S.B. No. 313
AN ACT
relating to priority groundwater management areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 35.007, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The executive director and the executive administrator
shall meet periodically to identify, based on information gathered
by the commission and the Texas Water Development Board, those
areas of the state that are experiencing or that are expected to
experience, within the immediately following 50-year [25-year]
period, critical groundwater problems, including shortages of
surface water or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from
groundwater withdrawal, and contamination of groundwater supplies.
Not later than September 1, 2005, the commission, with assistance
and cooperation from the Texas Water Development Board, shall
complete the initial designation of priority groundwater
management areas across all major and minor aquifers of the state
for all areas that meet the criteria for that designation. The
studies may be prioritized considering information from the
regional planning process, information from the Texas Water
Development Board groundwater management areas and from
groundwater conservation districts, and any other information
available. After the initial designation of priority groundwater
management areas, the commission and the Texas Water Development
Board shall annually review the need for additional designations as
provided by this subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 35.008, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) The commission may adopt rules regarding:
(1) the creation of a district over all or part of a
priority groundwater management area that was designated as a
critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code, as that chapter existed
before September 1, 1997, or under other prior law; and
(2) the addition of all or part of the land in a
priority groundwater management area described by Subdivision (1)
to an existing district.
SECTION 3. Section 35.012, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 35.013, within [Within]
two years, but no sooner than 120 days, from the date on which the
commission issues an order under Section 35.008 designating a
priority groundwater management area, for those areas that are not
within a district, the commission shall[:
[(1)] create one or more new districts under Section
36.0151[;
[(2) recommend that the areas, or a portion of the
areas, be added to an existing district under Section 35.013; or
[(3) take any combination of the actions under
Subdivisions (1) and (2)].
(b-1) For purposes of this section, the commission may
consider territory in two separately designated priority
groundwater management areas to be in the same designated priority
groundwater management area if:
(1) the two areas share a common boundary and one or
more common aquifers; and
(2) the commission determines that a district composed
of territory in the two areas will result in more effective or
efficient groundwater management than other options available to
the commission.
SECTION 4. Section 35.013, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), and (h) and adding
Subsections (b-1) and (g-1) to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall submit a copy of the order to the
board of the district to which it is recommending the priority
groundwater management area be added. Not later than the 120th day
after the date of receiving the copy, the [The] board shall vote on
the addition of the priority groundwater management area to the
district and shall advise the commission of the outcome.
(b-1) If the district described by Subsection (b) has not
approved an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order
issued under Section 35.008 and the board of the district votes to
accept the addition of the priority groundwater management area to
the district, the board shall enter an order adding the territory in
the district.
(c) If the district described by Subsection (b) has approved
an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order issued under
Section 35.008 and the board votes to accept the addition of the
priority groundwater management area to the district, the board:
(1) shall enter an order adding the territory in the
district;
(2) may request the Texas AgriLife [Agricultural]
Extension Service, the commission, and the Texas Water Development
Board, with the cooperation and assistance of the Department of
Agriculture and other state agencies, to administer an educational
program to inform the residents of the status of the area's water
resources, the addition of territory to the district, and
[management] options for financing management of the groundwater
resources of the [including possible annexation into a] district;
(3) [(2)] shall call an election to be held not later
than the 270th day after the date of the board's vote under
Subsection (b) within the priority groundwater management area, or
portion of the priority groundwater management area, as delineated
by the commission to determine if the added area will assume a
proportional share of the debts or taxes of the district [priority
groundwater management area will be added to the district]; and
(4) [(3)] shall designate election precincts and
polling places for the elections in the order calling an election
under this subsection.
(e) The ballots for the election shall be printed to provide
for voting for or against the proposition: "The [inclusion of
_________________________ (briefly describe priority groundwater
management area) in the ______________ District. "If the district
has outstanding debts or taxes, the proposition shall include the
following language: "and] assumption by the ______ (briefly
describe the territory added under Subsection (c)(1)) [described
area] of a proportional share of the debts or taxes of the ______
District instead of the assessment of fees in the described area to
fund the groundwater management activities of the district."
(f) Immediately after the election, the presiding judge of
each polling place shall deliver the returns of the election to the
board, and the board shall canvass the returns for the election
within the priority groundwater management area and declare the
results. If a majority of the voters in the priority groundwater
management area voting on the proposition vote in favor of the
proposition, the board shall declare that the priority groundwater
management area assumes a proportional share of the debts or taxes
of [is added to] the district. If a majority of the voters in the
priority groundwater management area voting on the proposition do
not vote in favor of the proposition [against adding the priority
groundwater management area to the district], the board shall adopt
rules to implement Subsection (g-1) [declare that the priority
groundwater management area is not added to the district]. The
board shall file a copy of the election results with the commission.
(g) The [If the voters approve adding the priority
groundwater management area to the district, the] board of the
district to which the priority groundwater management area is added
shall provide reasonable representation on that board compatible
with the district's existing scheme of representation. Not later
than the 30th day after the date on which the board declares that
the priority groundwater management area is added to the district,
the board of the existing district shall appoint a person or persons
to represent the area until the next regularly scheduled election
or appointment of directors.
(g-1) If the voters do not approve the assumption of a
proportional share of the debts or taxes of a district under
Subsection (e), the board shall assess production fees in the added
territory based on the amount of water authorized by permit to be
withdrawn from a well or the amount actually withdrawn. A district
may use revenue generated for any purpose authorized by Section
36.206 or 36.207. Initial production fees may not exceed
production fees as set in Section 36.205(c), but may be increased by
the board on a majority vote after the first anniversary of the
commission order. Production fees may be raised incrementally by
40 percent and 10 percent every following year until the maximum
production fees equal:
(1) $2 per acre-foot, payable annually, for water used
for an agricultural purpose; or
(2) 30 cents per 1,000 gallons, payable annually, for
water used for any non-agricultural purpose.
(h) Not later than the first anniversary of the date on
which [If] the proposition is defeated, or [if] the board of the
existing district votes not to accept the addition of the area to
the district, [then] the commission shall, except as provided under
Subsection (i):
(1) [,] create under Section 36.0151 one or more
districts covering the priority groundwater management area; or
(2) recommend the area be added to another existing
district as provided by this section [not later than the first
anniversary of the date on which the proposition is defeated or the
board votes not to accept the area].
SECTION 5. Section 36.0151, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) to
read as follows:
(a) If the commission is required to create a district under
Section 35.012(b), it shall, without an evidentiary hearing, issue
an order creating the district and shall provide in its order that
temporary directors be appointed under Section 36.0161 [36.016] and
that an election be called by the temporary directors to authorize
the district to assess taxes and to elect permanent directors.
(c) The commission may amend the territory in an order
issued under Section 35.008 or this section to adjust for areas
that, in the time between when the order was issued under Section
35.008 and the order is issued under this section, have:
(1) been added to an existing district or created as a
separate district; or
(2) not been added to an existing district or created
as a separate district.
(d) In making a modification under Subsection (c), the
commission may recommend:
(1) creation of a new district in the area; or
(2) that the area be added to a different district.
(e) Except as provided by Section 35.013(h), a change in the
order under Subsection (c) does not affect a deadline under Section
35.012 or 35.013.
SECTION 6. Subsection (h), Section 36.0171, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(h) If the majority of the votes cast at the election are
against the levy of a maintenance tax, the district shall set
production [permit] fees in accordance with Section 35.013(g-1) to
pay for the district's regulation of groundwater in the district,
including fees based on the amount of water to be withdrawn from a
well.
SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply to
any territory in a priority groundwater management area that is not
included in a groundwater conservation district on the effective
date of this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2012, the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality shall create a district or add territory
to an existing district for any territory for which the commission
has issued an order recommending creation of a district or addition
of territory to an existing district under Section 35.008, Water
Code, before the effective date of this Act, unless the commission
determines that the territory is not suitable under Subsection (i),
Section 35.013, Water Code.
SECTION 8. All governmental acts and proceedings, including
the adoption of rules, of the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation
district over all or part of a priority groundwater management area
that was designated as a critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code,
as that chapter existed before September 1, 1997, or under other
prior law, are validated in all respects as of the dates on which
they occurred.
SECTION 9. Subsection (a), Section 35.007, Water Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a designation of a priority
groundwater management area made by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A
designation made before the effective date of this Act is governed
by the law in effect when the designation was made, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 313 passed the Senate on
March 22, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0;
May 5, 2011, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 17, 2011, House
granted request of the Senate; May 28, 2011, Senate adopted
Conference Committee Report by the following vote: Yeas 31,
Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 313 passed the House, with
amendments, on April 20, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, one present not voting; May 17, 2011, House granted request
of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
May 26, 2011, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor