By: Callegari, Creighton (Senate Sponsor - Duncan) H.B. No. 2063
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2009;
May 5, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources; May 13, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 13, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2063 By: Duncan
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of rules by a groundwater conservation
district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.102, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 36.102. ENFORCEMENT OF RULES. (a) A district may
enforce this chapter and its rules against any person by
injunction, mandatory injunction, or other appropriate remedy in a
court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) The board by rule may set reasonable civil penalties
against any person for breach of any rule of the district not to
exceed $10,000 per day per violation, and each day of a continuing
violation constitutes a separate violation.
(c) A penalty under this section is in addition to any other
penalty provided by the law of this state and may be enforced
against any person by complaints filed in the appropriate court of
jurisdiction in the county in which the district's principal office
or meeting place is located.
(d) If the district prevails in any suit to enforce its
rules, the district may seek and the court shall grant against any
person, 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.
(e) In an enforcement action by a district against any
person that is a governmental entity for a violation of district
rules, the limits on the amount of fees, costs, and penalties that a
district may impose under Section 36.122, 36.205, or this section,
or under a special law governing a district operating under this
chapter, constitute a limit of liability of the governmental entity
for the violation. This subsection shall not be construed to
prohibit the recovery by a district of fees and costs under
Subsection (d) in an action against any person that is a
governmental entity.
SECTION 2. Section 311.031(a), Government Code, applies to
the amendments by this Act to Section 36.102, Water Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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