84R2493 JRR-F
 
  By: Pickett H.B. No. 1642
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the rights, remedies, and liability of certain owners
  and operators of environmentally contaminated property;
  authorizing a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 16.003(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Sections 16.010, 16.0031,
  16.0032, and 16.0045, a person must bring suit for trespass for
  injury to the estate or to the property of another, conversion of
  personal property, taking or detaining the personal property of
  another, personal injury, forcible entry and detainer, and forcible
  detainer not later than two years after the day the cause of action
  accrues.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 16, Civil Practice and
  Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 16.0032 to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 16.0032.  ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION OF PROPERTY. (a)
  In an action for trespass for injury to the estate or to the
  property of another resulting from environmental contamination,
  the cause of action accrues for purposes of Section 16.003 on the
  date that a final assessment report fully delineating and
  documenting the extent of the contamination in compliance with the
  requirements of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is
  sent by certified mail to the owner of the affected property.
         (b)  A person must bring suit for damages arising from an
  injury to property caused by environmental contamination
  originating from a source not located on or at the property not
  later than 10 years after the date notice of the contamination is
  reported in writing to both the Texas Commission on Environmental
  Quality and the owner of the affected property. 
         (c)  Subsection (b) is a statute of repose and is independent
  of any other limitations period.
         SECTION 3.  Section 361.752, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  On the request of the owner or operator, a court shall
  determine the amount of reasonable compensation under Subsection
  (c)(2) if the owner or operator and the responsible party are unable
  to agree on the compensation to be paid.
         SECTION 4.  Section 361.753, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  For purposes of Subsection (a), contamination
  originating from a pipeline transporting oil, gas, or other
  materials across the property does not make an applicant ineligible
  for a certificate unless the applicant is also the owner or operator
  of the pipeline.
         SECTION 5.  Section 361.754, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 361.754.  RIGHTS OF INNOCENT OWNER OR OPERATOR
  REGARDING CONTAMINATION FROM SOURCE NOT LOCATED ON OR AT PROPERTY.
  (a) An innocent owner or operator may apply to the commission for
  an order directing the responsible party to promptly remediate the
  contamination of the property. The application must be delivered
  to the commission by certified mail.
         (b)  The commission may charge an application fee in an
  amount not to exceed the cost of reviewing the application.  The
  commission shall deposit a fee collected under this subsection to
  the credit of the hazardous and solid waste remediation fee
  account.
         (c)  Not later than the 45th day after the date the
  commission receives the application, the commission shall notify
  the applicant whether the application is complete.
         (d)  Not later than the 90th day after the date the
  commission receives the application, the commission shall:
               (1)  grant or deny the application; or
               (2)  notify the applicant of any additional information
  needed to review the application.
         (e)  Not later than the 45th day after the date the
  commission receives the additional information requested under
  Subsection (d)(2), the commission shall grant or deny the
  application.
         (f)  On granting an application under this section, the
  commission shall identify the party responsible for the
  contamination and require the party responsible for the
  contamination to:
               (1)  develop a remediation plan and obtain the approval
  of the plan by the commission in writing not later than the third
  anniversary of the later of:
                     (A)  the date the responsible party is first
  identified by the commission; or 
                     (B)  the date the application is granted by the
  commission; 
               (2)  promptly begin remediating the contamination of
  the property following the approval of the remediation plan
  described by Subdivision (1); and 
               (3)  not later than the 15th anniversary of the date the
  responsible party is first identified by the commission, complete
  remediation of the contamination of the property at a level that
  achieves the most protective health standard established under the
  commission's risk-based remediation rules.
         (g)  The remediation standards and deadlines described by
  Subsection (f) may be revised by written agreement between the
  innocent owner or operator, the responsible party, and the
  commission. 
         (h)  If a remediation deadline described by Subsection (f) is
  not achieved, each responsible party identified by the commission
  shall file in the deed records of the county in which the affected
  property is located a notice of the long-term remediation
  activities at the site.
         (i)  The commission shall require each responsible party to
  immediately file a notice in the deed records of the county in which
  the affected property is located under Subsection (h) if:
               (1)  an innocent owner or operator of property that has
  been contaminated for more than 15 years, as of September 1, 2015,
  applies to the commission for remediation under Subsection (a); and
               (2)  remediation of the contamination of the property
  to achieve the most protective health standard established under
  the commission's risk-based remediation rules is not anticipated to
  be completed by the fifth anniversary of the date the application is
  submitted.
         (j)  This subchapter does not limit the right of an innocent
  owner or operator to pursue any other remedy available at law or in
  equity for conditions attributable to the release or migration of
  contaminants from a source or sources that are not located on or at
  the property.
         SECTION 6.  (a) Section 16.003, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 16.0032, Civil Practice
  and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a cause of
  action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A
  cause of action that accrues before the effective date of this Act
  is governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and
  that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (b)  Section 361.752, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies only to an agreement for reasonable access
  entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. An
  agreement for reasonable access entered into before the effective
  date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the agreement
  was entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that
  purpose.
         (c)  Section 361.753, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies only to an application to obtain a certificate
  confirming that the person is an innocent owner or operator
  submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An
  application submitted before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect when the application was submitted,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (d)  Section 361.754, Health and Safety Code, as amended by
  this Act, applies to an innocent owner or operator of property that
  has been contaminated from a source not located on or at the
  property regardless of whether the contamination occurred on,
  before, or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.