Bill Text: TX SB156 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the regulation and management of the use of groundwater and regulation of groundwater conservation districts.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-23 - Placed on General State Calendar [SB156 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB156-Engrossed.html
Bill Title: Relating to the regulation and management of the use of groundwater and regulation of groundwater conservation districts.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-23 - Placed on General State Calendar [SB156 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB156-Engrossed.html
By: Perry, Flores | S.B. No. 156 |
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relating to the regulation of groundwater conservation districts. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 36.066, Water Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (i) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(g) If the district prevails in any suit other than a suit in | ||
which it voluntarily intervenes, the district may seek and the | ||
court may [ |
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by Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for attorney's | ||
fees, costs for expert witnesses, and other costs incurred by the | ||
district before the court. The amount of the attorney's fees shall | ||
be fixed by the court. | ||
(i) Notwithstanding Section 36.052(a), Subsections (g) and | ||
(h) of this section prevail over any other special law inconsistent | ||
with those subsections unless the other law prohibits an award of | ||
attorney's fees or costs. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 36.1025 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 36.1025. PETITION TO CHANGE RULES. (a) A person with | ||
a real property interest in groundwater may petition the district | ||
where the property that gives rise to the real property interest is | ||
located to adopt a rule or modify a rule adopted under this chapter. | ||
(b) The district by rule shall prescribe the form for a | ||
petition submitted under this section and the procedure for the | ||
submission, consideration, and disposition of the petition. | ||
(c) Not later than the 90th day after the date the district | ||
receives the petition, the district shall: | ||
(1) deny the petition and provide an explanation for | ||
the denial; or | ||
(2) engage in rulemaking consistent with the granted | ||
petition. | ||
(d) Nothing in this section may be construed to create a | ||
private cause of action for a decision to accept or deny a petition | ||
filed under this section. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 36.1071, Water Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) The management plan, or any amendments to the plan, | ||
shall: | ||
(1) be developed using the district's best available | ||
data and forwarded to the regional water planning group for use in | ||
their planning process; and | ||
(2) include the: | ||
(A) most recently approved desired future | ||
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; and | ||
(B) amount of modeled available groundwater | ||
corresponding to the most recently approved desired future | ||
conditions. | ||
(b-1) A district shall amend a management plan before the | ||
second anniversary of the adoption of desired future conditions | ||
included under Subsection (b). | ||
(b-2) If a petition challenging the reasonableness of a | ||
desired future condition is filed under Section 36.1083(b), the | ||
executive administrator shall consider the management plan | ||
administratively complete if the district includes: | ||
(1) the most recently approved desired future | ||
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; | ||
(2) the amount of modeled available groundwater | ||
corresponding to the desired future conditions; | ||
(3) a statement of the status of the petition | ||
challenging the reasonableness of a desired future condition; and | ||
(4) the information required by Subsections (a) and | ||
(e). | ||
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 36.1141 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 36.1141. NOTICE REQUIRED FOR APPLICATION FOR PERMIT OR | ||
PERMIT AMENDMENT. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a | ||
district that has adopted rules regulating the spacing of wells | ||
under Section 36.116(a)(1) to require wells to be spaced a certain | ||
distance from other wells shall adopt rules requiring that notice | ||
of an application for a permit or permit amendment to drill a well | ||
or increase the production capacity of an existing well be provided | ||
to each landowner whose: | ||
(1) land is located wholly or partly within the | ||
spacing distances from other wells under the spacing rules of the | ||
district; and | ||
(2) right to obtain a permit or permit amendment for a | ||
well of a certain size or location under the spacing rules of the | ||
district will be affected if the district approves the application. | ||
(b) Notice is not required under Subsection (a): | ||
(1) for a replacement well to be drilled at or near the | ||
location of the well which it is intended to replace that has an | ||
equal or lesser production capacity than the well which it is | ||
intended to replace as determined by the rules of the district; | ||
(2) for an emergency well necessary to mitigate a loss | ||
of production capacity of an existing well as determined by the | ||
rules of the district; | ||
(3) if the notice is to be provided to the lessors of | ||
the right to produce groundwater from a property where the | ||
applicant for the permit or permit amendment is the lessee; or | ||
(4) if the district: | ||
(A) posts in a place readily accessible to the | ||
public at the district's main office a list of the applications | ||
described by Subsection (a) that includes the name of the applicant | ||
and address or approximate location of the well or proposed well; | ||
and | ||
(B) posts on the home page of the district's | ||
Internet website, if the district operates an Internet website: | ||
(i) a list described by Paragraph (A); or | ||
(ii) a link to a web application that | ||
includes the information included on a list described by Paragraph | ||
(A). | ||
SECTION 5. Section 36.066, Water Code, as amended by this | ||
Act, applies only to a suit involving a groundwater conservation | ||
district that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A | ||
suit filed before the effective date of this Act is subject to the | ||
law in effect on the date the suit is filed, and that law is | ||
continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 6. Not later than December 1, 2023, a groundwater | ||
conservation district shall adopt rules to implement Section | ||
36.1025, Water Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act applicable to | ||
a petition filed under Section 36.1083, Water Code, apply only to a | ||
petition filed under that section on or after the effective date of | ||
this Act. A petition filed before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect on the date the hearing was conducted, | ||
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 8. Section 36.1141, Water Code, as added by this | ||
Act, applies only to an application for a permit or permit amendment | ||
submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. An application | ||
submitted before the effective date of this Act is subject to the | ||
law in effect on the date the application is submitted, and that law | ||
is continued in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |