Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1825 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	82R15804 SLB-F
2	2	By: Price H.B. No. 1825
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1825:
4	4	By: Larson C.S.H.B. No. 1825
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by
10	10	groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of
11	11	Administrative Hearings.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Sections 36.406(a) and (b), Water Code, are
14	14	amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) A hearing must be conducted by:
16	16	(1) a quorum of the board; [or]
17	17	(2) an individual to whom the board has delegated in
18	18	writing the responsibility to preside as a hearings examiner over
19	19	the hearing or matters related to the hearing; or
20	20	(3) the State Office of Administrative Hearings under
21	21	Section 36.416.
22	22	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 36.416,
23	23	the board president or the hearings examiner shall serve as the
24	24	presiding officer at the hearing.
25	25	SECTION 2. Section 36.416, Water Code, is amended to read as
26	26	follows:
27	27	Sec. 36.416. HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY STATE OFFICE OF
28	28	ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; RULES. (a) If a district contracts with
29	29	the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing,
30	30	the hearing shall be conducted as provided by Subchapters C, D, and
31	31	F, Chapter 2001, Government Code. The district may adopt rules for a
32	32	hearing conducted under this section that are consistent with the
33	33	procedural rules of the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
34	34	(b) If requested by the applicant or other party to a
35	35	contested case, a district shall contract with the State Office of
36	36	Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing. If the district
37	37	does not prescribe a deadline by rule, the applicant or other party
38	38	must request the hearing before the State Office of Administrative
39	39	Hearings not later than the 14th day before the date the evidentiary
40	40	hearing is scheduled to begin. The hearing must be held in Travis
41	41	County or at a location described by Section 36.403(c). The
42	42	district shall choose the location.
43	43	(c) The party requesting the hearing before the State Office
44	44	of Administrative Hearings shall pay all costs associated with the
45	45	contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an
46	46	amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing
47	47	begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund
48	48	any excess money to the paying party. All other costs may be
49	49	assessed as authorized by this chapter or district rules.
50	50	SECTION 3. Subchapter M, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
51	51	by adding Section 36.4165 to read as follows:
52	52	Sec. 36.4165. FINAL DECISION; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS. In
53	53	a proceeding for a permit application or amendment in which a
54	54	district has contracted with the State Office of Administrative
55	55	Hearings for a contested case hearing, the board has the authority
56	56	to make a final decision on consideration of a proposal for decision
57	57	issued by an administrative law judge consistent with Section
58	58	2001.058, Government Code.
59	59	SECTION 4. The heading to Section 36.418, Water Code, is
60	60	amended to read as follows:
61	61	Sec. 36.418. RULES; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS; APPLICABILITY
62	62	OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.
63	63	SECTION 5. Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended by
64	64	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
65	65	follows:
66	66	(b) Except as provided by this section and Sections
67	67	[Section] 36.416 and 36.4165, Chapter 2001, Government Code, does
68	68	not apply to a hearing under this subchapter.
69	69	(c) The district shall adopt rules to:
70	70	(1) establish a procedure for preliminary and
71	71	evidentiary hearings;
72	72	(2) allow the presiding officer, at a preliminary
73	73	hearing by the district and before a referral of the case to the
74	74	State Office of Administrative Hearings, to determine a party's
75	75	right to participate in a hearing according to Section
76	76	36.415(b)(2); and
77	77	(3) set a deadline for a party to file a request to
78	78	refer a contested case to the State Office of Administrative
79	79	Hearings under Section 36.416.
80	80	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
81	81	to a permit or permit amendment application determined to be
82	82	administratively complete on or after the effective date of this
83	83	Act. A permit or permit amendment application determined to be
84	84	administratively complete before the effective date of this Act is
85	85	governed by the law in effect at the time the application was
86	86	determined to be administratively complete, and the former law is
87	87	continued in effect for that purpose.
88	88	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
89	89	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
90	90	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
91	91	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
92	92	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.