By: Larson, Toth (Senate Sponsor - Perry) H.B. No. 1052
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 2019;
May 10, 2019, read first time and referred to Committee on Water &
Rural Affairs; May 15, 2019, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 15, 2019, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
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. This Act may be cited as the Texas State Water
Investment Fund Act.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 16.131, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 16.131. AUTHORIZED PROJECTS FOR STATE PARTICIPATION
ACCOUNT.
SECTION 3. Section 16.131, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) The board may use the state participation account of the
development fund to encourage optimum regional and interregional
development of projects including the design, acquisition, lease,
construction, reconstruction, development, or enlargement in whole
or part of:
(1) reservoirs and storm water retention basins for
water supply, flood protection, and groundwater recharge;
(2) facilities for the transmission and treatment of
water; [and]
(3) treatment works as defined by Section 17.001; and
(4) interregional water supply projects selected
under Section 16.145.
(c) Not less than 50 percent of money used from the state
participation account of the development fund in any fiscal year
must be used for interregional water projects selected under
Section 16.145.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 16, Water Code, is amended
by adding Sections 16.145 and 16.146 to read as follows:
Sec. 16.145. INTERREGIONAL WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS. (a) The
board shall identify, establish selection criteria for, and issue a
request for proposals for water supply projects that benefit
multiple water planning regions. Selection criteria established
under this section must prioritize projects that:
(1) maximize the use of private financial resources;
(2) combine the financial resources of multiple water
planning regions; and
(3) have a substantial economic benefit to the regions
served by:
(A) affecting a large population;
(B) creating jobs in the regions served; and
(C) meeting a high percentage of the water supply
needs of the water users served by the project.
(b) The board and the commission shall enter into a
memorandum of understanding for the expedited approval of permits
for projects selected under this section.
Sec. 16.146. AUTHORIZED PROJECTS FOR STATE PARTICIPATION
ACCOUNT II. (a) The board may use the state participation account
II created under Section 17.957 to provide financial assistance for
the development of a desalination or aquifer storage and recovery
facility, including associated intake or distribution facilities,
to meet existing or projected future water needs by acquiring such a
facility or an ownership interest in such a facility.
(b) The board may act singly or in a joint venture in
partnership with any person, including a public or private entity,
an agency or political subdivision of this state, another state or a
political subdivision of another state, the United States, or a
foreign nation, to the extent permitted by law. The board may
provide financial assistance under this section for a facility
without regard to any requirements provided by board rules
regarding the portion of the capacity of the facility that will
serve an existing need or the portion of the cost of the facility
that the applicant will finance from sources other than the state
participation account II.
(c) Section 16.135 does not apply to the use of the state
participation account II to develop a facility described by
Subsection (a) of this section by acquiring the facility or an
interest in the facility.
(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 from the state participation account II
before September 1, 2024, the board may not provide financial
assistance for any facility from that account after that date.
SECTION 5. Section 16.182, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 16.182. PERMITS [PERMIT] REQUIRED. (a) Before the
board grants the application to buy, receive, or lease the
facilities, the applicant shall first secure all appropriate
permits [a permit for water use] from the commission. If the
facilities are to be leased, a [the] permit may be for a term of
years.
(b) The board may assist the applicant with securing permits
for a facility described by Section 16.146.
SECTION 6. Section 17.957, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) 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 16.146;
(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 16.146;
(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 16.146 in the manner that the board determines necessary
for the administration of the fund.
(c-1) The comptroller shall establish a subaccount in the
state participation account to be known as the state participation
account II. The board may credit to the subaccount money in the
state participation account allocated by the board for the purposes
of Section 16.146. The board may transfer money from the subaccount
to the state participation account if the board determines the
money is needed for the purposes of Section 16.131.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
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