HBA-AMW H.B. 1896 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1896
By: Turner, Sylvester
Environmental Regulation
3/29/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to 1997, all criminal penalties for environmental offenses were
contained within each respective violation.  Legislation enacted by the
75th Legislature consolidated all criminal penalties for environmental
offenses in one specific section of statute.  However, there is no
delineation between misdemeanor and felony penalties under the current
statute.  The lack of a clear delineation between misdemeanor and felony
penalties has led to challenges to the district court's jurisdiction over
environmental offenses.  House Bill 1896 clarifies which environmental
penalty categories are misdemeanor violations and which categories are
felony violations.   

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

House Bill 1896 amends the Water code to clarify criminal penalties for
certain environmental offenses by specifying that for offenses with an
incarceration period of 30 days to one year the penalty is confinement in
jail and for offenses with an incarceration period from two years to 30
years the penalty is imprisonment in the institutional division of the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.