Bill Text: TX SB1746 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to financial assistance provided to political subdivisions by the Texas Water Development Board for nature-based water quality enhancement projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-26 - Referred to Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs [SB1746 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-SB1746-Introduced.html
By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 1746 | |
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relating to financial assistance provided to political | ||
subdivisions by the Texas Water Development Board for nature-based | ||
water quality enhancement 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, any | ||
additional state revolving fund established under this subchapter | ||
may be used to provide financial assistance for projects described | ||
by Section 17.280. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 17.001(10), Water Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(10) "Water quality enhancement" means the | ||
construction of treatment works or projects described by Section | ||
17.280 by political subdivisions with loans provided by water | ||
quality enhancement funds. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 17.271, Water Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 17.271. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to | ||
provide for making loans of water quality enhancement funds | ||
authorized by Article III, Sections 49-d-1, 49-d-2, 49-d-6, and | ||
49-d-7, of the Texas Constitution to political subdivisions of the | ||
state for water quality enhancement [ |
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SECTION 4. Section 17.272, Water Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 17.272. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. The board may use water | ||
quality enhancement funds to provide financial assistance to | ||
political subdivisions for purposes of water quality enhancement, | ||
including projects proposed under the water resource restoration | ||
program established under Section 17.280. | ||
SECTION 5. Section 17.274, Water Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subsection (b) to read as follows: | ||
(b) An application for financial assistance administered | ||
through the water resource restoration program established under | ||
Section 17.280 must include a copy of a resolution approving the | ||
proposed project adopted by the governing body of a municipality or | ||
special purpose district or the commissioners court of a county in | ||
which the proposed project is to be located. | ||
SECTION 6. Section 17.275, Water Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 17.275. CONSIDERATIONS IN PASSING ON APPLICATION. In | ||
passing on an application from a political subdivision for | ||
financial assistance for water quality enhancement purposes, the | ||
board shall consider: | ||
(1) the water quality needs of the waters into which | ||
effluent from the treatment works will be discharged, the benefit | ||
of the treatment works to such water quality needs, the | ||
relationship of the treatment works to the overall, statewide water | ||
quality needs; and the relationship of the treatment works to water | ||
quality planning for the state; | ||
(2) the availability of revenue to the political | ||
subdivision, from all sources, for the ultimate repayment of the | ||
cost of the treatment works, including interest; [ |
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(3) whether the political subdivision has been | ||
designated, pursuant to Section 26.082 of this code, to provide a | ||
regional system to serve all or part of the waste disposal needs of | ||
a defined area, the development of such systems being the declared | ||
policy of the legislature; and | ||
(4) whether the political subdivision proposes a | ||
project through the water resource restoration program established | ||
under Section 17.280. | ||
SECTION 7. Section 17.279, Water Code, is amended to read as | ||
follows: | ||
Sec. 17.279. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. If there is | ||
insufficient money available to fund all applications under this | ||
subchapter, the board shall give preference to applications for | ||
political subdivisions that: | ||
(1) the board finds cannot reasonably finance the | ||
treatment works without assistance from the state; | ||
(2) propose a project through the water resource | ||
restoration program established under Section 17.280 that provides | ||
a significant improvement to water quality in the relevant | ||
watershed; or | ||
(3) propose a project through the water resource | ||
restoration program established under Section 17.280 that affects | ||
a disadvantaged community, as determined by board rule. | ||
SECTION 8. Subchapter F, Chapter 17, Water Code, is amended | ||
by adding Section 17.280 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 17.280. WATER RESOURCE RESTORATION PROGRAM. (a) In | ||
this section: | ||
(1) "Program" means the water resource restoration | ||
program. | ||
(2) "Project" means nature-based infrastructure that | ||
will improve water quality in the political subdivision where the | ||
project is located and includes the acquisition of real property | ||
and the use of nature-based water treatment technologies. | ||
(b) The board shall establish and administer the water | ||
resource restoration program to assist in enhancing water quality | ||
in the state through the provision of financial assistance to | ||
political subdivisions for locally directed projects. | ||
(c) The board will create an option to bundle a water | ||
resource restoration project with a state revolving fund project | ||
so the total cost of both projects to the applicant will be no more | ||
than the cost of the state revolving fund project alone. | ||
(d) A proposed project must be compatible with the goals of | ||
the program and include the application of best management | ||
practices for the primary purpose of water quality protection and | ||
improvement. A proposed 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 removal and replacement of turf with 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 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 a consent decree. | ||
(f) A 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 adopt rules to establish a means of | ||
prioritizing projects in disadvantaged communities. The board | ||
shall include the following criteria to determine whether a | ||
political subdivision seeking financing under this section is a | ||
disadvantaged community: | ||
(1) median household income in the community as a | ||
percentage of statewide household income; | ||
(2) annual water and sewer rates as a percentage of | ||
median household income in the community; | ||
(3) families below the poverty level in the community | ||
as a percentage of the statewide number of families below the | ||
poverty level; | ||
(4) per capita outstanding debt of the wastewater | ||
system serving the community as a percentage of median household | ||
income in the community; and | ||
(5) cost-effectiveness calculated by determining | ||
construction costs of the proposed project per user. | ||
(h) An application for the financing of a 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 project. | ||
(i) The board shall adopt rules necessary for the | ||
implementation and administration of this section. | ||
SECTION 9. Not later than September 1, 2022, the Texas Water | ||
Development Board shall adopt rules necessary to implement Section | ||
17.280, Water Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |