By: Hegar S.B. No. 1290
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2011; March 16, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
April 18, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 18, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1290 By: Hegar
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Calhoun County Groundwater
Conservation District; providing authority to issue bonds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8860 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8860. CALHOUN COUNTY GROUNDWATER
CONSERVATION DISTRICT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8860.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the board of directors of the
district.
(2) "Director" means a board member.
(3) "District" means the Calhoun County Groundwater
Conservation District.
Sec. 8860.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
groundwater conservation district in Calhoun County created under
and essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article
XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8860.003. CONFIRMATION ELECTION REQUIRED. If the
creation of the district is not confirmed at a confirmation
election held under Section 8860.022 before December 31, 2016:
(1) the district is dissolved on December 31, 2016,
except that the district shall:
(A) pay any debts incurred;
(B) transfer to Calhoun County any assets that
remain after the payment of debts; and
(C) maintain the organization of the district
until all debts are paid and remaining assets are transferred; and
(2) this chapter expires September 1, 2018.
Sec. 8860.004. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. (a) The
organization of the district is feasible and practicable.
(b) All land in and residents of the district will benefit
from the creation of the district.
(c) The creation of the district is a public necessity and
will provide a public benefit.
Sec. 8860.005. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. The initial
boundaries of the district are coextensive with the boundaries of
Calhoun County.
[Sections 8860.006-8860.020 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER A-1. TEMPORARY PROVISIONS
Sec. 8860.021. APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS.
(a) Not later than September 11, 2011, the Calhoun County
Commissioners Court shall appoint five temporary directors as
follows:
(1) one temporary director from each of the four
commissioners precincts in the county to represent the precincts in
which the temporary directors reside; and
(2) one temporary director who resides in the district
to represent the district at large.
(b) If a temporary director fails to qualify for office or a
vacancy occurs on the temporary board, the remaining temporary
directors shall appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy. If
at any time there are fewer than three qualified temporary
directors, the Calhoun County Commissioners Court shall appoint the
necessary number of persons to fill all vacancies on the board.
(c) The temporary directors shall select from among
themselves a president, a vice president, and a secretary.
(d) Temporary directors serve until the earlier of:
(1) the date the creation of the district is confirmed
at an election held under Section 8860.022; or
(2) September 1, 2015.
(e) If the creation of the district has not been confirmed
under Section 8860.022 and the terms of the temporary directors
have expired, successor temporary directors shall be appointed in
the manner provided by Subsection (a) to serve terms that expire on
the earliest of:
(1) the date the district's creation is confirmed at an
election held under Section 8860.022;
(2) the date the requirements of Section 8860.003(1)
are fulfilled; or
(3) September 1, 2018.
Sec. 8860.022. CONFIRMATION ELECTION. (a) Not later than
October 1, 2011, the temporary directors shall meet and shall order
an election to be held in the district not later than September 1,
2012, to confirm the creation of the district.
(b) The ballot for the election shall be printed to provide
for voting for or against the proposition: "The creation of the
Calhoun County Groundwater Conservation District and the
imposition of a fee to pay the maintenance and operating costs of
the district."
(c) The temporary board may include other propositions on
the ballot that the board considers necessary.
(d) Section 41.001(a), Election Code, does not apply to an
election held under this section.
(e) If a majority of the votes cast at the election are in
favor of confirming the district's creation, the temporary
directors shall declare the district created. If a majority of the
votes cast are not in favor of confirming the district's creation,
the district's creation is not confirmed. The temporary directors
shall file a copy of the election results with the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality.
(f) If the district's creation is not confirmed at an
election held under this section, the temporary directors may order
one or more subsequent elections to be held to confirm the creation
of the district not earlier than the first anniversary of the
preceding confirmation election. If the district's creation is not
confirmed at an election held under this section on or before
December 31, 2016, the district is dissolved in accordance with
Section 8860.003.
Sec. 8860.023. INITIAL DIRECTORS. (a) If the creation of
the district is confirmed at an election held under Section
8860.022, the temporary directors become the initial directors and
serve for the terms provided by Subsection (b).
(b) The initial directors representing commissioners
precincts 1 and 3 serve a term expiring on December 31 following the
expiration of two years after the date of the confirmation
election, and the initial directors representing commissioners
precincts 2 and 4 and the at-large director serve a term expiring on
December 31 following the expiration of four years after the date of
the confirmation election.
Sec. 8860.024. EXPIRATION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
expires September 1, 2018.
[Sections 8860.025-8860.050 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER B. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 8860.051. GOVERNING BODY; TERMS. (a) The district is
governed by a board of five elected directors.
(b) Directors serve staggered four-year terms, with two or
three directors' terms expiring December 31 of each even-numbered
year.
Sec. 8860.052. METHOD OF ELECTING DIRECTORS: COMMISSIONERS
PRECINCTS. (a) The directors of the district are elected
according to the commissioners precinct method as provided by this
section.
(b) One director is elected by the voters of the entire
district, and one director is elected from each county
commissioners precinct by the voters of that precinct.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (e), to be eligible to
be a candidate for or to serve as director at large, a person must be
a registered voter in the district. To be a candidate for or to
serve as director from a county commissioners precinct, a person
must be a registered voter of that precinct.
(d) A person shall indicate on the application for a place
on the ballot:
(1) the precinct that the person seeks to represent;
or
(2) that the person seeks to represent the district at
large.
(e) When the boundaries of the county commissioners
precincts are redrawn after each federal decennial census to
reflect population changes, a director in office on the effective
date of the change, or a director elected or appointed before the
effective date of the change whose term of office begins on or after
the effective date of the change, shall serve in the precinct to
which elected or appointed even though the change in boundaries
places the director's residence outside the precinct for which the
director was elected or appointed.
Sec. 8860.053. ELECTION DATE. The district shall hold an
election to elect the appropriate number of directors on the
uniform election date prescribed by Section 41.001, Election Code,
in November of each even-numbered year.
Sec. 8860.054. VACANCIES. If a vacancy occurs on the board,
the remaining directors shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy
until the next regularly scheduled election of directors. If the
position is not scheduled to be filled at the election, the person
elected serves only for the remainder of the unexpired term.
Sec. 8860.055. COMPENSATION; EXPENSES. (a) A director is
not entitled to receive compensation for performing the duties of a
director.
(b) The board may authorize a director to receive
reimbursement for the director's reasonable expenses incurred
while engaging in activities on behalf of the district.
[Sections 8860.056-8860.100 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 8860.101. GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT POWERS
AND DUTIES. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the
district has the powers and duties provided by the general law of
this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code, applicable to
groundwater conservation districts created under Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8860.102. CERTAIN PERMIT DENIALS PROHIBITED. The
district may not deny the owner of a tract of land, or the owner's
lessee, who does not have a well equipped to produce more than
25,000 gallons each day on the tract, either a permit to drill a
well on the tract or the privilege to produce groundwater from the
tract, subject to district rules.
Sec. 8860.103. MITIGATION ASSISTANCE. In addition to the
authority granted by Chapter 36, Water Code, the district may
assist in the mediation between landowners regarding the loss of
existing groundwater supply of exempt domestic and livestock users
due to the groundwater pumping of others.
Sec. 8860.104. NO EMINENT DOMAIN POWER. The district may
not exercise the power of eminent domain.
[Sections 8860.105-8860.150 reserved for expansion]
SUBCHAPTER D. GENERAL FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8860.151. FEES. (a) The board by rule may impose a
reasonable fee on each well for which a permit is issued by the
district and that is not exempt from regulation by the district.
The fee may be based on:
(1) the size of column pipe used by the well; or
(2) the actual, authorized, or anticipated amount of
water to be withdrawn from the well.
(b) In addition to a fee imposed under Subsection (a), the
district may impose a reasonable fee or surcharge for an export fee
using one of the following methods:
(1) a fee negotiated between the district and the
transporter; or
(2) a combined production and export fee.
(c) Fees authorized by this section may be assessed annually
and may be used to fund the cost of district operations.
Sec. 8860.152. TAXES PROHIBITED. The district may not
impose a tax and does not have the authority granted by Sections
36.020 and 36.201-36.204, Water Code, relating to taxes.
SECTION 2. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor has submitted the notice and Act to the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor,
lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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