| 1 | 1 | | 81R17211 SGA-D |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | By: Wentworth S.B. No. 2530 |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | relating to a study of the availability and sustainability of |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | groundwater in the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District; |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | providing funds for the study. |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Part 3, Article 3, Chapter 966, Acts of the 77th |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | 3.03121 to read as follows: |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 3.03121. STUDY OF GROUNDWATER AVAILABILITY AND |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | SUSTAINABILITY. (a) In this section "groundwater supplier" means a |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | water supply corporation or special district that: |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | (1) owns and operates a water well located in the Hays |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | Trinity Groundwater Conservation District that produces more than |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | 25,000 gallons of groundwater a day; and |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | (2) uses groundwater from the well to provide water to |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | the supplier's customers. |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | (b) The district shall conduct a study to determine the |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | quantity of groundwater available for use in the district and the |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | sustainability of the groundwater supply. |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | (c) Notwithstanding Section 3.0312(c) of this part, to |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | finance the study under this section, the district may charge a |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | groundwater conservation and management fee of $2 to be collected |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | monthly by each groundwater supplier from each of the supplier's |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | customers as provided by Subsection (d) of this section. |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | (d) If the district imposes the groundwater conservation |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | and management fee, a groundwater supplier shall include the fee as |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | an itemized charge on each customer's monthly billing statement |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | beginning with the billing statement for January 2010. |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | (e) The groundwater supplier shall remit the fees collected |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | under Subsection (d) of this section to the district. Fees |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | collected by the district under this section may be used by the |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | district only to finance the study of groundwater availability and |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | sustainability and not for any other purpose. |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (f) The district shall annually provide a report to the |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | Commissioners Court of Hays County showing the total amount of |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | groundwater conservation and management fees collected by the |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | district from each groundwater supplier and how the money was used. |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (g) If the district collects more than $100,000 in fees |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | under this section in a year, the district shall return the excess |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | amount to the groundwater suppliers in proportion to the amount of |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | the fees collected from each supplier. Each groundwater supplier |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | shall rebate the returned fees to the supplier's customers. |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (h) The district may not collect the groundwater |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | conservation and management fee for more than two years. |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (i) This section expires April 1, 2012. |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
|---|