Bill Text: TX HB859 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the establishment of the Texas Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-12 - Filed [HB859 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB859-Introduced.html

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89R4555 CMO-F
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 859

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the Texas Environmental Justice
Advisory Council.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subtitle G, Title 5, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBTITLE G. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND JUSTICE
SECTION 2. Subtitle G, Title 5, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 428 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 428. TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY COUNCIL
Sec. 428.0101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(2) "Council" means the Texas Environmental Justice
Advisory Council.
(3) "Environmental justice" means the fair treatment
of people of all races, cultures, and incomes in the development,
adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental law and
policy.
(4) "Review board" means the Environmental Justice
Review Board.
Sec. 428.0102. TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ADVISORY
COUNCIL. The Texas Environmental Justice Advisory Council is
established to advise state agencies and local governments on
environmental justice issues.
Sec. 428.0103. MEMBERSHIP. (a) The council is composed of
eight members appointed as follows:
(1) one member appointed by the executive director of
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
(2) one member appointed by the executive commissioner
of the Health and Human Services Commission;
(3) one member appointed by the attorney general;
(4) one member appointed by the executive director of
the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;
(5) one member appointed by the commissioner of
agriculture;
(6) one member appointed by the executive director of
the Texas Department of Transportation;
(7) one member appointed by the commissioner of
education; and
(8) one member appointed by the governor.
(b) Members of the council serve two-year terms.
Sec. 428.0104. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE REVIEW BOARD. (a)
The Environmental Justice Review Board is established. The review
board is composed of 15 members appointed by the council as follows:
(1) five members from grassroots or faith-based
community organizations; and
(2) 10 members from public health, environmental, and
civil rights organizations, academia, large and small businesses,
local government officials, and organized labor.
(b) The review board shall meet at least four times a year
and select a presiding officer from its membership.
(c) The review board shall advise the council about issues
related to environmental justice and the action plans developed
under Section 428.0107.
Sec. 428.0105. STATE PROGRAM REVIEW. (a) The council shall
review each state agency and state program that serves to protect
the environment to evaluate the agency's or program's positive and
negative effects on environmental justice for affected people.
(b) Upon completing a review of a state agency or program
under Subsection (a), the council shall prepare a report
containing:
(1) the council's findings from the review; and
(2) legislative and policy recommendations to address
any environmental justice issues associated with the reviewed
agency or program.
(c) The council shall deliver a report prepared under this
section to the reviewed state agency or the state agency that
oversees the reviewed program, the governor, the lieutenant
governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives.
Sec. 428.0106. REPORT ON COMMISSION ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS.
(a) The council shall prepare a report that identifies each
facility that has applied or is applying for a permit issued by the
commission. For each facility, the report must:
(1) evaluate the facility's positive and negative
effects on environmental justice for affected people; and
(2) make recommendations for permit compliance,
enforcement, remediation, siting, and other strategies to address
identified instances of lacking environmental justice.
(b) The council shall revise the report prepared under this
section biennially and deliver the revised report to the
commissioner of the commission, the executive commissioner of the
Health and Human Services Commission, the governor, the lieutenant
governor, and the speaker of the house of representatives.
Sec. 428.0107. COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN. (a) Representatives
of a community that is experiencing unfair treatment in the
development, adoption, implementation, or enforcement of
environmental law or policy may petition the council to create a
community action plan.
(b) The council shall prescribe:
(1) the procedure for petitioning the council; and
(2) the content of the petition, which must include a
description of how the community is disproportionately affected by:
(A) environmental health risks; or
(B) the development, adoption, implementation,
or enforcement of law or policy affecting public health or the
environment.
(c) The council shall review the submitted petitions and
select communities for which the council shall develop an action
plan under Subsection (d). The council shall develop the community
selection criteria.
(d) The council, in cooperation with the review board, shall
develop an action plan for each community whose petition is
selected under Subsection (c). The council shall work with the
residents and local government officials of the community selected
in developing the action plan. The action plan must describe
clearly steps the community may take to improve existing and future
environmental justice for the community. In developing the action
plan for a community, the council shall:
(1) consider:
(A) the allocation of resources;
(B) the exercise of regulatory discretion; and
(C) new environmental standards and protections;
and
(2) specify:
(A) community deliverables;
(B) a time frame for implementation; and
(C) available financial and other resources to
implement the plan.
(e) The council shall present each action plan developed
under this section to the selected community and each relevant
state agency, recommending steps the community and state agency may
take to facilitate the action plan's implementation.
(f) The council shall monitor the implementation of each
action plan developed under this section.
Sec. 428.0108. RULES. The council may adopt rules
necessary to implement this chapter.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2026, the
appropriate appointing authorities shall appoint the members to the
Texas Environmental Justice Advisory Council as required by Section
428.0103, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act. The council
may not take action until a majority of the appointed members have
taken office.
(b) Not later than April 1, 2026, the Texas Environmental
Justice Advisory Council shall appoint the members to the
Environmental Justice Review Board as required by Section 428.0104,
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(c) Not later than June 1, 2026, the Texas Environmental
Justice Advisory Council shall begin accepting petitions under
Section 428.0107, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(d) Not later than December 1, 2026, the Texas Environmental
Justice Advisory Council shall complete the initial report required
under Section 428.0106, Health and Safety Code, as added by this
Act.
SECTION 4. 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, 2025.