Texas Water Code 26.302 – Regulation of Poultry Facilities
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(a) A person who owns or operates a poultry facility shall ensure that the facility has adequate means or is adequately equipped to handle and dispose of poultry carcasses, poultry litter, and other poultry waste regardless of whether the person owns the poultry.
(b) A person who owns or operates a poultry facility shall implement and maintain a water quality management plan for the facility that is certified by the State Soil and Water Conservation Board under § 201.026, Agriculture Code.
Terms Used In Texas Water Code 26.302
- Board: means the Texas Water Development Board. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Commission: means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Executive director: means the executive director of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Permit: means an order issued by the commission in accordance with the procedures prescribed in this chapter establishing the treatment which shall be given to wastes being discharged into or adjacent to any water in the state to preserve and enhance the quality of the water and specifying the conditions under which the discharge may be made. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Person: means an individual, association, partnership, corporation, municipality, state or federal agency, or an agent or employee thereof. See Texas Water Code 26.001
- Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(b-1) The State Soil and Water Conservation Board may certify a water quality management plan for a poultry facility that:
(1) does not use a liquid waste handling system; and
(2) is required to obtain a permit or other authorization from the commission.
(b-2) The State Soil and Water Conservation Board in consultation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality by rule shall establish criteria to determine the geographic, seasonal, and agronomic factors that the board will consider to determine whether a persistent nuisance odor condition is likely to occur when assessing the siting and construction of new poultry facilities.
(b-3) The State Soil and Water Conservation Board may not certify a water quality management plan for a poultry facility located less than one-half of one mile from a business, off-site permanently inhabited residence, or place of worship if the presence of the facility is likely to create a persistent odor nuisance for such neighbors, unless the poultry facility provides an odor control plan the executive director determines is sufficient to control odors. This subsection does not apply to:
(1) a revision of a previously certified and existing water quality management plan unless the revision is necessary because of an increase in poultry production of greater than 50 percent than the amount included in the existing certified water quality management plan for the facility; or
(2) any poultry facility located more than one-half of one mile from a surrounding business, permanently inhabited off-site residence, or place of worship established before the date of construction of the poultry facility.
(c) The commission may bring a cause of action to remedy or prevent a violation of this section.
(d) This section does not affect the authority of the commission to investigate or take enforcement action against an unauthorized discharge under § 26.121.