By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1775
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the Texas Water Development Board to
use the state participation account of the water development fund
to provide financial assistance for the development of certain
facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 16, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 16.145 to read as follows:
Sec. 16.145. DESALINATION OR AQUIFER STORAGE AND RECOVERY
FACILITY. (a) In addition to using the account for the purposes
described by Section 16.131, the board may use the state
participation account of the development fund to provide financial
assistance for the development of desalination or aquifer storage
and recovery facilities, including associated intake or
distribution facilities, by acquiring facilities or an ownership
interest in facilities, to meet existing or projected future water
needs.
(b) The board may act singly or in a joint venture in
partnership with any person or entity, including any public or
private entity, agency or political subdivision of this state, or
with another state or its political subdivisions, or with the
United States, or with a foreign nation, to the extent permitted by
law.
(c) Section 16.135 does not apply to the use of the state
participation account to acquire a facility or an interest in a
facility described by Subsection (a).
(d) Before the board may acquire a facility or an interest
in a facility described by Subsection (a), the board must find
affirmatively that:
(1) it is reasonable to expect that the state will
recover its investment in the facility; and
(2) the public interest will be served by the
acquisition of the facility.
(e) The board may not provide financial assistance under
this section for a facility unless the facility is included in the
state water plan.
(f) The board shall establish a point system for
prioritizing facilities for which financial assistance is sought
from the board under this section. The system must include a
standard for the board to apply in determining whether a facility
qualifies for financial assistance at the time the application for
financial assistance is filed with the board.
(g) The board may not issue more than $200 million in water
financial assistance bonds designated by the board as issued to
provide financial assistance for facilities under this section.
(h) If the board does not provide financial assistance for a
facility under this section before September 1, 2022, the board may
not provide financial assistance for any facility under this
section after that date.
SECTION 2. Section 16.182, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 16.182. PERMIT REQUIRED. (a) Before the board grants
the application to buy, receive, or lease the facilities, the
applicant shall first secure a permit for water use from the
commission. If the facilities are to be leased, the permit may be
for a term of years.
(b) The board may assist the applicant with securing a
permit for a facility described by Section 16.145.
SECTION 3. Sections 17.957(b) and (c), Water Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The state participation account is composed of:
(1) money and assets attributable to water financial
assistance bonds designated by the board as issued for projects
described in Sections [Section] 16.131 and 16.145;
(2) money from the sale, transfer, or lease of a
project described in Subdivision (1) that was acquired,
constructed, reconstructed, developed, or enlarged with money from
the state participation account;
(3) payments received under a bond enhancement
agreement with respect to water financial assistance bonds
designated by the board as issued for projects described in
Sections [Section] 16.131 and 16.145;
(4) investment income earned on money on deposit in
the state participation account;
(5) money disbursed to the fund from the state water
implementation fund for Texas as authorized by Section 15.434; and
(6) any other funds, regardless of their source, that
the board directs be deposited to the credit of the state
participation account.
(c) Money on deposit in the state participation account may
be used by the board for projects described in Sections [Section]
16.131 and 16.145 in the manner that the board determines necessary
for the administration of the fund. Money on deposit in the state
participation account described in Sections 16.131 will be kept in
a different subaccount from the money on deposit described in
Section 16.145. The subaccount containing the money on deposit
described in Section 16.145 shall be known as the State
Participation Account II. The board at its discretion may move
money between subaccounts within the State Participation
subaccounts.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.