82R5476 SMH-D
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1148
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality to authorize certain injection wells that transect or
terminate in the Edwards Aquifer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 26.046(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) As used in this section, "Edwards Aquifer":
(1) means that portion of an arcuate belt of porous,
waterbearing limestones composed of the Comanche Peak, Edwards, and
Georgetown formations trending from west to east to northeast
through Kinney, Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, Kendall, Comal, and Hays
counties, respectively, and as defined in the most recent rules of
the commission for the protection of the quality of the potable
underground water in those counties; and
(2) does not include the saline portion of the Edwards
Aquifer as defined by Section 27.051(i).
SECTION 2. Subsection (h), Section 27.051, Water Code, as
added by Chapter 966 (S.B. 2), Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001, is redesignated as Subsection (i) and amended to
read as follows:
(i) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, the
[(h) The] commission may not authorize by rule or permit an
injection well that transects or terminates in the Edwards Aquifer.
The commission by rule may authorize injection of groundwater
withdrawn from the Edwards Aquifer, or injections of water derived
from other natural sources, including storm water, flood water, or
groundwater, through wells, improved sinkholes, or caves located in
karst topographic areas. The commission by rule may authorize the
injection of desalination concentrate in a well that transects or
terminates in the saline portion of the Edwards Aquifer. The
commission by rule may authorize the injection of fresh water in a
well that transects or terminates in the saline portion of the
Edwards Aquifer as part of an aquifer storage and recovery
facility. For purposes of this subsection:
(1)[,] "Edwards Aquifer" has the meaning assigned by
Section 26.046(a), except that the term includes the saline portion
of the Edwards Aquifer.
(2) "Fresh water" means water that contains a total
dissolved solids concentration of less than 1,000 milligrams per
liter and is otherwise suitable as a source of drinking water
supply.
(3) "Saline portion of the Edwards Aquifer" means the
part of the Edwards Aquifer that contains only groundwater with a
total dissolved solids concentration of at least 1,000 milligrams
per liter.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.