88R4617 JXC-D     By: Springer S.B. No. 471       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the imposition of a fee by the Texas Commission on   Environmental Quality for the investigation of certain complaints.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter E, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended   by adding Section 5.1774 to read as follows:          Sec. 5.1774.  FEES FOR MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS. (a)  The   commission shall charge a person who files a complaint a fee before   the commission investigates the complaint if, in the same calendar   year in which the complaint is filed, the person has filed at least   three complaints with the commission for which neither the   commission nor a local enforcement official took enforcement action   before closing the file on the complaint.          (b)  The commission by rule shall establish for each type of   complaint a fee amount to be charged under Subsection (a) that the   commission estimates is less than or equal to the cost to the   commission of investigating most complaints of that type.          (c)  The commission may waive the fee required by Subsection   (a) for good cause.          SECTION 2.  (a)  The Texas Commission on Environmental   Quality shall adopt the rules required by Section 5.1774, Water   Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the   effective date of this Act.          (b)  Section 5.1774, Water Code, as added by this Act,   applies only to a complaint filed on or after the effective date of   the rules adopted under that section.  The Texas Commission on   Environmental Quality may not consider a complaint filed before the   effective date of the rules for the purposes of determining whether   to charge a fee under Section 5.1774(a), Water Code, as added by   this Act.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.