| 1 | 1 | | By: Nichols S.B. No. 430 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (Christian) |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to written notice to a groundwater conservation district |
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| 8 | 8 | | of groundwater contamination. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 5.236, Water Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) If the executive director acquires information that |
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| 13 | 13 | | confirms that a potential public health hazard exists because |
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| 14 | 14 | | usable groundwater has been or is being contaminated, the executive |
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| 15 | 15 | | director, not later than the 30th day after the date on which the |
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| 16 | 16 | | executive director acquires the information confirming |
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| 17 | 17 | | contamination, shall give written notice of the contamination to |
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| 18 | 18 | | the following persons: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) the county judge and the county health officer, if |
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| 20 | 20 | | any, in each county in which the contamination has occurred or is |
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| 21 | 21 | | occurring; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) any person under the commission's jurisdiction who |
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| 23 | 23 | | is suspected of contributing to the contamination; [and] |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) any other state agency with jurisdiction over any |
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| 25 | 25 | | person who is suspected of contributing to the contamination; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (4) a groundwater conservation district, if the |
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| 27 | 27 | | contamination has occurred or is occurring in the jurisdiction of |
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| 28 | 28 | | the district. |
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| 29 | 29 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies only to groundwater |
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| 30 | 30 | | contamination about which the executive director of the Texas |
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| 31 | 31 | | Commission on Environmental Quality acquires information on or |
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| 32 | 32 | | after the effective date of this Act. Groundwater contamination |
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| 33 | 33 | | about which the executive director of the Texas Commission on |
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| 34 | 34 | | Environmental Quality acquires information before the effective |
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| 35 | 35 | | date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the |
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| 36 | 36 | | information is acquired, and the former law is continued in effect |
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| 37 | 37 | | for that purpose. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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