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TCEQ grants contested-case hearings for Hayes Commons land-application permit; several individuals and local entities qualify as affected persons
Summary
TCEQ commissioners voted to grant multiple hearing requests and refer issues to SOAH for the Hayes Commons Development land-application permit (TLAP), citing proximity, groundwater concerns and procedural rules for affected-person status.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted to grant contested-case hearing requests and to refer issues to the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH) in the application by Hayes Commons Development Inc. for a Texas land-application permit (TLAP) that would authorize disposal of treated domestic wastewater up to a final phase daily average of 150,000 gallons per day.
The commission found several entities and individuals met the standard to be considered affected persons. The lead motion granted hearing requests from the City of Hays and the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, Save Our Springs Alliance, and a set of nearby residents: Candace Blake; Joel Thomas DePennen; Linda and Gerald McKnight; Darlene Starr; Michael Starr; and Charles Tuttle. The commission denied remaining hearing requests and denied certain requests for reconsideration.
The commission's referral to SOAH covers groundwater- and surface-water-protectiveness issues, public health and wildlife protections, TLAP-specific siting and irrigation-field adequacy, odor and nuisance controls, notice and unauthorized-discharge questions, floodplain siting and karst/geologic protection, and related monitoring requirements. The presiding commissioner stated the referral will not include a regionalization issue because the TLAP is not a discharge permit and Texas Water Code section 26.0282 applies to discharge permits.
The commissioners discussed the standard for associational standing for groups and noted that Save Our Springs identified members who would have standing in their own right. Several individual requesters were granted hearings due to their proximity to proposed land-application areas and the particular issues they raised in their hearing requests. A small number of other requesters were denied because they did not file timely comments or did not identify a personal justiciable interest that differentiated them from the general public.
The commission set a maximum hearing duration of 180 days from preliminary hearing to issuance of a proposal for decision and recommended referral to the commission's ADR program to run concurrently with SOAH scheduling where appropriate.
The motion to grant and refer carried by voice vote; the record shows commissioners supported the referral and the list of issues to be sent to SOAH.
