83R14162 JAM-F
By: Uresti S.B. No. 1745
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to minimum pollution removal requirements for certain
stormwater discharges in the Edwards Aquifer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 26.0463 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.0463. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR POLLUTION REMOVAL
FOR STORMWATER ENTERING EDWARDS AQUIFER. (a) In this section,
"stormwater treatment facility" means a facility that utilizes best
management practices approved by the commission for use in a water
pollution abatement plan, or similar submission, for the purpose of
filtering out and removing pollutants such as total suspended
solids from stormwater runoff from commercial, residential,
industrial, or retail developments that are located within the
recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer, as defined by commission
rule.
(b) The commission may not approve the use or installation
of a new stormwater treatment facility in a water pollution
abatement plan unless the stormwater treatment facility has been
shown to remove at least 85 percent of the total suspended solids
required to be removed prior to the discharge of the stormwater into
the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer according to the
"Complying with the Edwards Aquifer Rules, Technical Guidance on
Best Management Practices," as amended, or by other commission
rule.
(c) This section does not apply to a recharge enhancement
facility within a natural watercourse that is expressly designed
and installed to improve the quantity and quality of surface water
entering the aquifer.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for approval or amendment of a water pollution
abatement plan or similar submission that is submitted to the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date
of this Act. An application for approval or amendment of a water
pollution abatement plan or similar submission that was submitted
to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
time the application or submission was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. 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.