83R5303 SGA-F
By: Rodriguez of Bexar H.B. No. 2769
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the process for appealing the desired future conditions
adopted by a groundwater conservation district for an aquifer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1083, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 36.1083. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL OF DESIRED FUTURE
CONDITIONS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Affected person" has the meaning assigned by
Section 36.1082.
(2) "Development[, "development] board" means the
Texas Water Development Board.
(3) "Office" means the State Office of Administrative
Hearings.
(b) Not later than the 180th day after the date on which a
district adopted a desired future condition under Section
36.108(d-4), an affected person may file a petition with the
district requesting that the district contract with the office to
conduct a hearing to appeal the desired future condition, including
the reasonableness of the desired future condition [A person with a
legally defined interest in the groundwater in the management area,
a district in or adjacent to the management area, or a regional
water planning group for a region in the management area may file a
petition with the development board appealing the approval of the
desired future conditions of the groundwater resources established
under this section. The petition must provide evidence that the
districts did not establish a reasonable desired future condition
of the groundwater resources in the management area].
(c) Not later than the 45th day after receiving a petition
under Subsection (b), the district shall:
(1) contract with the office;
(2) request a contested case hearing; and
(3) submit a copy of the petition to the office [The
development board shall review the petition and any evidence
relevant to the petition. The development board shall hold at least
one hearing at a central location in the management area to take
testimony on the petition. The development board may delegate
responsibility for a hearing to the executive administrator or to a
person designated by the executive administrator. If the
development board finds that the conditions require revision, the
development board shall submit a report to the districts that
includes a list of findings and recommended revisions to the
desired future conditions of the groundwater resources].
(d) The hearing must be held at a location described by
Section 36.403(c). The hearing shall be conducted in accordance
with Chapter 2001, Government Code, and rules of the office [The
districts shall prepare a revised plan in accordance with
development board recommendations and hold, after notice, at least
one public hearing at a central location in the management area.
After consideration of all public and development board comments,
the districts shall revise the conditions and submit the conditions
to the development board for review].
(e) The district may adopt rules for notice and hearings
conducted under this section that are consistent with the
procedural rules of the office. In the manner prescribed by
district and office rules, the district shall provide general
notice of the hearing and individual notice of the hearing to the
petitioner, any other party in the hearing identified under
Subsection (f)(3), each nonparty district and regional water
planning group in the management area, the development board, and
the commission. Only an affected person may participate as a party
in the hearing.
(f) The office shall hold a prehearing conference to
determine preliminary matters including:
(1) whether the petition should be dismissed for
failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted;
(2) whether a person is an affected person and
eligible to participate as a party in the hearing; and
(3) naming parties to the hearing.
(g) The petitioner shall pay all costs associated with the
contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an
amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing
begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund
any excess money to the petitioner.
(h) If the administrative law judge finds that a technical
analysis is needed related to the hydrogeology of the area or
matters within the development board's expertise, the judge may
request a study from the development board. In conducting the
technical analysis, the development board shall consider any
relevant information provided in the petition, as well as any
groundwater availability models, published studies, or other
information the development board considers relevant. The study
must be completed and delivered to the office not later than the
120th day after the date of the request for admission into the
evidentiary record for consideration at the hearing. The
development board shall make available the relevant staff as expert
witnesses during the hearing if requested by any party or the
administrative law judge.
(i) On receipt of the administrative law judge's findings of
fact and conclusions of law in a proposal for decision, including a
dismissal of a petition under Subsection (f), the district's board
shall issue a final order stating the district's decision on the
contested matter and the district's findings of fact and
conclusions of law. The board may change a finding of fact or
conclusion of law made by the administrative law judge, or may
vacate or modify an order issued by the administrative law judge in
the same manner as a state agency under Section 2001.058(e),
Government Code. If the district in its final order finds that a
desired future condition is unreasonable, the districts in the
management area shall reconvene in a joint planning meeting not
later than the 30th day after the date of the final order to revise
the desired future condition.
(j) A district's final order finding that a desired future
condition is unreasonable does not invalidate the desired future
condition for a district not subject to the petition.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 36.10831 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.10831. COURT APPEAL OF DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION. A
final district order under Section 36.1083 may be appealed to a
court under the substantial evidence standard of review as provided
by Section 2001.174, Government Code. The venue for an appeal is a
district court in Travis County. If the court finds that a desired
future condition is unreasonable, the court shall strike the
desired future condition and order the districts in the management
area to reconvene in a joint planning meeting not later than the
30th day after the date of the court's decision to revise the
desired future condition.
SECTION 3. (a) A petition filed under Section 36.1083,
Water Code, and pending on the effective date of this Act before the
Texas Water Development Board to appeal the desired future
condition adopted by a groundwater conservation district shall be
handled by the Texas Water Development Board in compliance with
Section 36.1083, Water Code, as that section existed before the
effective date of this Act.
(b) Section 36.1083, Water Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to a petition filed on or after the effective date of
this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.