleanup of these contaminated sites through the use of
sales and use tax proceeds, the elimination of barriers discouraging the
use of property tax breaks for contaminated sites, and encouraging the use
of supplemental environmental projects. 

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. 1027 amends the Government, Tax, and Water codes and the
Development Corporation Act of 1979 to modify provisions regarding the
cleanup of contaminated property.  The bill authorizes the Texas Department
of Economic Development, with the assistance of the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC),  to encourage the cleanup of contaminated
property by certain industrial development corporations through the use of
sales and use tax proceeds. 

The bill amends the Government Code to require the General Services
Commission and state agencies to give preference to goods produced at a
facility located on property for which the owner has received a certificate
of completion for successfully completing a voluntary cleanup, if the goods
meet state specifications regarding quantity, quality, delivery, life cycle
costs, and price.  For the purposes of determining the average rate of
unemployment in an area of pervasive poverty, unemployment, and economic
distress, the bill specifies that individuals who are employed by a
business and whose principal place of employment is on property for which
the business has received a certificate of completion for successfully
completing a voluntary cleanup are not considered. 

C.S.H.B. 1027 amends the Tax Code to delete real property the value of
which is adversely affected by the release of a hazardous substance or
contaminant according to the two preceding appraisals by the appraisal
office from the list of criteria that determines the eligibility of a
property for certain municipal tax exemptions. 

The bill also amends the Water Code to authorize TNRCC to encourage the
cleanup of contaminated property through the use of supplemental
environmental projects. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.

 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 1027 modifies the original by authorizing, rather than requiring,
the Texas Department of Economic Development, with the assistance of the
Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), to encourage,
rather than promote, the cleanup of contaminated property by certain
industrial development corporations.  The substitute also modifies the
original by authorizing, rather than requiring, TNRCC to encourage the
cleanup of contaminated property through the use of supplemental
environmental projects.