| (a) Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The executive director shall coordinate with TxDOT on the review of all permit applications for municipal solid waste (MSW) land disposal facilities existing or proposed within 1,000 feet of an interstate or primary highway to determine the need for screening or special operating requirements. When primary access to an MSW disposal facility is provided by state-maintained streets or highways, the executive director shall solicit recommendations from TxDOT regarding the adequacy and design capacity of such roadways to safely accommodate the additional volumes and weights of traffic generated or expected to be generated by the facility operation. (b) United States Army Corps of Engineers. The executive director shall coordinate the review of all permit applications for MSW disposal facilities with the appropriate district engineer to determine the need for a permit from the Corps of Engineers. (c) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The executive director shall coordinate the review of permit applications for all MSW land disposal facilities existing or proposed in the vicinity of airports with the appropriate airports' district office of the FAA (FAA Advisory Circular 150/5200.33A, "Hazardous Wildlife Attractants on or Near Airports," July 27, 2004). (d) Special districts. The Texas Health and Safety Code (THSC) applies to political subdivisions of the state to which the legislature has given waste handling authority for two or more counties. The relationship between the agency and any such waste handling authority will be similar to that between the agency and a county. (e) Regional planning agencies. The agency will provide educational, technical, and advisory assistance to the various councils of governments and regional planning commissions throughout the state. (f) Municipal governments. Municipalities may enforce the provisions of this chapter as provided for in the THSC and the Texas Water Code. The commission is committed to assisting municipal governments in an educational and advisory capacity. The commission is a necessary and indispensable party to any suit filed by a local government under the THSC and the Texas Water Code. (g) County governments. County governments may exercise the authority provided in THSC, Chapters 361, 363, and 364, regarding the management of solid waste including the enforcement of the requirements of the THSC and this chapter. The provisions of THSC, Chapters 361, 363, and 364, allow county governments to require and issue licenses authorizing and governing the operation and maintenance of facilities used for the storage, processing, or disposal of solid waste not in the territorial or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality. THSC, Chapters 361, 363, and 364, provide that no license for disposal of solid waste may be issued, renewed, or extended without the prior approval of the commission. Under Texas Water Code, Chapter 7, the commission is a necessary and indispensable party to any suit filed by a local government for the violation of any provision of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. If a permit is issued, renewed, or extended by the commission, the owner or operator of the facility does not need to obtain a separate license for the same facility from a county or from a political subdivision as defined in THSC, Chapters 361, 363, and 364. (h) Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). TPWD has jurisdiction over certain environmental issues that may be affected by MSW facilities including, but not limited to, endangered species and wetlands. The executive director will solicit comments from, and consider information provided by, TPWD. |
