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Texas · Through 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025

Tex. Health and Safety Code § 364.020: DEPOSIT OF CERTAIN FOOD WASTE FOR COMPOSTING IN CERTAIN COUNTIES PROHIBITED.

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE
  2. TITLE 5. SANITATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
  3. SUBTITLE B. SOLID WASTE, TOXIC CHEMICALS, SEWAGE, LITTER, AND WATER
  4. CHAPTER 364. COUNTY SOLID WASTE
  5. SUBCHAPTER B. COUNTY SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

(a) In this section:

(1) "Commercial food waste composting ordinance" means a municipal ordinance that requires a multifamily residential property, a business holding a food permit, or another business owner to divert food waste from disposal in a landfill.

(2) "Composting facility" means a facility that composts source-separated yard trimmings, clean wood material, vegetative material, paper, manure, meat, fish, dead animal carcasses, dairy materials, or meat and vegetable oils and greases from a municipal, commercial, or institutional source.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a person may not deposit at a composting facility located in a county that does not contain a municipality with a commercial food waste composting ordinance food waste that is:

(1) collected for composting in a municipality that has a commercial food waste composting ordinance; and

(2) subject to such an ordinance.

(c) A person is liable for a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation of Subsection (b).

(d) The attorney general may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover the civil penalty imposed under this section.

(e) This section does not apply to:

(1) an agricultural operation as defined by Section 251.002, Agriculture Code;

(2) a composting facility located in a county described by Subsection (b) if the commissioners court of the county by resolution or order authorizes the deposit of food waste subject to a commercial food waste composting ordinance at the facility; or

(3) a composting facility that:

(A) is authorized to operate under a valid notification issued by the commission on or before January 1, 2025; and

(B) accepted food waste described by Subsection (b) before January 1, 2025.

Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1173 (S.B. 2078), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.

Collected 2026-08-27T01:47:17Z. Source file · JSON

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