85R12359 SLB-F
By: Lucio III H.B. No. 3177
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the delegation of uncontested matters to the executive
director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.122(a), Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The commission by rule or order may delegate to the
executive director the commission's authority to act on an
application or other request to issue, renew, reopen, transfer,
amend, extend, withdraw, revoke, terminate, or modify a permit,
license, certificate, registration, or other authorization or
approval if:
(1) required notice of the application or request for
the authorization or approval has been given;
(2) the holder of or applicant for the authorization
or approval agrees in writing to the action to be taken by the
executive director; and
(3) the application or request:
(A) is uncontested and does not require an
evidentiary hearing; [or]
(B) has become uncontested before parties are
named because each person who requested a contested case hearing
within the time allowed by law has:
(i) withdrawn the request for a contested
case hearing without condition;
(ii) withdrawn the request for a contested
case hearing conditioned only on the withdrawal of all other
hearing requests; or
(iii) agreed in writing to the action to be
taken by the executive director; or
(C) has become uncontested because all parties
have agreed in writing to the action to be taken by the executive
director.
SECTION 2. Section 5.351, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a person affected by a
ruling, order, or decision on a matter delegated to the executive
director under Section 5.122 may file a petition to review, set
aside, modify, or suspend the ruling, order, or decision not later
than:
(1) the 30th day after the effective date of the
ruling, order, or decision; or
(2) if the executive director's ruling, order, or
decision is appealed to the commission as authorized by Section
5.122(b), the earlier of:
(A) the date the commission denies the appeal; or
(B) the date the appeal is overruled by operation
of law in accordance with commission rules.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a matter delegated to the executive director of the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality under Section 5.122, Water
Code, as amended by this Act, on or after the effective date of this
Act. A matter delegated before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect at the time the matter was delegated,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.