Bill Text: TX HB819 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the definition of a public health nuisance; amending provisions subject to a criminal penalty.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2015-06-09 - Effective immediately [HB819 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB819-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 819

AN ACT
relating to the definition of a public health nuisance; amending
provisions subject to a criminal penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 341.011, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 341.011. NUISANCE. Each of the following is a public
health nuisance:
(1) a condition or place that is a breeding place for
flies and that is in a populous area;
(2) spoiled or diseased meats intended for human
consumption;
(3) a restaurant, food market, bakery, other place of
business, or vehicle in which food is prepared, packed, stored,
transported, sold, or served to the public and that is not
constantly maintained in a sanitary condition;
(4) a place, condition, or building controlled or
operated by a state or local government agency that is not
maintained in a sanitary condition;
(5) sewage, human excreta, wastewater, garbage, or
other organic wastes deposited, stored, discharged, or exposed in
such a way as to be a potential instrument or medium in disease
transmission to a person or between persons;
(6) a vehicle or container that is used to transport
garbage, human excreta, or other organic material and that is
defective and allows leakage or spilling of contents;
(7) a collection of water in which mosquitoes are
breeding in the limits of a municipality or a collection of water
that is a breeding area for [Culex quinquefasciatus] mosquitoes
that can transmit diseases regardless of the collection's location
other than a location or property where activities meeting the
definition of Section 11.002(12)(A), Water Code, occur;
(8) a condition that may be proven to injuriously
affect the public health and that may directly or indirectly result
from the operations of a bone boiling or fat rendering plant, tallow
or soap works, or other similar establishment;
(9) a place or condition harboring rats in a populous
area;
(10) the presence of ectoparasites, including
bedbugs, lice, and mites, suspected to be disease carriers in a
place in which sleeping accommodations are offered to the public;
(11) the maintenance of an open surface privy or an
overflowing septic tank so that the contents may be accessible to
flies; and
(12) an object, place, or condition that is a possible
and probable medium of disease transmission to or between humans.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 819 was passed by the House on April
13, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 819 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor