Title HS, Health and Safety Code

Sec. 1101.005. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER RECOGNIZED PRIVILEGES. This chapter does not limit, waive, or abrogate the scope or nature of any statutory or common law privilege, including the work product doctrine and the attorney-client privilege. Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch…

Sec. 1101.051. AUDIT REPORT. (a) An audit report is a report that includes each document and communication, other than those described by Section 1101.102, produced from an environmental or health and safety audit. (b) General components that may be contained in a completed audit…

Sec. 1101.052. PERIOD FOR COMPLETION OF AUDIT. (a) Unless an extension is approved by the governmental entity with regulatory authority over the regulated facility or operation based on reasonable grounds, an environmental or health and safety audit must be completed within a rea…

Sec. 1101.053. CONTINUATION OF AUDIT BEGUN BEFORE ACQUISITION CLOSING DATE. A person that begins an environmental or health and safety audit before becoming the owner of a regulated facility or operation may continue the audit after the acquisition closing date if the person give…

Sec. 1101.101. SCOPE OF PRIVILEGE. (a) An audit report is privileged as provided by this section. (b) Except as provided by Sections 1101.102, 1101.103, and 1101.104, any part of an audit report is privileged and is not admissible as evidence or subject to discovery in: (1) a civ…

Sec. 1101.102. NONPRIVILEGED MATERIALS. (a) The privilege established by Section 1101.101 does not apply to: (1) a document, communication, datum, or report or other information required by a regulatory agency to be collected, developed, maintained, or reported under a federal or…

Sec. 1101.103. EXCEPTION: WAIVER. (a) The privilege established by Section 1101.101 does not apply to the extent the privilege is expressly waived by the owner or operator who prepared the audit report or caused the report to be prepared. (b) Disclosure of an audit report or any …

Sec. 1101.104. EXCEPTION: DISCLOSURE REQUIRED BY COURT OR ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS OFFICIAL. (a) A court or administrative hearings official with competent jurisdiction may require disclosure of a portion of an audit report in a civil or administrative proceeding if the court or a…

Sec. 1101.105. REVIEW OF PRIVILEGED DOCUMENTS BY GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITY. (a) If an audit report is obtained, reviewed, or used in a criminal proceeding, the administrative or civil evidentiary privilege established by Section 1101.101 is not waived or eliminated for any other pur…

Sec. 1101.151. IMMUNITY FOR VIOLATION VOLUNTARILY DISCLOSED. Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter, a person who makes a voluntary disclosure of a violation of an environmental or health and safety law is immune from an administrative or civil penalty for the violation …

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 …

Sec. 1101.153. BURDEN OF PROOF WITH RESPECT TO VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE. (a) In a civil or administrative enforcement action brought against a person for a violation for which the person claims to have made a voluntary disclosure, the person claiming the immunity created by this subc…

Sec. 1101.154. NOTICE REQUIREMENT. (a) This section does not apply to an environmental or health and safety audit conducted before the acquisition closing date by a person considering the acquisition of the regulated facility or operation that is the subject of the audit. (b) To …

Sec. 1101.155. NOTICE REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN AUDITS BEGUN BEFORE ACQUISITION CLOSING DATE. (a) A person that begins an environmental or health and safety audit before becoming the owner of the regulated facility or operation that is the subject of the audit may continue the audi…

Sec. 1101.156. IDENTIFICATION OF VIOLATION IN COMPLIANCE HISTORY REPORT. A violation that has been voluntarily disclosed and to which immunity applies under this subchapter must be identified in a compliance history report as being voluntarily disclosed. Added by Acts 2017, 85th …

Sec. 1101.157. EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY: CERTAIN VIOLATIONS AND OFFENSES; IMPOSITION OF PENALTY; MITIGATING FACTORS. (a) The immunity established by this subchapter does not apply and an administrative or civil penalty may be imposed under applicable law if: (1) the person who made …

Sec. 1101.158. EXCEPTION TO IMMUNITY: VIOLATIONS THAT CONSTITUTE PATTERN OF DISREGARD OF ENVIRONMENTAL OR HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS. (a) The immunity established by this subchapter does not apply if a court or administrative law judge finds that the person claiming the immunity has,…