83R16676 SMH-F
By: Fraser S.B. No. 1894
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the procedure for review by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality and related entities of environmental flow
standards and environmental flow set-asides for river basin and bay
systems and related matters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.02362(p), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(p) In recognition of the importance of adaptive
management, after submitting its recommendations regarding
environmental flow standards and strategies to meet the
environmental flow standards to the commission, each basin and bay
area stakeholders committee, with the assistance of the pertinent
basin and bay expert science team, shall prepare and submit for
approval by the advisory group a work plan. The work plan must:
(1) [establish a periodic review of the basin and bay
environmental flow analyses and environmental flow regime
recommendations, environmental flow standards, and strategies, to
occur at least once every 10 years;
[(2)] prescribe specific monitoring, studies, and
activities; and
(2) [(3)] establish a schedule for continuing the
validation or refinement of the basin and bay environmental flow
analyses and environmental flow regime recommendations, the
environmental flow standards adopted by the commission, and the
strategies to achieve those standards.
SECTION 2. Section 11.1471, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(f) An environmental flow standard or environmental flow
set-aside adopted under Subsection (a) may be altered by the
commission in a rulemaking process undertaken in accordance with a
schedule established by the commission. The [In establishing a
schedule, the commission shall consider the applicable work plan
approved by the advisory group under Section 11.02362(p). The
commission's schedule may not provide for the rulemaking process to
occur more frequently than once every 10 years unless the work plan
provides for a periodic review under Section 11.02362(p) to occur
more frequently than once every 10 years. In that event, the]
commission shall [may] provide for the rulemaking process to be
undertaken for each river basin and bay system for which
environmental flow standards have been adopted not more frequently
than every 10 years beginning January 1, 2022, unless the
commission determines that the process should be undertaken before
that date [in conjunction with the periodic review if the
commission determines that schedule to be appropriate]. A
rulemaking process undertaken under this subsection must provide
for the participation of stakeholders having interests in the
particular river basin and bay system for which the process is
undertaken.
(g) The commission shall evaluate the status of the work
plans submitted by the basin and bay area stakeholders committees
and approved by the advisory group under Section 11.02362(p) in
accordance with a schedule established by the commission. The
commission's schedule must provide for the first evaluation of work
plan status for each river basin and bay system for which
environmental flow standards have been adopted to be performed not
later than January 1, 2017, and for subsequent evaluations to be
performed every five years thereafter.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.