SB561 - Relating to the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice within the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

  89R4421 KRM-F     By: Eckhardt, et al. S.B. No. 561       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the creation of the Office of Environmental Justice   within the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended by adding   Subchapter G-1 to read as follows:   SUBCHAPTER G-1. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE           Sec. 5.291.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:                 (1)     "Environmental justice community" means a United   States census block group, as determined in accordance with the   most recent United States census, for which:                         (A)     30 percent or more of the   noninstitutionalized population consists of persons who have an   income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; or                         (B)     50 percent or more of the population consists   of members of racial minority or ethnic minority groups.                 (2)     "Office" means the Office of Environmental   Justice.                 (3)     "Permit" has the meaning assigned by Section   5.752. The term includes an original permit, permit renewal, or   permit amendment.                 (4)     "Permitted facility" means a facility required to   obtain a permit under:                       (A)  Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code;                       (B)  Chapter 382, Health and Safety Code; or                       (C)  Chapter 26 or 27 of this code.           Sec.   5.292.     CREATION AND GENERAL RESPONSIBILITY OF OFFICE   OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. The Office of Environmental Justice is   created within the commission to protect the public health, general   welfare, and physical property of environmental justice   communities in regard to the issuance of permits.           Sec.   5.293.     RECOMMENDATION ON PERMIT. (a) In this section,   "affected environmental justice community" means an environmental   justice community within three miles of a proposed or existing   permitted facility.           (b)     This section applies only to an application for a permit   related to a proposed or existing permitted facility located within   three miles of an environmental justice community.           (c)     The office shall provide a recommendation to the   commission on whether a permit should be issued. In making the   recommendation, the office shall consider:                 (1)     whether the cumulative effects of pollution from   the proposed permitted facility or change to an existing facility   on the affected environmental justice community exceed the   statewide average; and                 (2)     any existing or anticipated vulnerabilities in the   affected environmental justice community, including:                       (A)     existing pollution levels in the affected   environmental justice community and exposure of the residents of   that community to those pollutants;                       (B)     limited access to health care by residents of   the affected environmental justice community;                       (C)     health factors of the residents of the   affected environmental justice community, including the prevalence   of:                             (i)     asthma and other respiratory diseases;   and                             (ii)  cancer; and                       (D)     proximity of the proposed permitted facility   to locations where children and elderly and medically vulnerable   people commonly gather, including:                             (i)  single or multifamily residences;                             (ii)  schools;                             (iii)  places of worship;                             (iv)  day-care centers; and                             (v)  hospitals or other medical facilities.           (d)     The office shall provide the recommendation described   by this section not later than the seventh day after the last day of   the public comment period applicable to the permit.           Sec.   5.294.     CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION BY COMMISSION.   In addition to other factors required by law, the commission shall   consider the recommendation of the office in making a determination   about whether to issue a permit to which Section 5.293 applies.           Sec.   5.295.     STAFF; OUTSIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT. (a) The   office shall be adequately staffed to carry out its functions under   this subchapter.           (b)     The office may obtain and use outside technical support   to carry out its functions under this subchapter.          SECTION 2.  (a) Section 5.293, Water Code, as added by this   Act, applies only to an application for a permit, permit renewal, or   permit amendment submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental   Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. An application   for a permit, permit renewal, or permit amendment submitted to the   Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before the effective date   of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the   application was submitted, and the former law is continued in   effect for that purpose.          (b)  The Office of Environmental Justice within the Texas   Commission on Environmental Quality, as created by this Act, is not   required to issue a recommendation under Section 5.293, Water Code,   as added by this Act, before January 1, 2026.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.