Texas Water Code 7.253 – Defenses Available to Person Responsible for Solid Waste Violations
(a) For purposes of an enforcement action initiated under this chapter, a person responsible for solid waste under § 361.271, Health and Safety Code, is liable for a violation of a statutory or regulatory prohibition against releasing or creating an imminent threat of releasing solid waste unless the person can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the release or threatened release was caused solely by an act or omission of a third person and that the defendant:
(1) exercised due care concerning the solid waste, considering the characteristics of the solid waste, in light of all relevant facts and circumstances; and
(2) took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of the third person and the consequences that could foreseeably result from those acts or omissions.
(b) The defense under Subsection (a) does not apply if the third person:
(1) is an employee or agent of the defendant; or
(2) has a direct or indirect contractual relationship with the defendant and the act or omission of the third person occurred in connection with the contractual relationship. The term “contractual relationship” includes land contracts, deeds, or other instruments transferring title or possession of real property.
Terms Used In Texas Water Code 7.253
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Escheat: Reversion of real or personal property to the state when 1) a person dies without leaving a will and has no heirs, or 2) when the property (such as a bank account) has been inactive for a certain period of time. Source: OCC
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- 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 corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Rule: includes regulation. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
(c) A defendant who enters into a contractual relationship as provided by Subsection (b)(2) is not liable under a statute or rule within the commission’s jurisdiction if:
(1) the sole contractual relationship is acceptance for rail carriage by a common carrier under a published tariff; or
(2) the defendant acquired the real property on which the facility requiring the remedial action is located after the disposal or placement of the hazardous substance on, in, or at the facility, and the defendant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that:
(A) the defendant exercised due care concerning the solid waste, considering the characteristics of the solid waste, in light of all relevant facts and circumstances; and
(B) the defendant took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions of the third person and the consequences that could foreseeably result from those acts or omissions; or
(C) at the time the defendant acquired the facility the defendant did not know and had no reason to know that a hazardous substance that is the subject of the release or threatened release was disposed of on, in, or at the facility;
(D) the defendant is a governmental entity that acquired the facility by escheat, by other involuntary transfer or acquisition, or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain; or
(E) the defendant acquired the facility by inheritance or bequest.
(d) To demonstrate the condition under Subsection (c)(2)(C), the defendant must have made, at the time of acquisition, appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to minimize liability. In deciding whether the defendant meets this condition, the court shall consider:
(1) any specialized knowledge or experience of the defendant;
(2) the relationship of the purchase price to the value of the property if the property were uncontaminated;
(3) commonly known or reasonably ascertainable information about the property;
(4) the obvious presence or likely presence of contamination of the property; and
(5) the defendant’s ability to detect the contamination by appropriate inspection.
(e) This section does not decrease the liability of a previous owner or operator of a facility who is liable under a statute or rule within the commission’s jurisdiction. If the defendant obtained actual knowledge of the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at a facility at the time the defendant owned the real property on which the facility is located and subsequently transferred ownership of the property to another person without disclosing that knowledge, the defendant is liable and a defense under this section is not available to the defendant.
(f) Subsections (c), (d), and (e) do not affect the liability, under a statute or rule within the commission’s jurisdiction, of a defendant who, by an act or omission, caused or contributed to the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance that is the subject of the action concerning the facility.