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TCEQ to solicit public comment on proposed dairy-waste land-application rules, including emergency-conditions language
Summary
Commissioners approved publishing proposed amendments to 30 TAC to implement House Bill 692 that would allow emergency land application of dairy waste and exempt certain activities from permitting; they directed staff to solicit explicit comment on an emergency-conditions definition.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality voted Feb. 13 to publish proposed rule changes to 30 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 321 (and related sections) to implement House Bill 692 from the 88th Legislature and to solicit public comment on the inclusion of an emergency-conditions definition and restrictions.
The proposed rules would add provisions allowing, under emergency conditions, dairy operators to directly land-apply dairy waste on agricultural land not associated with an animal-feeding operation, to dispose of dairy waste in retention control structures including lagoons or playas, and to irrigate land application areas from those retention structures. The draft rule also would exempt such activities from certain permitting and notification requirements in 30 TAC Chapter 335 (as proposed by staff).
Staff said the emergency-conditions language arose from stakeholder discussions and from conditions experienced during COVID-19, Winter Storm Uri and similar events, when operators reported limited disposal options because product could not be brought to market. Some commissioners expressed concern that the bill text itself does not contain emergency-condition restrictions and asked staff to highlight the issue in the rule preamble and to seek comment; they also directed staff to reach out to the bill authors during the public-comment period.
The commission approved publication of the proposed rules and an associated hearing, adding an express solicitation for public comment on the emergency-conditions definition and restrictions. The commission set the rulemaking for notice and comment; further changes may follow after public input.
