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.