Phelan Bill Lets Local Governments Turn Penalties Into Fleet Upgrades

The text as introduced · 279 words

89R15877 JRR-F

By: Phelan
H.B. No. 4400

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to supplemental environmental projects authorized by the

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 7.067, Water Code, is amended by adding

Subsections (d), (e), and (f) to read as follows:

(d) The commission may determine the types of projects that

may be approved as a supplemental environmental project. For a

respondent that is a local government, those types of projects must

include:

(1) purchasing, operating, or maintaining:

(A) alternative fuel vehicles, including

passenger cars, light trucks, heavy trucks, and buses; and

(B) alternative fuel heavy equipment, including

tractors, bulldozers, front-end loaders, and motor graders;

(2) constructing, operating, or maintaining

alternative fuel refueling infrastructure necessary to operate an

alternative fuel fleet; and

(3) providing energy efficiency upgrades to buildings

and facilities owned by the local government, including heating,

ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, and building envelope

upgrades.

(e) For a supplemental environmental project involving

alternative fuel vehicles, the commission:

(1) must allow the project to include:

(A) the entire cost of the vehicle; and

(B) any alternative fuel equipment or upgrades

involved; and

(2) may not limit the project to including only the

difference in cost between conventional fuel vehicles, equipment,

or upgrades and the alternative fuel counterparts.

(f) The commission:

(1) may not require a contract associated with a

supplemental environmental project to be for a term of less than

five years; and

(2) must allow a contract associated with a

supplemental environmental project to be renewable for periods of

at least five years.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.