82R7474 JJT-D
By: Gutierrez H.B. No. 1487
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a study comparing the effects on retail water and sewer
utility service rates of acquiring by certain means additional
water for Bexar County retail water and sewer utility service
consumers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall conduct a study to determine the comparative projected
effects on the rates paid by retail water and sewer utility service
consumers in Bexar County for water utility services in Bexar
County if 40,000 acre-feet per year of additional water supplies
were made available to those consumers by:
(1) desalinization of groundwater from sources inside
the county;
(2) transportation by pipelines of surface water from
a source or sources located east of that county; and
(3) transportation by pipelines of surface water from
a source or sources located west of that county.
SECTION 2. In conducting the study, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality shall consider all likely costs to a Bexar
County retail water and sewer utility services provider of making
the specified amount of water available by each of the means
described by Section 1 of this Act, including costs related to
acquiring necessary permits, capital or maintenance costs for
infrastructure, state and federal taxes, and costs of acquiring and
transporting the water for consumers' use.
SECTION 3. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall consult with the Texas Water Development Board to the extent
that board may provide useful information, expertise, or resources
to further the study. The Texas Water Development Board shall
undertake to assist the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
regarding any request for assistance with the study, to the extent
the assistance is within the board's authority.
SECTION 4. Not later than December 1, 2012, the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality shall:
(1) publish the results of the study required by this
Act on the commission's publicly available Internet website; and
(2) deliver the results of the study required by this
Act to:
(A) the governor, the lieutenant governor, the
speaker of the house of representatives, and each committee of each
house of the legislature that has jurisdiction over water resources
or water utilities; and
(B) the Commissioners Court of Bexar County.
SECTION 5. 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, 2011.