| (a) Complaints and investigations.
(1) The executive director or his designated representatives
may enter a facility at reasonable times to conduct compliance inspections.
Advance notice is not required. It is a violation of this chapter
for a person to interfere with, deny, or delay an inspection or investigation
conducted by a commission representative.
(2) The executive director or his designated representative
shall investigate in a timely manner a complaint relating to an alleged
violation of the Manufacturing Facility Community Right-To-Know Act
(Texas Health and Safety Code (THSC), Chapter 505 (505 Act)), the
Public Employer Community Right-To-Know Act (THSC, Chapter 506 (506
Act)), the Nonmanufacturing Facilities Community Right-To-Know Act
(THSC, Chapter 507 (507 Act)) or this chapter. An inspection based
on a complaint is not limited to the specific allegations of the complaint.
A facility operator who refuses to allow such an investigation shall
be in violation of this chapter.
(3) The commission may find multiple violations by
a facility operator based on specific requirements of the 505 Act,
the 506 Act, the 507 Act or this chapter.
(4) Upon request from a representative of the executive
director, a facility operator shall make or allow photocopies of documents
to be made and permit the representative to take photographs to verify
the compliance status of the employer. Such requests may be made during
a compliance inspection or a follow-up request after an inspection.
(b) Enforcement.
(1) A facility operator may not violate the 505 Act,
the 506 Act, the 507 Act, commission rules, or an order issued by
the commission.
(2) The commission shall enforce the rules in this
chapter under Texas Water Code, Chapter 7, including by issuing an
administrative order that assesses a penalty or orders a corrective
action.
(c) Fees.
(1) Fees for Tier II Annual Reports and Tier II Initial
Reports are based on the number of hazardous or extremely hazardous
substances present at each facility.
(A) For a manufacturing facility:
(i) $100 for each facility having no more than 25 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances;
(ii) $200 for each facility having no more than 50
hazardous or extremely hazardous substances;
(iii) $300 for each facility having no more than 75
hazardous or extremely hazardous substances;
(iv) $400 for each facility having no more than 100
hazardous or extremely hazardous substances; or
(v) $500 for each facility having more than 100 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances.
(B) For a public employer facility:
(i) $50 for each facility having no more than 75 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances; or
(ii) $100 for each facility having more than 75 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances; and
(iii) Tier II Initial Reports for public employers
will not be charged a fee.
(C) For a nonmanufacturing facility:
(i) $50 for each facility having no more than 75 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances; or
(ii) $100 for each facility having more than 75 hazardous
or extremely hazardous substances.
(2) For the purpose of minimizing fees, the department
shall provide for consolidated submission fees for Tier II Reports
containing multiple facilities if:
(A) each of the consolidated facilities within the
Tier II Report contain fewer than 25 hazardous or extremely hazardous
substances;
(B) the Tier II Report is submitted by a single facility
operator; and
(C) the number of facilities within the Tier II Report
to be consolidated are:
(i) for manufacturing facilities, each two facilities;
or
(ii) for nonmanufacturing facilities, each three facilities;
or
(iii) for public employer facilities, each seven facilities.
(3) If a facility has multiple North American Industrial
Classification System codes that fall within both the manufacturing
and nonmanufacturing range, the facility will be considered a manufacturing
facility for fee assessing purposes.
(4) Fees will be invoiced by the commission and shall
be paid in accordance with Chapter 12 of this title (relating to Payment
of Fees).
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