By: Perry S.B. No. 611
(In the Senate - Filed February 17, 2015; February 23, 2015,
read first time and referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water,
and Rural Affairs; March 30, 2015, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 30, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the confidentiality of certain water well reports.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 36.111, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 36.111. RECORDS AND REPORTS; CONFIDENTIALITY.
SECTION 2. Section 36.111, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A groundwater withdrawal report submitted by the owner
or operator of a privately owned water well to a district that
requires withdrawal reporting under Subsection (b) is not subject
to public disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, if the
owner or operator of the well submits a written request to the
district in which the well is located to have the well's withdrawal
reports treated as confidential information. A district that
receives a request for confidentiality may release groundwater
production information contained in the reports only if the
information is summarized in a manner that prevents the
identification of individual well owners or operators or the parcel
of land on which a well is located. This subsection does not apply
to a well that is owned or operated by a public entity, including a
conservation and reclamation district operating under Section 59,
Article XVI, Texas Constitution, or a municipality.
SECTION 3. Section 36.111, Water Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a water well withdrawal report required to be
filed with a groundwater conservation district on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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