82R939 SGA-F
By: Price H.B. No. 2166
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appeal to a district court of the desired future
conditions adopted for a groundwater management area.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 36.108(l) and (n), Water Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(l) A person with a legally defined interest in the
groundwater in the groundwater management area, a district in or
adjacent to the groundwater management area, or a regional water
planning group for a region in the groundwater management area may
file a petition in district court [with the development board]
appealing the [approval of the] desired future conditions of the
groundwater resources established and adopted under this section.
Costs for the appeal shall be set by the court hearing the appeal.
An appeal under this subsection is by trial de novo. A party to the
appeal may, on filing the requisite fee, demand a jury trial on any
issue of fact. [The petition must provide evidence that the
districts did not establish a reasonable desired future condition
of the groundwater resources in the groundwater management area.]
(n) If required by the court's order under Subsection (l) to
revise the desired future conditions, the [The] districts shall
meet to propose [prepare a] revised desired future conditions
[plan] in accordance with that order [development board
recommendations] and hold, after notice, at least one public
hearing on the proposed revision at a central location in the
groundwater management area. After consideration of all public
[and development board] comments, the districts shall adopt revised
desired future [revise the] conditions and shall submit the revised
conditions to the Texas Water Development Board [development board
for review].
SECTION 2. Sections 36.108(a) and (m), Water Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 3. Section 36.108(l), Water Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a petition filed in district court on or
after the effective date of this Act to appeal the desired future
conditions adopted for a groundwater management area. A petition
filed under Section 36.108(l), Water Code, before the effective
date of this Act and pending with the Texas Water Development Board
appealing the desired future conditions adopted for a groundwater
management area is subject to the law in effect on the date the
petition is filed, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 4. 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.