Texas Water Code 26.266 – Removal of Spill or Discharge
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(a) Any owner, operator, demise charterer, or person in charge of a vessel or of any on-shore facility or off-shore facility shall immediately undertake all reasonable actions to abate and remove the discharge or spill subject to applicable federal and state requirements, and subject to the control of the federal on-scene coordinator.
(b) In the event that the responsible person is unwilling or in the opinion of the executive director is unable to remove the discharge or spill, or the removal operation of the responsible person is inadequate, the commission may undertake the removal of the discharge or spill and may retain agents for these purposes who shall operate under the direction of the executive director.
Terms Used In Texas Water Code 26.266
- Account: means the Texas spill response account. See Texas Water Code 26.263
- Commission: means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Discharge or spill: means an act or omission by which hazardous substances in harmful quantities are spilled, leaked, pumped, poured, emitted, entered, or dumped onto or into waters in this state or by which those substances are deposited where, unless controlled or removed, they may drain, seep, run, or otherwise enter water in this state. See Texas Water Code 26.263
- Executive director: means the executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Hazardous substance: means any substance designated as such by the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (42 U. See Texas Water Code 26.263
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: includes an individual, firm, corporation, association, and partnership. See Texas Water Code 26.263
- responsible person: means :
(A) the owner, operator, or demise charterer of a vessel from which a spill emanates;
(B) the owner or operator of a facility from which a spill emanates;
(C) any other person who causes, suffers, allows, or permits a spill or discharge. See Texas Water Code 26.263
(c) Any discharge or spill of a hazardous substance, the source of which is unknown, occurring in or having a potentially harmful effect on waters in this state or in waters beyond the jurisdiction of this state and which may reasonably be expected to enter waters in this state may be removed by or under the direction of the executive director. Any expense involved in the removal of an unexplained discharge pursuant to this subsection shall be paid, on the commission’s approval, from the account, subject to the authority of the commission to seek reimbursement from an agency of the federal government, and from the responsible person if the identity of that person is discovered.
(d) Deleted by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 99, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.