84R621 SGA-F
By: Workman H.B. No. 4038
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Western Travis County Groundwater
Conservation District; providing general law authority to issue
bonds; providing authority to impose fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle H, Title 6, Special District Local Laws
Code, is amended by adding Chapter 8871 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 8871. WESTERN TRAVIS COUNTY GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION
DISTRICT
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8871.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Board" means the district's board of directors.
(2) "Director" means a board member.
(3) "District" means the Western Travis County
Groundwater Conservation District.
Sec. 8871.002. NATURE OF DISTRICT. The district is a
groundwater conservation district in Travis County created under
and essential to accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article
XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8871.003. FINDINGS OF PUBLIC USE AND BENEFIT. (a) The
district is created to serve a public use and benefit.
(b) All land and other property included in the district
will benefit from the works and projects accomplished by the
district under the powers conferred by Section 59, Article XVI,
Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8871.004. INITIAL DISTRICT TERRITORY. (a) The
district is initially composed of the territory described by
Section 2 of the Act creating this chapter.
(b) The boundaries and field notes contained in Section 2 of
the Act creating this chapter form a closure. A mistake made in the
field notes or in copying the field notes in the legislative process
does not affect the district's:
(1) organization, existence, or validity;
(2) right to issue any type of bond for the purposes
for which the district is created or to pay the principal of and
interest on a bond; or
(3) legality or operation.
Sec. 8871.005. CONFIRMATION ELECTION NOT REQUIRED. An
election to confirm the creation of the district is not required.
SUBCHAPTER B. TEMPORARY AND INITIAL DIRECTORS
Sec. 8871.021. APPOINTMENT OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS;
VACANCIES; TERMS. (a) Five persons who reside in the district
shall be appointed as temporary directors not later than the 90th
day after the effective date of the Act creating this chapter as
follows:
(1) the county judge of Travis County shall appoint
one temporary director;
(2) the county commissioner for the county
commissioners precinct in which the district is located shall
appoint two temporary directors;
(3) the state representative who represents the house
district in which the district is located shall appoint one
temporary director; and
(4) the state senator who represents the senate
district in which the district is principally located shall appoint
one temporary director.
(b) If a temporary director fails to qualify for office or a
vacancy occurs on the temporary board, the remaining temporary
directors shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy. If at any time
there are fewer than three temporary directors, the state
representative under Subsection (a)(3) shall appoint the necessary
number of persons to fill all vacancies on the board.
(c) Temporary directors serve until the date initial
directors are elected at an election held under Section 8871.024.
Sec. 8871.022. ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING. (a) Not later than
the 45th day after the date on which the fifth temporary director is
appointed under Section 8871.021, the temporary directors shall
hold the organizational meeting of the district.
(b) The temporary directors shall select from among
themselves a president, a vice president, and a secretary.
Sec. 8871.023. AUTHORITY OF TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. (a)
Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d) or otherwise by this
subchapter, the temporary directors of the district have the same
permitting and general management powers as those provided for
initial and permanent directors under this chapter and Chapter 36,
Water Code.
(b) The temporary directors or their designees have the
authority to enter any public or private property located in the
district to inspect a water well as provided by Section 36.123,
Water Code.
(c) Except as provided by Section 8871.024, the temporary
directors do not have the authority granted by the following
provisions of Chapter 36, Water Code:
(1) Sections 36.017, 36.019, 36.020, and 36.059;
(2) Sections 36.105, 36.1071, 36.1072, 36.1073, and
36.108;
(3) Sections 36.171-36.181;
(4) Sections 36.201-36.204; and
(5) Subchapters J and K.
(d) The temporary directors may regulate the transfer of
groundwater out of the district as provided by Section 36.122,
Water Code, but may not prohibit the transfer of groundwater out of
the district.
Sec. 8871.024. INITIAL DIRECTORS' ELECTION. (a) The
temporary directors shall order an election in the district to be
held not later than the uniform election date in November 2017 to
elect the initial directors.
(b) At the initial directors' election, the temporary board
shall have placed on the ballot the names of the candidates who are
eligible under Section 8871.052 for each of the five positions on
the board.
(c) Section 41.001(a), Election Code, applies to an
election held under this section.
(d) Except as provided by this section, the initial
directors' election must be conducted as provided by the Election
Code and Sections 36.017(b), (c), and (e), Water Code.
Sec. 8871.025. INITIAL DIRECTORS. (a) Promptly after the
election has been held under Section 8871.024 and the votes have
been canvassed, the temporary directors shall:
(1) declare for each board position the person who
receives the most votes for that position to be elected as the
initial director for that position; and
(2) include the results of the initial directors'
election in the district's election report to the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality.
(b) The temporary directors shall determine whether
staggered terms are in the best interest of the district and shall
set the terms of the initial directors as follows:
(1) to establish staggered terms, two initial
directors serve two-year terms and three initial directors serve
four-year terms; or
(2) to establish non-staggered terms, all five initial
directors serve four-year terms.
SUBCHAPTER C. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sec. 8871.051. GOVERNING BODY; TERMS. (a) The district is
governed by a board of five directors elected at large.
(b) Directors elected after the election held under Section
8871.024 serve four-year terms.
Sec. 8871.052. ELIGIBILITY. To be eligible to be a
candidate for or to serve as a director, a person must be a resident
of the district.
SUBCHAPTER D. POWERS AND DUTIES
Sec. 8871.101. GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT POWERS
AND DUTIES. Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the
district has the powers and duties provided by the general law of
this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code, applicable to
groundwater conservation districts created under Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution.
Sec. 8871.102. EXEMPT WELLS. (a) Groundwater withdrawals
from the following wells may not be regulated, permitted, or
metered by the district:
(1) a well used for domestic use by a single private
residential household and incapable of producing more than 25,000
gallons per day; and
(2) a well used for conventional farming and ranching
activities, including such intensive operations as aquaculture,
livestock feedlots, or poultry operations.
(b) The district may not charge or collect a well
construction fee for a well described by Subsection (a)(2).
(c) A well owner must obtain a permit and pay any required
fees, including a well construction fee, before using any
groundwater withdrawn from a well for purposes other than those
exempted by this section.
(d) A well used for dewatering and monitoring in the
production of coal or lignite is exempt from permit requirements,
regulations, and fees imposed by the district.
(e) The district may not enter property to inspect an exempt
well without the property owner's permission.
Sec. 8871.103. NO EMINENT DOMAIN POWER. The district may
not exercise the power of eminent domain.
SUBCHAPTER E. FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 8871.151. WELL CONSTRUCTION FEE. The district may
charge and collect a new well construction fee not to exceed $1,000
for a new well.
Sec. 8871.152. PERMIT RENEWAL APPLICATION FEE. The
district may charge and collect a permit renewal application fee
not to exceed $400.
Sec. 8871.153. SERVICE CONNECTION FEE. (a) This section
does not apply to a water utility that has surface water as its sole
source of water.
(b) The district may levy and collect a water utility
service connection fee not to exceed $1,000 for each new water
service connection made after September 1, 2015.
Sec. 8871.154. TAXES AND OTHER FEES PROHIBITED. The
district may not:
(1) impose a tax; or
(2) assess or collect any fees except as authorized by
Section 8871.151, 8871.152, or 8871.153.
SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the
Western Travis County Groundwater Conservation District initially
includes all the territory contained in the following area:
Beginning at the point of intersection of the current western
boundary of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation
District and the Colorado River, then following westerly along the
southern border of the Colorado River and Lake Travis to the western
Travis County Boundary, then proceeding south along the western
Travis County Boundary to the intersection of the Travis County
boundary and the Hays County boundary, then south east along the
southern Travis County boundary to the current western boundary of
the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District; then
north-east along the western boundary of the Barton Springs-Edwards
Aquifer Conservation District, the point of beginning.
(b) The territory of the Western Travis County Groundwater
Conservation District does not include any territory that on the
effective date of this Act is in the corporate limits or
extraterritorial jurisdiction of:
(1) the City of Bee Cave;
(2) the City of Lakeway;
(3) the City of West Lake Hills;
(4) the Village of Briarcliff; or
(5) the Village of the Hills.
SECTION 3. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.