A second aggregate operation control bill could gain traction in a state committee hearing this week.
Texas House Bill 5151, sponsored by State Rep. Terry Wilson (HD-20), would set a permanent limit on the distance of rock quarries and crushers from venues considered scenic, environmentally sensitive and recreational.
Wilson’s district, which includes Williamson County, is adjacent to State Rep. Ellen Troxclair’s (HD-19) district.
Troxclair’s district includes Burnet, Blanco and Gillespie counties and part of western Travis County. Texas House Bill 3482, sponsored by Troxclair, was detailed April 9 at the hearing conducted by the House Committee on Natural Resources in Austin.
That bill would withhold a permit pending testing and evidence that the operation would not pose a public safety hazard to nearby venues.
As of April 21, that bill had yet to make it out of committee.
Wilson filed his bill March 14, offering a more direct prohibition approach.
Wilson’s bill states that:“[C]rushing facilities are prohibited at any site that is located within: (1) four miles of a lake owned or operated by a Texas river authority, with a national fish hatchery; (2) four miles of the entrance of a state park operated by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department with a cavern dedicated in 1971 as a National Natural Landmark; and (3) two miles of a youth camp founded in 1975 and licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply to a site that was legally operating as a mine, quarry, or rock crushing facility on or before Jan. 1, 2025.
Burnet area residents who signed up to testify believe that failing to put the brakes on aggregate mining in certain location could have devastating results.
More specifically, a planned mining operation by Asphalt Inc., recently granted a permit by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, would be located within a few miles of a caverns, summer camp, Texas state park and federal fish hatchery.
“There is no telling what a rock crushing plant using loud, dangerous, underground blasting would do to damage the beautiful underground caverns,” said Burnet County resident Doug Golding in a statement. “Additionally, the director from Camp Longhorn has spoken about how young people, who horseback ride in the summer, would be terribly affected by the blasting from the plant.”
The hearing is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 24, in room E2.016 at the Texas Capitol, 11th and Congress Avenue, before the House Environmental Regulation Committee, according to the calendar.
“We want to pack the hearing with as many speakers as possible,” Golding said.
Each person who pre-registers will be allowed to speak for three minutes.
Visit texas.capitol.gov for more information.
