| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral | Negative | Neutral |
Relating to the regulation, monitoring, and enforcement of matters under the jurisdiction of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; authorizing the assessment or increase of civil and administrative penalties.
The bill would have a positive, but indeterminate, fiscal impact to the state because revenue increases that would be realized from assessed civil penalties cannot be estimated.
HB 1820 would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to establish rules requiring more specific location requirements with latitude and longitude on reports for emission events. This bill also requires the commission to conduct a study on the efficacy of imposing a penalty of not less than $1 per pound of each excess or unauthorized pollutant released during an emission event.
This bill would triple the penalty for knowingly disclosing false information or failing to disclose a hazard as mandated by the Manufacturing Facility Community Right To Know Act or the Public Employer Community Right To Know Act if a first responder is injured by being exposed to hazardous materials at the site.
This bill would increase require daily penalties imposed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to be not less than $100 but not more than $50000. This bill would allow the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to increase an administrative penalty by as much as 50% of the maximum penalty if the violator has a track record of previous violations. This bill would require a penalty of not less than $200 but not more than $50000 if the violator has been previously shown in trial that they were assessed a penalty for violating Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rules. Penalties would be annually adjusted for inflation.
Texas Action opposes HB 1820 as this bill expands government beyond its proper role in violation of our limited government principle.