By: Rose (Senate Sponsor - Averitt) H.B. No. 4299
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 2009;
May 18, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources; May 23, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 23, 2009, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 4299 By: Averitt
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to rainwater harvesting and other water conservation
initiatives.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 59, Finance Code, is
amended by adding Section 59.012 to read as follows:
Sec. 59.012. LOANS FOR DEVELOPMENTS THAT USE HARVESTED
RAINWATER. Financial institutions may consider making loans for
developments that will use harvested rainwater as the sole source
of water supply.
SECTION 2. Section 447.004, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsection (c-3) to read as
follows:
(c-1) The procedural standards adopted under this section
must require that:
(1) on-site reclaimed system technologies, including
rainwater harvesting, condensate collection, or cooling tower blow
down, or a combination of those system technologies, for nonpotable
indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into the design
and construction of:
(A) [(1)] each new state building with a roof
measuring at least 10,000 square feet; and
(B) [(2)] any other new state building for which
the incorporation of such systems is feasible;
(2) rainwater harvesting system technology for
nonpotable indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into
the design and construction of each new state building with a roof
measuring at least 10,000 square feet that is located in an area of
this state in which the average annual rainfall is at least 20
inches; and
(3) at least 25 percent of the roof area of a building
described by Subdivision (2) be used for rainwater collection.
(c-3) The procedural standards required by Subsections
(c-1)(2) and (3) apply to a building described by Subsection
(c-1)(2) unless Subsection (c-2) applies or the state agency or
institution of higher education constructing the building provides
the state energy conservation office evidence that the amount of
rainwater that will be harvested from one or more existing
buildings at the same location is equivalent to the amount of
rainwater that could have been harvested from the new building had
rainwater harvesting system technology been incorporated into its
design and construction.
SECTION 3. Section 341.042(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The commission by rule shall provide that if a structure
is connected to a public water supply system and has a rainwater
harvesting system, [for indoor use:
[(1)] the structure must have appropriate
cross-connection safeguards[; and
[(2) the rainwater harvesting system may be used only
for nonpotable indoor purposes].
SECTION 4. Chapter 580, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 580.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 580.004. RAINWATER HARVESTING. (a) Each municipality
and county is encouraged to promote rainwater harvesting at
residential, commercial, and industrial facilities through
incentives such as the provision at a discount of rain barrels or
rebates for water storage facilities.
(b) Each municipality or county that has adopted impervious
cover or density restrictions shall consider the use in a
development of harvested rainwater as an on-site water supply
source in determining whether to grant the development a credit
against or exemption from the restrictions.
(c) The Texas Water Development Board shall ensure that
training on rainwater harvesting is available for the members of
the permitting staffs of municipalities and counties at least
quarterly. Members of the permitting staffs of counties and
municipalities are encouraged to receive the training. The Texas
Water Development Board may provide the training by seminars or by
videotape or functionally similar and widely available media
without cost.
(d) A municipality or county may not deny a building permit
solely because the facility will implement rainwater harvesting.
(e) Each school district is encouraged to implement
rainwater harvesting at facilities of the district.
SECTION 5. Section 202.007(d), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) This section does not:
(1) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and
materials, for or the location of a composting device[, rain
barrel, rain harvesting device, or any other appurtenance] if the
restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the
device [or appurtenance] on the property owner's property where
there is reasonably sufficient area to install the device [or
appurtenance];
(2) require a property owners' association to permit a
device [or appurtenance] described by Subdivision (1) to be
installed in or on property:
(A) owned by the property owners' association;
(B) owned in common by the members of the
property owners' association; or
(C) in an area other than the fenced yard or patio
of a property owner;
(3) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems,
including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic
purposes;
(4) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti; [or]
(5) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or
requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design
that promotes water conservation; or
(6) require a property owners' association to permit a
rain barrel or rainwater harvesting system to be installed in or on
property if:
(A) the property is:
(i) owned by the property owners'
association;
(ii) owned in common by the members of the
property owners' association; or
(iii) located between the front of the
property owner's home and the adjacent street; or
(B) the barrel or system:
(i) is of a color other than:
(a) the original manufacturer's
color; or
(b) a color consistent with the color
scheme of the property owner's home; or
(ii) displays any language or other content
that is not typically displayed by such a barrel or system as it is
manufactured.
SECTION 6. Section 1.003, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 1.003. PUBLIC POLICY. It is the public policy of the
state to provide for the conservation and development of the
state's natural resources, including:
(1) the control, storage, preservation, and
distribution of the state's storm and floodwaters and the waters of
its rivers and streams for irrigation, power, and other useful
purposes;
(2) the reclamation and irrigation of the state's
arid, semiarid, and other land needing irrigation;
(3) the reclamation and drainage of the state's
overflowed land and other land needing drainage;
(4) the conservation and development of its forest,
water, and hydroelectric power;
(5) the navigation of the state's inland and coastal
waters;
(6) the maintenance of a proper ecological environment
of the bays and estuaries of Texas and the health of related living
marine resources; [and]
(7) the voluntary stewardship of public and private
lands to benefit waters of the state; and
(8) the promotion of rainwater harvesting for potable
and nonpotable purposes at public and private facilities in this
state, including residential, commercial, and industrial
buildings.
SECTION 7. Section 16.0121, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (g) [Every five years],
a retail public utility providing potable water shall perform and
file with the board, every five years, a water audit computing the
utility's most recent annual system water loss.
(g) A retail public utility shall perform and file with the
board a water loss audit annually if the utility is receiving any
financial assistance from the board.
SECTION 8. If the 81st Legislature makes an appropriation
to the Texas Water Development Board to provide matching grants to
political subdivisions of this state for rainwater harvesting
demonstration projects, the board shall, not later than December 1,
2010, provide a report to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of
the house of representatives regarding the projects for which the
board has provided grants, including:
(1) a description of each project; and
(2) the amount of the grant provided for each project.
SECTION 9. This Act does not make an appropriation. A
provision of this Act that creates a new governmental program,
creates a new entitlement, or imposes a new duty on a governmental
entity is not mandatory during a fiscal period for which the
legislature has not made a specific appropriation to implement the
provision.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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