The following is a compilation of the environmental related proposed rules in the March 11 through April 1 editions of the Texas Register. Click the links to the rules below for more information on how to submit public comment and meeting dates/times.
PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS – 16 TAC §25
- This amendment proposes a repeal of 16 TAC relating to Reporting Requirements and the Scarcity Pricing Mechanism in the ERCOT Power Region. The rulemaking would split the current chapter concerning the EROCT Power Region into three sections relating to: Resources Adequacy Reporting Requirements, Publication of Resources and Load Information, and Scarcity Pricing Mechanism. Additionally, the proposed rules would decouple the value of lost load from the system-wide offer cap and would require ERCOT to submit a biannual report on the operating reserve demand curve to the PUC.
TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
TEXAS SURFACE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS – 30 TAC §§307.2 – 307.4, 307.6, 307.7, 307.10
- The commission is proposing editorial revisions as well as substantive changes. Editorial revisions would be adopted to improve clarity, make grammatical corrections, and renumber or re-letter subdivisions as appropriate. Numerous revisions of toxic criteria are proposed to incorporate new data on toxicity effects. Other proposed revisions include a clarification regarding the prohibition of the discharge of visible pre-production plastic into surface water in the state and provide clarity regarding the use of temporary standards. Numerous revisions are also proposed for the uses and criteria of individual water bodies to incorporate new data and the results of recent UAAs.
The following has been compiled from TCEQ’s “What’s New in TCEQ Rules” webpage, which overviews recently proposed and adopted rules from the agency.
Proposed Rules:
SB 600: Dam Safety Updates (Rule Project No. 2021-027-299-CE)
The proposed rule of this section requires adoption of rulemaking written in Senate Bill (SB) 600, written by Senator Perry in the 87th Texas Legislature (2021), which adds the language that required river authorities submit information on their dams annually. It would include the creation of an internet website to contain the information. There are eight river authorities that meet the requirements of SB 600, and there are 79 dams owned by these river authorities. The following information is to be provided for each dam:
(1) Location of dam
(2) Jurisdiction over the dam
(3) Required maintenance schedule for the dam
(4) Costs of operation and maintenance
(5) Method of finance for operations and maintenance costs.
Anticipated Public comment period will be held on April 15, 2022, to May 17, 2022. The anticipated Adoption date will be held beginning of September 7, 2022.
The proposed rule would increase the number of subchapters in the Texas Administrative Code, to make enforceable the emission rates and stack parameters that attainment demonstration modeling show will model attainment by the compliance date (January 1, 2025). The rules, if adopted, will be submitted with the three-state implementation plan (SIP). Revisions are being proposed concurrently for the nonattainment areas designated in Howard, Hutchinson, and Navarro Counties.
Anticipated public comment period: April 15 – June 2, 2022 Anticipated adoption date: October 5, 2022
Triennial Revision of Texas Surface Water Quality Standards (Rule Project No. 2020-014-307-OW)
The proposed amendments to the code relate to the revisions of statewide toxic criterion and site-specific toxic criterion, descriptions of individual water bodies, additions of site-specific recreational uses for selecting water bodies, and revisions to clarify the prohibition of discharges of plastic in surface water. These will be substantive clarifications in all sections of the standards except for 30 TAC §§307.1, 307.5, 307.8, and 307.9. This would satisfy the provision in CWA, §303(c) that requires states to adopt water quality standards and to review and revise those standards from time to time, but at least once each three-year period.
Anticipated public comment period: March 13, 2022 – May 2, 2022 Anticipated adoption date: September 2022
Adopted Rules:
Consolidation of TPDES Program Regulations (Rule Project No. 2021-020-305-OW)
This adopted rulemaking will amend the listed subchapters and re-propose these rules within Chapter 305, Subchapter P except Chapter 308, Subchapters C and J which will not be re-proposed because these subchapters were determined to be obsolete. The rulemaking will also adopt by reference additional federal regulation by reference. If Chapter 308, Subchapters C and J are not repealed, these obsolete rules will remain in effect.
Anticipated effective date: April 21, 2022, Six-month Texas Register filing deadline: April 8, 2022
The adopted rule will repeal the listed subchapters, due to their lack of necessity in the current law and statue. TCEQ authorizes these discharges under either an individual permit or general permit which comply with all necessary NPDES requirements. These subchapters were determined to be obsolete during the 2019 Quadrennial Rule Reviews.
Anticipated effective date: April 21, 2022 Six-month Texas Register filing deadline: April 8, 2021
SB 604: Chapter 114 I/M Updates (Rule Project No. 2021-029-114-AI)
This adopted rulemaking will amend Chapter 114 to remove language requiring that the vehicle registration insignia sticker be affixed to the vehicle windshield, and to add language to allow for different forms of compliance. This rulemaking is necessary to implement applicable sections of Senate Bill (SB) 604, of the 86th Texas Legislature, and to ensure that program requirements are consistent between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, DMV, and DPS. Corresponding revisions to the State Implementation Plan (SIP) will be completed in a future SIP revision.
Anticipated effective date: 4/21/2022 Six-month Texas Register filing deadline: 06/03/2022