Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB693 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Estes S.B. No. 693
2	2	(Price)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by
8	8	groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of
9	9	Administrative Hearings.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 36.406, Water
12	12	Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A hearing must be conducted by:
14	14	(1) a quorum of the board; [or]
15	15	(2) an individual to whom the board has delegated in
16	16	writing the responsibility to preside as a hearings examiner over
17	17	the hearing or matters related to the hearing; or
18	18	(3) the State Office of Administrative Hearings under
19	19	Section 36.416.
20	20	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 36.416,
21	21	the board president or the hearings examiner shall serve as the
22	22	presiding officer at the hearing.
23	23	SECTION 2. Section 36.416, Water Code, is amended to read as
24	24	follows:
25	25	Sec. 36.416. HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY STATE OFFICE OF
26	26	ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; RULES. (a) If a district contracts with
27	27	the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing,
28	28	the hearing shall be conducted as provided by Subchapters C, D, and
29	29	F, Chapter 2001, Government Code. The district may adopt rules for
30	30	a hearing conducted under this section that are consistent with the
31	31	procedural rules of the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
32	32	(b) If requested by the applicant or other party to a
33	33	contested case, a district shall contract with the State Office of
34	34	Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing. If the district
35	35	does not prescribe a deadline by rule, the applicant or other party
36	36	must request the hearing before the State Office of Administrative
37	37	Hearings not later than the 14th day before the date the evidentiary
38	38	hearing is scheduled to begin. The hearing must be held in Travis
39	39	County or at a location described by Section 36.403(c). The
40	40	district shall choose the location.
41	41	(c) The party requesting the hearing before the State Office
42	42	of Administrative Hearings shall pay all costs associated with the
43	43	contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an
44	44	amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing
45	45	begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund
46	46	any excess money to the paying party. All other costs may be
47	47	assessed as authorized by this chapter or district rules.
48	48	SECTION 3. Subchapter M, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
49	49	by adding Section 36.4165 to read as follows:
50	50	Sec. 36.4165. FINAL DECISION; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS. In
51	51	a proceeding for a permit application or amendment in which a
52	52	district has contracted with the State Office of Administrative
53	53	Hearings for a contested case hearing, the board has the authority
54	54	to make a final decision on consideration of a proposal for decision
55	55	issued by an administrative law judge consistent with Section
56	56	2001.058, Government Code.
57	57	SECTION 4. The heading to Section 36.418, Water Code, is
58	58	amended to read as follows:
59	59	Sec. 36.418. RULES; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS; APPLICABILITY
60	60	OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.
61	61	SECTION 5. Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended by
62	62	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
63	63	follows:
64	64	(b) Except as provided by this section and Sections
65	65	[Section] 36.416 and 36.4165, Chapter 2001, Government Code, does
66	66	not apply to a hearing under this subchapter.
67	67	(c) The district shall adopt rules to:
68	68	(1) establish a procedure for preliminary and
69	69	evidentiary hearings;
70	70	(2) allow the presiding officer, at a preliminary
71	71	hearing by the district and before a referral of the case to the
72	72	State Office of Administrative Hearings, to determine a party's
73	73	right to participate in a hearing according to Section
74	74	36.415(b)(2); and
75	75	(3) set a deadline for a party to file a request to
76	76	refer a contested case to the State Office of Administrative
77	77	Hearings under Section 36.416.
78	78	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
79	79	to a permit or permit amendment application determined to be
80	80	administratively complete on or after the effective date of this
81	81	Act. A permit or permit amendment application determined to be
82	82	administratively complete before the effective date of this Act is
83	83	governed by the law in effect at the time the application was
84	84	determined to be administratively complete, and the former law is
85	85	continued in effect for that purpose.
86	86	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
87	87	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
88	88	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
89	89	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
90	90	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.