H.B. No. 1079
AN ACT
relating to procedural requirements for action by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on applications for production
area authorizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 27.0513, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f) and adding
Subsection (g) to read as follows:
(a) The commission may issue a permit pursuant to Section
27.011 that authorizes the construction and operation of two or
more similar injection wells within a specified area for mining of
uranium. An application for a new permit issued pursuant to Section
27.011, a major amendment of such a permit, or a renewal of such a
permit for mining of uranium is subject to the public notice
requirements and opportunity for contested case hearing provided
under Section 27.018. A new, amended, or renewed permit must
incorporate a table of pre-mining low and high values representing
the range of groundwater quality within the permit boundary and
area of review, as provided by commission rule, for each water
quality parameter used to measure groundwater restoration in a
commission-required restoration table. The values in the permit
range table must be established from pre-mining baseline wells and
all available wells within the area of review, including those in
the existing or proposed permit boundary and any existing or
proposed production areas. Wells used for that purpose are limited
to those that have documented completion depths and screened
intervals that correspond to a uranium production zone aquifer
identified within the permit boundary.
(c) The commission may issue a holder of a permit issued
pursuant to Section 27.011 for mining of uranium an authorization
that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and restoration
activities in production zones within the boundary established in
the permit. The commission by rule shall establish application
requirements, technical requirements, including the methods for
determining restoration table values, and procedural requirements
for any authorization. If a restoration table value for a proposed
or amended authorization exceeds the range listed in the permit
range table such that it falls above the upper limit of the range,
the value within the permit range table must be used or a major
amendment to the permit range table must be obtained, subject to an
opportunity for a contested case hearing or the hearing
requirements of Chapter 2001, Government Code.
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and
27.018, an application for an authorization [submitted after
September 1, 2007,] is an uncontested matter not subject to a
contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001,
Government Code, if:
(1) the authorization is for a production zone located
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates a range table of
groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater
restoration by the commission;
(2) the application includes groundwater quality
restoration values falling at or below the upper limit of the range
established in Subdivision (1); and
(3) the authorization is for a production zone located
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater
baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required
by commission rule [unless the authorization seeks any of the
following:
[(1) an amendment to a restoration table value;
[(2) the initial establishment of monitoring wells for
any area covered by the authorization, including the location,
number, depth, spacing, and design of the monitoring wells, unless
the executive director uses the recommendation of an independent
third-party expert chosen by the commission; or
[(3) an amendment to the type or amount of bond
required for groundwater restoration or by Section 27.073 to assure
that there are sufficient funds available to the state for
groundwater restoration or the plugging of abandoned wells in the
area by a third-party contractor].
(e) The range of restoration values in the range table used
for Subsection (d) must be established from baseline wells and all
available well sample data collected in the permit boundary and
within one-quarter mile of the boundary of the production zone [The
executive director may use an independent third-party expert if:
[(1) the expert meets the qualifications set by
commission rules for such experts;
[(2) the applicant for the authorization agrees to pay
the costs for the work of the expert; and
[(3) the applicant for the authorization is not
involved in the selection of the expert or the direction of the work
of the expert].
(f) As an alternative to Subsection (d), the first
application for an authorization issued under Subsection (c) for a
production zone located within the boundary of a permit issued
under Subsection (a) is subject to the requirements of Chapter
2001, Government Code, relating to an opportunity for a contested
case hearing. The first authorization application must contain the
following provisions:
(1) a baseline water quality table with a range of
groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater
restoration by the commission that complies with the same range
requirements as a permit described by Subsection (a);
(2) groundwater quality restoration values falling at
or below the upper limit of the range established in Subdivision
(1); and
(3) groundwater baseline characteristics of the wells
for the application required by commission rule.
(g) If a first authorization has previously been issued for
a production zone located within the boundary of a permit, that
authorization is effective for the purposes of this subsection. A
subsequent authorization application for a production zone that is
located within the same permit boundary as a production zone for
which an authorization was issued under Subsection (f) is not
subject to an opportunity for a contested case hearing or the
hearing requirements of Chapter 2001, Government Code, unless the
subsequent application would authorize the following:
(1) the use of groundwater from a well that was not
previously approved in the permit for supplemental production
water;
(2) expansion of the permit boundary; or
(3) application monitoring well locations that exceed
well spacing requirements or reduce the number of wells required by
commission rule [An application seeking approval under Subsections
(d)(1)-(3) is subject to the public notice and contested hearing
requirements provided in Section 27.018].
SECTION 2. 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, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1079 was passed by the House on May 2,
2013, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 10, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1079 on May 23, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 1,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1079 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 20, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays
5.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor