Sec. 1101.152. NATURE OF VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE. (a) A disclosure is voluntary for purposes of this subchapter only if:

(1) the disclosure was made:

(A) promptly after knowledge of the information disclosed is obtained by the person making the disclosure; or

(B) not later than the 45th day after the acquisition closing date, if the violation was discovered during an audit conducted before the acquisition closing date by a person considering the acquisition of the regulated facility or operation;

(2) the disclosure was made in writing by certified mail to an agency that has regulatory authority with regard to the violation disclosed;

(3) an investigation of the violation was not initiated or the violation was not independently detected by an agency with enforcement jurisdiction before the disclosure was made using certified mail;

(4) the disclosure arises out of a voluntary environmental or health and safety audit;

(5) the person making the disclosure initiates an appropriate effort to achieve compliance, pursues that effort with due diligence, and corrects the noncompliance within a reasonable time;

(6) the person making the disclosure cooperates with the appropriate agency in connection with an investigation of the issues identified in the disclosure; and

(7) the violation did not result in:

(A) injury or imminent and substantial risk of serious injury to one or more persons at the site; or

(B) off-site substantial actual harm or imminent and substantial risk of harm to persons, property, or the environment.

(b) For a disclosure described by Subsection (a)(1)(B), the person making the disclosure must certify in the disclosure that before the acquisition closing date:

(1) the person was not responsible for the environmental, health, or safety compliance at the regulated facility or operation that is subject to the disclosure;

(2) the person did not have the largest ownership share of the seller;

(3) the seller did not have the largest ownership share of the person; and

(4) the person and the seller did not have a common corporate parent or a common majority interest owner.

(c) A disclosure is not voluntary for purposes of this subchapter if the disclosure is a report to a regulatory agency required solely by a specific condition of an enforcement order or decree.

Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 324 (S.B. 1488), Sec. 20.002(a), eff. September 1, 2017.