By: Zwiener, Walle, Harris H.B. No. 2350
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to financial assistance provided to political
  subdivisions by the Texas Water Development Board for water
  resource restoration projects.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 15.604(b), Water Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The board shall adopt rules specifying the manner in
  which any additional state revolving fund hereafter established by
  the board, or any capitalization grant under the state water
  pollution control revolving fund, the safe drinking water revolving
  fund, or any additional state revolving fund, may be used to provide
  financial assistance to an eligible applicant for public works.
  Such rules shall require financial assistance to be provided for
  the purpose or purposes and on the terms authorized by the federal
  legislation or federal agency program under which the additional
  state revolving fund was established or the capitalization grant
  was awarded. To the extent not prohibited by board rule or federal
  law or regulation, the state water pollution control revolving fund
  established under this subchapter may be used to provide financial
  assistance for water resource restoration projects described by
  Section 15.619.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter J, Chapter 15, Water Code, is amended
  by adding Section 15.619 to read as follows:
         Sec. 15.619.  WATER RESOURCE RESTORATION PROJECTS. (a) In
  this section, "water resource restoration project" means
  nature-based infrastructure that will improve water quality in the
  political subdivision where the project is located and may include
  the acquisition of real property and the use of nature-based water
  treatment technologies.
         (b)  Based on demand, the board may provide financial
  assistance to a political subdivision for a locally directed and
  managed water resource restoration project if the political
  subdivision applicant will bear responsibility for implementation,
  stewardship, and maintenance of the project.
         (c)  Subject to Section 15.603(d) of this chapter and Section
  602(b)(11) of the federal act, the board shall establish a process
  by which a political subdivision may combine a project funded
  through the state water pollution control revolving fund that is
  not for a water resource restoration project with a water resource
  restoration project. The board may allocate available principal
  forgiveness for additional subsidization set-asides in the state
  water pollution control revolving fund for green projects, as those
  terms are defined by board rule, to the political subdivision to
  substantially enhance the financial viability of the water resource
  restoration project.
         (d)  A proposed water resource restoration project must
  enhance water quality in the state and include the application of
  best management practices for the primary purpose of water quality
  protection and improvement. To the extent permitted by federal law
  and regulation and United States Environmental Protection Agency
  guidance, a proposed water resource restoration project may
  include:
               (1)  the preservation or restoration of regional scale
  natural landscape features, including forests, floodplains, and
  wetlands;
               (2)  practices that reduce impervious cover in a
  watershed;
               (3)  practices that increase water infiltration and
  retention, including the use of bioretention, trees, green roofs,
  permeable pavements, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and
  cisterns;
               (4)  the implementation of green streets in public
  rights-of-way;
               (5)  the implementation of a comprehensive street tree
  or urban forestry program to manage stormwater and enhance tree
  health;
               (6)  the expanded use of tree box filters;
               (7)  stormwater collection and distribution systems,
  including cisterns, separate stormwater sewer systems, and
  downspout disconnection systems that use onsite stormwater
  management and remove stormwater from sewer systems;
               (8)  soil quality enhancement activities;
               (9)  the restoration of native grasses and vegetation
  that improve water infiltration;
               (10)  the establishment or restoration of permanent
  riparian buffers, floodplains, wetlands, and other natural
  features including vegetative buffers, grass swales, soft
  bioengineered stream banks, and stream daylighting;
               (11)  the management of wetlands to improve water
  quality and support water infiltration and retention; and
               (12)  sustainable landscaping to improve hydrologic
  processes.
         (e)  A proposed water resource restoration project may not
  include:
               (1)  passive recreation activities and trails
  including bike trails, playgrounds, athletic fields, picnic
  tables, and picnic grounds;
               (2)  non-permeable surface parking lots;
               (3)  stormwater ponds or dirt-lined detention basins
  that serve an extended or filtration function;
               (4)  in-line and end-of-pipe treatment systems that
  only filter or detain stormwater without the use of natural plants
  and trees;
               (5)  underground stormwater control and treatment
  devices, including hydrodynamic separators, baffle systems for
  grit, trash removal, and oil and grease separators;
               (6)  stormwater conveyance systems, including pipes
  and concrete channels, that are not soil or vegetation based;
               (7)  hardening, channelizing, dredging, or
  straightening streams or stream banks;
               (8)  street sweepers, sewer cleaners, and vacuum trucks
  unless they support nature-based infrastructure projects; and
               (9)  supplemental environmental projects required as a
  part of an agreed order or consent decree.
         (f)  A water resource restoration project may not include the
  acquisition of property, an interest in property, or improvements
  to property through the use of eminent domain.
         (g)  The board shall establish a means of prioritizing water
  resource restoration projects.
         (h)  An application for financial assistance for a water
  resource restoration project under this section must include a
  viability assessment that includes:
               (1)  the ability of the applicant to provide proper
  oversight and management through a certified operator; and
               (2)  the financial ability of the users to support the
  long-term maintenance of the water resource restoration project.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.