Summary

Texas is one of the most polluted states with companies releasing millions of pounds of known carcinogenic, reproductive and developmental toxicants into the air each year.

HB 30 taxes the release of these chemicals $100 per pound.

Background

Defining the Health Risks of Certain Chemicals

The bill specifies that a carcinogenic toxicant is a chemical determined by an "authoritative source"-- such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control, the International Agency for Research on Cancer or the National Toxicology Program-- to be cancer causing in humans or animals.

The chemicals specified in the bill as carcinogens are: acetaldehyde, benzene, 1,3 butadiene, chloroform, chloroethane,dichloromethane, formaldehyde, naphthalene, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene .

A developmental toxicant is a chemical determined by an "authoritative source"-- such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control or the National Toxicology Program-- to be an agent that impairs embryonic development in humans or animals.

In HB 30 these include: arsenic compounds, benzene, bromomethane, carbon disulfide, chloromethane, carbon disulfide, chloromethane, lead, lead compounds, 2-methoxyethanol, n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and toluene.

A reproductive toxicant is a chemical determined by an "authoritative source"-- such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Disease Control or the National Toxicology Program-- to be an agent that impairs reproductive abilities in humans or animals.

These chemicals include: benzene, cadmium compounds, carbon disulphide, 1,2-dibrmoethane, apichlorohydrin, 2-ethoxythanol, ethyleneoxide, lead, lead compounds and methoxyethanol.

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