Sec. 361.422. STATE SOURCE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING GOAL. (a) It is the state's goal to reduce by January 1, 1994, the amount of municipal solid waste disposed of in this state by at least 40 percent through source reduction and recycling.

(b) In this section, "total municipal solid waste stream" means the sum of the state's total municipal solid waste that is disposed of as solid waste, measured in tons, and the total number of tons of recyclable material that has been diverted or recovered from the total municipal solid waste and recycled.

(c) The commission shall establish rules and reporting requirements through which progress toward achieving the established source reduction and recycling goals can be measured. The rules may take into consideration those ongoing community source reduction and recycling programs where substantial progress has already been achieved. The commission may also establish a limit on the amount of credit that may be given to certain high-volume materials in measuring recycling progress.

(d) For the purpose of measuring progress toward the municipal solid waste reduction goal, the commission shall use the weight of the total municipal solid waste stream in 1991 as a baseline for comparison. To compute progress toward the municipal solid waste reduction goal for a year, the commission shall compare the total number of tons disposed in the year under comparison, either by landfilling or by other disposal methods, to the total number of tons disposed in the base year, adjusting for changes in population, tons of solid waste imported and exported, and other relevant changes between the baseline year and the comparison year.

(e) Before January 1, 1994, the commission shall determine whether the goal established in Subsection (a) is being achieved. If the commission finds that the goal is not being achieved, it shall convene an advisory task force consisting of representatives of the commission, local governments, the Municipal Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery Advisory Council, and the commercial solid waste disposal industry and may recommend to the legislature a phased-in ban on the disposal of yard waste in a landfill. The task force may recommend a plan to the legislature for implementing the ban after considering how the ban will:

(1) affect the state's disposal capacity;

(2) affect the economy of the state;

(3) affect local governments; and

(4) be accepted and adhered to by the citizens of the state.

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 303, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 4.02, eff. Oct. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.75, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 80, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.