BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3228

By: Lambert

State Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill's author has informed the committee that a company that was engaged to recycle wind turbine blades left a 30-acre graveyard of wind turbine blades in Sweetwater, Texas. H.B. 3228 seeks to strengthen landowner rights by ensuring that the costs for recycling and disposing of the components that make up wind and solar power facilities are included in the financial assurance that a project owner must obtain and deliver to the landowner when agreeing to lease terms.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 3228 amends the Utilities Code to require a wind power facility agreement or solar power facility agreement, as applicable, to provide that the grantee under the applicable agreement is responsible for the following:

·collecting and reusing or recycling, or shipping for reuse or recycling, all components of the wind power facility or solar power facility practicably capable of being reused or recycled, including the wind turbine blades or photovoltaic modules, as applicable, in accordance with any other applicable laws or regulations; and

·disposing of all components of the wind power facility or solar power facility not practicably capable of being reused or recycled, as follows:

oat a facility authorized under state and federal law to dispose of hazardous substances for a component considered hazardous under those laws; or

ofor nonhazardous components, at a municipal solid waste landfill or other appropriate waste disposal facility authorized under state and federal law to dispose of that type of component.

The bill defines "recycle" for purposes of wind power facility agreements and solar power facility agreements as the processing of an item to recover a usable product. The bill specifies, for purposes of wind power facility agreements, that any related components of a wind turbine, including a nacelle, a rotor hub, blades, and a gearbox assembly constitute a wind power facility.

H.B. 3228 expands the obligations for which a wind power facility agreement or solar power facility agreement, as applicable, is required to provide that a grantee under the applicable agreement must obtain and deliver to a landowner evidence of financial assurance to secure the performance of the grantee's obligation by changing those obligations from the obligation to remove the grantee's wind power facilities or solar power facilities located on the landowner's property as described by provisions relating to required agreement provisions to all obligations under those provisions. The bill includes the cost of recycling or disposing of all the components of the wind power facilities or solar power facilities among the estimated costs to which the minimum amount of the requisite financial assurance must be equal.

H.B. 3228 applies only to a wind or solar power facility agreement entered into on or after the bill's effective date. A wind or solar power facility agreement entered into before the bill's effective date is governed by the law as it existed immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.