The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article,
shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where
the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Landfill
means a controlled area of land on which solid waste is disposed.
Processing and disposal
means the discharging, depositing, injecting, dumping, spilling,
leaking, placing, collection, handling, transportation, storage, or
processing of solid waste, including the systematic control of the
activities of generation, source separation, treatment, composting,
recycling beneficial use, resource recovery, or land application.
Residence
means any structure designed and built for human residential
habitation and is connected to water and electrical utilities and
is actually inhabited by a human being.
Solid waste
means solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous waste
resulting from or incidental to municipal, community, commercial,
industrial, institutional, agricultural, mining, or recreational activities,
including sludge, garbage, rubbish, refuse, ashes, street cleaning,
dead animals, abandoned automobiles, and other discarded material.
The term "solid waste" does not include:
(1)
Solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material in irrigation return flows, or industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issued under V.T.C.A., Water Code ch.
26;
(2)
Soil, dirt, rock, sand, and other natural or manmade inert solid
materials used to fill land if the object of the fill is to make the
land suitable for the construction of surface improvements;
(3)
Waste materials that result from activities associated with
the exploration, development or production of oil or gas or geothermal
resources and other substances or material regulated by the state
railroad commission under V.T.C.A., Natural Resources Code § 91.101;
or
Solid waste processing and disposal facility
means land, structures, appurtenances, and other improvements
on land, used for management or disposal of solid waste, including
any incinerator, landfill, transfer station, or land application,
beneficial use, or composting site. The term "solid waste processing
and disposal facility" includes a publicly or privately owned solid
waste facility consisting of several processing, storage, or disposal
operational units such as one or more landfills, surface impoundments,
or a combination of units.
Transfer station
means a fixed facility used solely to facilitate the transfer
of solid waste from collection vehicles to long-haul vehicles for
transport to another solid waste processing and disposal facility
for further or final processing and disposal.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(1),
adopted 12/3/2015)
Processing and disposal of solid waste in areas not meeting
the requirements of this article is prohibited. This article does
not apply to:
(1) Areas
for which a pending application for a solid waste permit or other
solid waste authorization under V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code ch.
361 has been filed with and declared administratively complete by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) or its predecessor
agency;
(2) Areas
for which a solid waste permit or other solid waste authorization
under V.T.C.A., Health and Safety Code ch. 361 has been issued by
the TCEQ or any of its predecessor or successor agencies provided
that the permit or other authorization is effective and valid on the
effective date of the ordinance from which this article is derived;
(3) Areas
that do not require a permit for the collection, handling, storage,
processing, and disposal of industrial solid waste that is disposed
of within the boundaries of a tract of land that is:
a. Owned
or otherwise effectively controlled by the owners or operators of
the particular industrial plant, manufacturing plant, or mining operation
from which the waste results of is produced; and
b. Located
within 50 miles from the plant or operation that is the source of
the industrial solid waste.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(2),
adopted 12/3/2015)
Solid waste may be processed and disposed of at a facility,
including landfills and transfer stations, only if it is located at
least 2,640 feet from all:
(2) Rights-of-way
of an Interstate highway;
(3) Rights-of-way
of an U.S. highway;
(4) Rights-of-way
of a Texas highway;
(5) Rights-of-way
of a Texas Farm to Market road; and
(6) Public
or private water wells where the water is being used as a source for
potable water.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(3)(A),
adopted 12/3/2015)
Where this article requires solid waste to be processed and
disposed of at a certain distance from a residence, the distance shall
be measured from the edge of each individual unit in which solid waste
processing and disposal is to be permitted to the front door of the
residence.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(3)(B),
adopted 12/3/2015)
Where this article requires solid waste to be processed and
disposed of at a certain distance from the right-of-way of a road,
the distance shall be measured from the edge of each individual unit
in which solid waste processing and disposal is to be permitted to
the nearest edge of the right-of-way.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(3)(C),
adopted 12/3/2015)
Where this article requires solid waste to be processed and
disposed of at a certain distance from a public or private water well,
the distance shall be measured from the edge of each individual unit
in which solid waste processing and disposal is to be permitted to
the well head.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(3)(D),
adopted 12/3/2015)
The exemption from this article of any solid waste processing
and disposal facility, or the failure of this article to prohibit
processing and disposal of solid waste in any particular area of the
city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction does not constitute the
city's determination that either such a facility or the disposal and
processing of solid waste in such an area is an appropriate land use.
The city reserves the right to participate fully in administrative
and legal proceedings regarding such areas and facilities, including
but not limited to land use compatibility hearings under §331.60
Texas Administration Code, and to base its position in such proceedings
on the individual circumstances of the facility or area in question,
including but not limited to a position that a permit should be amended
or denied on the basis of land.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 2(4),
adopted 12/3/2015)
A violation of this article shall be a Class C misdemeanor and
the penalty for violating this article shall be a maximum fine of
$4,000.00 for an offense that occurs after the passage of the ordinance
from which this article is derived and each day a violation exists
shall be a separate offense. A violation of this article that occurs
in the extraterritorial jurisdiction is hereby found and determined
to be a public nuisance and the city attorney or his designee is authorized
to take all actions in equity or law to abate the nuisance.
(Ordinance 16-604-12, § 3,
adopted 12/3/2015)