Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1421 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	84R2786 SLB-D
2	2	By: Lucio S.B. No. 1421
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the management of groundwater, including the
8	8	classification of and the obtaining of information regarding
9	9	groundwater and the formulation of desired future conditions by a
10	10	groundwater conservation district.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	ARTICLE 1. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF GROUNDWATER CLASSIFICATION
13	13	SYSTEM
14	14	SECTION 1.01. Section 26.405, Water Code, is amended to
15	15	read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 26.405. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEE. (a) The
17	17	committee shall, on a continuing basis:
18	18	(1) coordinate groundwater protection activities of
19	19	the agencies represented on the committee;
20	20	(2) develop and update a comprehensive groundwater
21	21	protection strategy for the state that provides guidelines for the
22	22	prevention of contamination and for the conservation of groundwater
23	23	and that provides for the coordination of the groundwater
24	24	protection activities of the agencies represented on the committee;
25	25	(3) study and recommend to the legislature groundwater
26	26	protection programs for each area in which groundwater is not
27	27	protected by current regulation;
28	28	(4) file with the governor, lieutenant governor, and
29	29	speaker of the house of representatives before the date that each
30	30	regular legislative session convenes a report of the committee's
31	31	activities during the two preceding years and any recommendations
32	32	for legislation for groundwater protection; and
33	33	(5) publish the joint groundwater monitoring and
34	34	contamination report required by Section 26.406(c) [of this code].
35	35	(b) The committee shall develop and adopt by rule a
36	36	groundwater classification system that is based on salinity and
37	37	takes into account:
38	38	(1) the total dissolved solids present in the water;
39	39	(2) the geographic location of the water, including
40	40	the potential for withdrawals to cause subsidence or to negatively
41	41	affect a freshwater source;
42	42	(3) existing laws and administrative rules;
43	43	(4) existing permits and permit requirements for the
44	44	withdrawal and use of the water;
45	45	(5) other water quality measurements; and
46	46	(6) other factors determined to be relevant by the
47	47	committee.
48	48	(c) The committee shall update the classification system
49	49	described by Subsection (b) on a schedule consistent with updates
50	50	to the state water plan under Section 16.051.
51	51	SECTION 1.02. Chapter 12, Agriculture Code, is amended by
52	52	adding Section 12.0165 to read as follows:
53	53	Sec. 12.0165. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
54	54	rules relating to groundwater, the department shall consider the
55	55	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
56	56	Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code.
57	57	SECTION 1.03. Subchapter B, Chapter 201, Agriculture Code,
58	58	is amended by adding Section 201.0205 to read as follows:
59	59	Sec. 201.0205. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
60	60	rules relating to groundwater, the state board shall consider the
61	61	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
62	62	Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code.
63	63	SECTION 1.04. Subchapter C, Chapter 88, Education Code, is
64	64	amended by adding Section 88.2015 to read as follows:
65	65	Sec. 88.2015. ACTIONS RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. An
66	66	experiment station established under Section 88.201 shall consider
67	67	the classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater
68	68	Protection Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code, in
69	69	carrying out the purposes of this subchapter.
70	70	SECTION 1.05. Subchapter A, Chapter 341, Health and Safety
71	71	Code, is amended by adding Section 341.003 to read as follows:
72	72	Sec. 341.003. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
73	73	rules relating to groundwater, the executive commissioner of the
74	74	Health and Human Services Commission shall consider the
75	75	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
76	76	Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code.
77	77	SECTION 1.06. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources
78	78	Code, is amended by adding Section 81.071 to read as follows:
79	79	Sec. 81.071. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
80	80	rules relating to groundwater, the commission shall consider the
81	81	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
82	82	Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code.
83	83	SECTION 1.07. Subchapter D, Chapter 51, Occupations Code,
84	84	is amended by adding Section 51.2045 to read as follows:
85	85	Sec. 51.2045. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
86	86	rules relating to groundwater, the commission shall consider the
87	87	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
88	88	Committee under Section 26.405(b), Water Code.
89	89	SECTION 1.08. Subchapter D, Chapter 5, Water Code, is
90	90	amended by adding Section 5.1032 to read as follows:
91	91	Sec. 5.1032. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
92	92	rules relating to groundwater, the commission shall consider the
93	93	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
94	94	Committee under Section 26.405(b).
95	95	SECTION 1.09. Subchapter D, Chapter 6, Water Code, is
96	96	amended by adding Section 6.116 to read as follows:
97	97	Sec. 6.116. RULES RELATING TO GROUNDWATER. In adopting
98	98	rules relating to groundwater, the board shall consider the
99	99	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
100	100	Committee under Section 26.405(b).
101	101	ARTICLE 2. REPORT OF ELECTRIC LOGS
102	102	SECTION 2.01. Section 91.552, Natural Resources Code, is
103	103	amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
104	104	(e) The commission shall submit an annual report of the
105	105	electric logs collected by the commission under this section to the
106	106	Texas Water Development Board.
107	107	SECTION 2.02. Section 91.554, Natural Resources Code, is
108	108	amended to read as follows:
109	109	Sec. 91.554. AVAILABILITY OF CONFIDENTIAL ELECTRIC LOGS.
110	110	If the commission requires an electric log to be filed before the
111	111	expiration of a period of confidentiality, the commission shall
112	112	make that electric log available for inspection during the period
113	113	of confidentiality only to:
114	114	(1) a person authorized in writing by the operator;
115	115	[and]
116	116	(2) members of the commission and its employees in the
117	117	exercise of their powers and duties under this code; and
118	118	(3) members of the Texas Water Development Board and
119	119	its employees in the exercise of their powers and duties under the
120	120	Water Code.
121	121	ARTICLE 3. FORMULATION OF DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS
122	122	SECTION 3.01. Section 36.101(a), Water Code, is amended to
123	123	read as follows:
124	124	(a) A district may make and enforce rules, including rules
125	125	limiting groundwater production based on tract size or the spacing
126	126	of wells, to provide for conserving, preserving, protecting, and
127	127	recharging of the groundwater or of a groundwater reservoir or its
128	128	subdivisions in order to control subsidence, prevent degradation of
129	129	water quality, or prevent waste of groundwater and to carry out the
130	130	powers and duties provided by this chapter. In adopting a rule
131	131	under this chapter, a district shall:
132	132	(1) consider all groundwater uses and needs;
133	133	(2) develop rules that are fair and impartial;
134	134	(3) consider the groundwater ownership and rights
135	135	described by Section 36.002;
136	136	(4) consider the public interest in conservation,
137	137	preservation, protection, recharging, and prevention of waste of
138	138	groundwater, and of groundwater reservoirs or their subdivisions,
139	139	and in controlling subsidence caused by withdrawal of groundwater
140	140	from those groundwater reservoirs or their subdivisions,
141	141	consistent with the objectives of Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
142	142	Constitution;
143	143	(5) consider the goals developed as part of the
144	144	district's management plan under Section 36.1071; [and]
145	145	(6) not discriminate between land that is irrigated
146	146	for production and land that was irrigated for production and
147	147	enrolled or participating in a federal conservation program; and
148	148	(7) consider the classification system adopted by the
149	149	Texas Groundwater Protection Committee under Section 26.405(b).
150	150	SECTION 3.02. Section 36.108, Water Code, is amended by
151	151	adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsections (d) and (d-1) to
152	152	read as follows:
153	153	(c-1) The development board shall develop technical
154	154	guidance documents to assist districts in formulating and adopting
155	155	desired future conditions, including guidance documents for
156	156	establishing different desired future conditions for different
157	157	classifications of groundwater in the classification system
158	158	adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee under Section
159	159	26.405(b), and shall make the guidance documents available to the
160	160	districts.
161	161	(d) Not later than September 1, 2010, and every five years
162	162	thereafter, the districts shall consider groundwater availability
163	163	models and other data or information for the management area and
164	164	shall propose for adoption desired future conditions for the
165	165	relevant aquifers within the management area. Before voting on the
166	166	proposed desired future conditions of the aquifers under Subsection
167	167	(d-2), the districts shall consider:
168	168	(1) aquifer uses or conditions within the management
169	169	area, including conditions that differ substantially from one
170	170	geographic area to another;
171	171	(2) the water supply needs and water management
172	172	strategies included in the state water plan;
173	173	(3) hydrological conditions, including for each
174	174	aquifer in the management area the total estimated recoverable
175	175	storage as provided by the executive administrator, and the average
176	176	annual recharge, inflows, and discharge;
177	177	(4) other environmental impacts, including impacts on
178	178	spring flow and other interactions between groundwater and surface
179	179	water;
180	180	(5) the impact on subsidence;
181	181	(6) socioeconomic impacts reasonably expected to
182	182	occur;
183	183	(7) the impact on the interests and rights in private
184	184	property, including ownership and the rights of management area
185	185	landowners and their lessees and assigns in groundwater as
186	186	recognized under Section 36.002;
187	187	(8) the feasibility of achieving the desired future
188	188	condition; [and]
189	189	(9) the technical guidance documents developed by the
190	190	development board under Subsection (c-1); and
191	191	(10) any other information relevant to the specific
192	192	desired future conditions.
193	193	(d-1) The districts may establish different desired future
194	194	conditions for:
195	195	(1) each aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or
196	196	geologic strata located in whole or in part within the boundaries of
197	197	the management area; [or]
198	198	(2) each geographic area overlying an aquifer in whole
199	199	or in part or subdivision of an aquifer within the boundaries of the
200	200	management area; or
201	201	(3) each classification of groundwater in the
202	202	classification system adopted by the Texas Groundwater Protection
203	203	Committee under Section 26.405(b).
204	204	ARTICLE 4. TRANSITION AND EFFECTIVE DATE
205	205	SECTION 4.01. (a) Not later than December 31, 2015, the
206	206	Texas Groundwater Protection Committee by rule shall adopt the
207	207	groundwater classification system required by Section 26.405,
208	208	Water Code, as amended by this Act.
209	209	(b) Not later than August 31, 2016, the Texas Water
210	210	Development Board shall develop and make available technical
211	211	guidance documents as required by Section 36.108, Water Code, as
212	212	amended by this Act.
213	213	SECTION 4.02. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.