85R1965 SLB-F
By: Taylor of Collin S.B. No. 225
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the referral by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality to the State Office of Administrative Hearings of an issue
regarding an application for a water right.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.133, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.133. HEARING. (a) At the time and place stated in
the notice, the commission shall hold a hearing on the application.
Any person may appear at the hearing in person or by attorney or may
enter an [his] appearance in writing. Any person who appears may
present objection to the issuance of the permit. The commission may
receive evidence, orally or by affidavit, in support of or in
opposition to the issuance of the permit, and it may hear arguments.
(b) The commission may not refer an issue regarding an
application to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a
hearing unless the commission determines that the issue is:
(1) a disputed question of fact or a disputed mixed
question of law and fact; and
(2) relevant and material to a decision on the
application.
(c) If the commission grants a request for a hearing, the
commission shall:
(1) determine the number and scope of issues to be
referred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a
hearing; and
(2) consistent with the nature and number of issues to
be considered at the hearing, specify the maximum expected duration
of the proceeding, beginning with the holding of the preliminary
hearing and concluding with the issuance of the proposal for
decision, which may not exceed a period of 270 days.
(d) The administrative law judge who conducts the hearing
may extend the proceeding beyond the period specified by the
commission under Subsection (c)(2) if the administrative law judge
determines that failure to extend the proceeding would deprive a
party of due process or another constitutional right.
(e) If the commission refers an application to the State
Office of Administrative Hearings, the administrative law judge who
conducts the hearing may not grant party status to an affected
person who objects to the application if the person failed to submit
a request to the commission for a hearing in accordance with Section
11.132. This subsection does not apply to the applicant, the office
of public interest counsel, or the executive director.
(f) In the event of a conflict between this section and any
other law, this section prevails.
SECTION 2. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall adopt rules to implement the changes in law made by this Act.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an
application for a new or amended water right received by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date
of the rules adopted under Subsection (a) of this section. An
application received before the effective date of the rules adopted
under Subsection (a) of this section is governed by the law in
effect on the date the application was received, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
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.