By: Ritter H.B. No. 3233
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to interbasin transfers of state water.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 11.085(b), (e), (g), (l), (n), and (v),
Water Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) The application must include:
(1) the contract price of the water to be transferred;
(2) a statement of each general category of proposed
use of the water to be transferred and a detailed description of the
proposed uses and users under each category; and
(3) the cost of diverting, conveying, distributing,
and supplying the water to, and treating the water for, the proposed
users.[; and]
[(4) the projected effect on user rates and fees for
each class of ratepayers.]
(e) In addition to the public meetings required by
Subsection (d) of this section, if the application is contested in a
manner requiring an evidentiary hearing under the rules of the
commission, the commission shall give notice and hold an
evidentiary hearing, in accordance with commission rules and
applicable state law. In any evidentiary hearing for an
application to transfer water authorized under an existing water
right, contested issues are limited to those issues related to the
requirements under this section.
(g) The applicant shall cause the notice of application for
an interbasin transfer to be published twice within a 30-day period
[once a week for two consecutive weeks] in one or more newspapers
having general circulation in each county located in whole or in
part in the basin of origin or the receiving basin. The published
notice may not be smaller than 96.8 square centimeters or 15 square
inches with the shortest dimension at least 7.6 centimeters or
three inches. The notice of application and public meetings shall
be combined in the mailed and published notices.
(l) The commission may grant, in whole or in part, an
application for an interbasin transfer only to the extent that:
(1) the detriments to the basin of origin during the
proposed transfer period are less than the benefits to the
receiving basin during the proposed transfer period based on
consideration of factors in subsection (k) of this section.
(n) If the transfer of water is based on a contractual sale
of water, the new water right or amended permit, certified filing,
or certificate of adjudication authorizing the transfer shall
contain a condition for a term or period not greater than the term
of the contract, including any extension or renewal of the contract
[term].
(v) The provisions of this section, except Subsection (a),
do not apply to:
(1) a proposed transfer which in combination with any
existing transfers totals less than 3,000 acre-feet of water per
annum from the same permit, certified filing, or certificate of
adjudication;
(2) a request for an emergency transfer of water;
(3) a proposed transfer from a basin to its adjoining
coastal basin;
(4) a proposed transfer from the part of the territory
of [a basin to] a county or municipality, or the part of the service
area of a retail water utility, [the municipality's retail service
area] that is [partially] within the basin of origin for use in that
part of the territory of the county or municipality, or that part of
the service area of the retail water utility, [and the
municipality's retail service area] not within the basin of origin;
or
(5) a proposed transfer of water that is:
(A) imported from a source located wholly outside
the boundaries of this state, except water that is imported from a
source located in the United Mexican States;
(B) for use in this state; and
(C) transported by using the bed and banks of any
flowing natural stream located in this state.
SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
an application for an interbasin transfer filed with the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date
of this Act. An application filed before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.