2015S0446-1 03/10/15
By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1936
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the recovery of damages resulting from an emergency
transfer of water authorized by the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.139, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (j) and adding Subsection (j-1) to read as
follows:
(j) The person granted an emergency authorization under
Subsection (h) [of this section] is liable to the owner and the
owner's agent or lessee from whom the use is transferred for the
fair market value of the water transferred as well as for any
damages caused by the transfer of use. If [, within 60 days of the
termination of the authorization,] the parties do not agree on the
amount due, or if full payment is not made, either party may [file a
complaint with the commission to determine the amount due. The
commission may use dispute resolution procedures for a complaint
filed under this subsection. After exhausting all administrative
remedies under this subsection, an owner from whom the use is
transferred may] file suit to [recover or] determine the amount due
in a district court in the county where the owner from whom the use
is transferred resides or has its headquarters. An owner from whom
the use is transferred may file suit to recover the amount due in a
district court in the county where the owner resides or has its
headquarters. The prevailing party in a suit filed under this
subsection is entitled to recover court costs and reasonable
attorney's fees.
(j-1) Subsection (j) applies to an owner from whom the use
is transferred under Subsection (h) regardless of whether the
owner's water right is subject to interruption or curtailment
during a period of drought.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for an emergency authorization or renewal of an
emergency authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.
An application for an emergency authorization or renewal of an
emergency authorization that is submitted to the commission before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.