By: Seliger S.B. No. 1268
(Price)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the taxing power of the North Plains Groundwater
Conservation District.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2, Chapter 498, Acts of the 54th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1955, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2. North Plains Groundwater Conservation District,
hereinafter sometimes referred to as the District, shall have and
exercise and is hereby vested with all of the rights, powers,
privileges and duties conferred and imposed by the general laws of
this State now enforced or hereafter enacted applicable to
groundwater conservation districts created under authority of
Article XVI, Section 59 of the Constitution of Texas, and Chapter
36, Water Code, to:
(1) formulate, promulgate and enforce rules and
regulations for the purpose of conserving, preserving, protecting
and recharging the water of any groundwater reservoir or
subdivision of a groundwater reservoir in the district;
(2) formulate, promulgate and enforce rules and
regulations to prevent the waste, as defined in Chapter 36, Water
Code, of the underground water of any groundwater reservoir or
subdivision of a groundwater reservoir in the district;
(3) require permits for the drilling, equipping and
completion of wells in any groundwater reservoir of a groundwater
reservoir in the district and to issue such permits subject to such
terms and provisions with reference to the drilling, equipping and
completion thereof as may be necessary to prevent waste or
contamination;
(4) provide for the spacing of wells producing from
any groundwater reservoir or subdivision of a groundwater reservoir
in the district and to regulate the production therefrom so as to
minimize as far as practicable the drawdown of the water table or
the reduction of the artesian pressure; provided, however, the
owner of the land, his heirs, assigns and lessees, shall not be
denied a permit to drill a well on his land and produce groundwater
therefrom subject to rules and regulations promulgated hereunder to
prevent waste or contamination;
(5) require records to be kept and reports to be made
of the drilling, equipping, and completion of wells into the
reservoirs or subdivisions of groundwater reservoirs and the taking
and use of groundwater therefrom; to require accurate drillers'
logs to be kept of such wells and a copy thereof and of any electric
logs which may be made of such wells to be filed with the district;
(6) acquire lands for the erection of dams and for the
purpose of draining lakes, draws, and depressions, and to construct
dams, drain lakes, depressions, draws, and creeks and to install
pumps and other equipment necessary to recharge any groundwater
reservoir or subdivision of a groundwater reservoir in the
district;
(7) cause to be made by a registered professional
engineer or qualified groundwater scientist surveys of the
underground water of all groundwater reservoirs or subdivisions of
groundwater reservoirs in the district and of the facilities for
the development, production and use of such water, to determine the
quantity thereof available for production and use and the
improvements, developments, and recharges needed for such
groundwater reservoirs or subdivisions of groundwater reservoirs
in the district;
(8) develop comprehensive plans for the most efficient
use of the water of the groundwater reservoirs or subdivisions of
groundwater reservoirs in the district and for the control and
prevention of waste of such groundwater, which plans shall specify
in such detail as may be practicable the acts, procedure,
performance and avoidance which are or may be necessary to effect
such plans, including specifications therefor; to carry out
research projects, develop information and determine limitations,
if any, which should be made on the withdrawal of water from the
groundwater reservoirs or subdivisions of groundwater reservoirs
in the district; to collect and preserve information regarding the
use of such water and the practicability of recharge of the
groundwater reservoirs or subdivisions of groundwater reservoirs
in the district; to publish such plans and information, bring them
to the notice and attention of the users of such groundwater within
the district, and to encourage their adoption and execution;
(9) enforce, by injunction, mandatory injunction or
other appropriate remedy, in courts of competent jurisdiction,
rules and regulations duly adopted and promulgated by such
district; provided, that no rule or regulation shall be effective
until a brief resume thereof has been published once a week for two
(2) consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers to give circulation
within the district, and such rule or regulation is to be effective
not less than fourteen (14) days after the date of the first
publication;
(10) incur all such indebtedness as may be necessary
and requisite to the achievement of the purposes for which the
district is created; to issue negotiable bonds and notes in the name
of the district for any lawful purpose of the district and levy and
collect such ad valorem taxes as may be necessary for the payment of
the interest and the creation of a sinking fund for the payment of
such bonds, the issuance of such bonds and the levy and collection
of taxes to be in accordance with Chapter 36, Water Code; to levy
and collect the ad valorem tax authorized at the election held
January 21, 1955, for the maintenance of such district, its
installations and activities; to hereafter order elections for the
purpose of authorizing the levy and collection of taxes for the
maintenance of the district, its installations and activities, such
elections to be ordered and held as is provided for elections
authorizing the issuance of bonds; provided that in all bond
elections and tax elections all persons may vote who are resident
voters of such district; [provided further that the maintenance and
operating taxes may never in any one year exceed Five Cents (5ยข) on
the One Hundred Dollar ($100) assessed valuation on property in the
district subject to taxation;] and provided, further, that the
district may have its taxes assessed and collected by the
respective county tax assessors and collectors as provided in
Chapter 218, Page 348, Acts, Fifty-second Legislature, Regular
Session, 1951.
SECTION 2. (a) The legal notice of the intention to
introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this
Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a
copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies,
officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished
under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313,
Government Code.
(b) The governor, one of the required recipients, has
submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality.
(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed
its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives within the required time.
(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
and accomplished.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.