By: Isaac H.B. No. 3333
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to permits for certain injection wells that are part of an
aquifer storage and recovery project that transect a portion of the
Edwards Aquifer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 27.0516(b), (f), (h), and (k), Water
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) This section applies only to the portion of the Edwards
Aquifer that is within the geographic area circumscribed by the
external boundaries of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer
Conservation District [but is not in that district's territory or
the territory of the Edwards Aquifer Authority].
(f) The commission by general permit may authorize:
(1) an activity described by Subsection (e);
(2) an injection well that transects and isolates the
saline portion of the Edwards Aquifer and terminates in a lower
aquifer for the purpose of injecting:
(A) concentrate from a desalination facility; or
(B) fresh water as part of an engineered aquifer
storage and recovery facility;
(3) an injection well that terminates in that part of
the saline portion of the Edwards Aquifer that has a total dissolved
solids concentration of more than 10,000 milligrams per liter for
the purpose of injecting into the saline portion of the Edwards
Aquifer:
(A) concentrate from a desalination facility,
provided that the injection well must be at least three miles from
the closest outlet of Barton Springs; or
(B) fresh water as part of an engineered aquifer
and storage recovery facility, provided that each well used for
injection or withdrawal from the facility must be at least three
miles from the closest outlet of Barton Springs; [or]
(4) an injection well that transects or terminates in
the Edwards Aquifer for:
(A) aquifer remediation;
(B) the injection of a nontoxic tracer dye as
part of a hydrologic study; or
(C) another beneficial activity that is designed
and undertaken for the purpose of increasing protection of an
underground source of drinking water from pollution or other
deleterious effects; or
(5) an injection well that transects the Edwards
Aquifer provided that:
(A) the injection well isolates the Edwards
Aquifer;
(B) the injected water meets the standards under
the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. Section 300f et
seq.); and
(C) the injection well is part of an engineered
aquifer storage and recovery facility owned and operated by a
municipality.
(h) Rules adopted or a general permit issued under this
section:
(1) must require that an injection well authorized by
the rules or permit be monitored by means of:
(A) a monitoring well operated by the injection
well owner if the commission determines that there is an
underground source of drinking water in the area of review that is
potentially affected by the injection well; or
(B) if Paragraph (A) does not apply, a monitoring
well operated by a party other than the injection well owner,
provided that all results of monitoring are promptly made available
to the injection well owner;
(2) must ensure that an authorized activity will not
result in the waste or pollution of fresh water;
(3) may not authorize an injection well under
Subsection (f)(2), [or] (3), or (5) unless the well is initially
associated with a small-scale research project designed to evaluate
the long-term feasibility and safety of:
(A) the injection of concentrate from a
desalination facility; or
(B) an aquifer storage and recovery project;
(4) must require any authorization granted to be
renewed at least as frequently as every 10 years;
(5) must require that an injection well authorized
under Subsection (f)(2)(A) or (3)(A) be monitored on an ongoing
basis by or in coordination with the well owner and that the well
owner file monitoring reports with the commission at least as
frequently as every three months; and
(6) must ensure that any injection well authorized for
the purpose of injecting concentrate from a desalination facility
does not transect the fresh water portion of the Edwards Aquifer.
(k) Notwithstanding Subsection (h)(3), a general permit may
authorize the owner of an injection well authorized under
Subsection (f)(2), [or] (3), or (5) to continue operating the well
for the purpose of implementing the desalination or engineered
aquifer storage and recovery project following completion of the
small-scale research project, provided that:
(1) the injection well owner timely submits the
information collected as part of the research project, including
monitoring reports and information regarding the environmental
impact of the well, to the commission;
(2) the injection well owner, following the completion
of studies and monitoring adequate to characterize risks to the
fresh water portion of the Edwards Aquifer and other fresh water
associated with the continued operation of the well, and at least 90
days before the date the owner initiates commercial well
operations, files with the commission a notice of intent to
continue operation of the well after completion of the research
project; and
(3) the commission, based on the studies and
monitoring, the report provided by Texas State University--San
Marcos under Subsection (l)(2), and any other reasonably available
information, determines that continued operation of the injection
well as described in the notice of intent does not pose an
unreasonable risk to the fresh water portion of the Edwards Aquifer
or other fresh water associated with the continued operation of the
well.
SECTION 2. Section 27.0516(a)(1), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Edwards Aquifer" means that portion of an arcuate
belt of porous, waterbearing limestones composed of the Edwards
Formation, Georgetown Formation, Comanche Peak Formation, Salmon
Peak Limestone, McKnight Formation, West Nueces Formation, Devil's
River Limestone, Person Formation, Kainer Formation, and Edwards
Group [trending from west to east to northeast through Kinney,
Uvalde, Medina, Bexar, Kendall, Comal, Hays, Travis, and Williamson
Counties]. The permeable aquifer units generally overlie the
less-permeable Glen Rose Formation to the south[, overlie the
less-permeable Comanche Peak and Walnut Formations north of the
Colorado River,] and underlie the less-permeable Del Rio Clay
regionally.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.