87R13520 ANG-F
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 3801
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to desired future conditions for groundwater that are
declared unreasonable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to
read as follows:
(b) The management plan, or any amendments to the plan,
shall:
(1) be developed using the district's best available
data and forwarded to the regional water planning group for use in
their planning process; and
(2) include the:
(A) most recently approved desired future
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; and
(B) amount of modeled available groundwater
corresponding to the most recently approved desired future
conditions.
(b-1) A district shall amend a management plan before the
second anniversary of the adoption of desired future conditions
included under Subsection (b).
(b-2) If a petition challenging the reasonableness of a
desired future condition is filed under Section 36.1083(b), the
executive administrator shall consider the management plan
administratively complete if the district includes:
(1) the most recently approved desired future
conditions adopted under Section 36.108;
(2) the amount of modeled available groundwater
corresponding to the desired future conditions;
(3) a statement of the status of the petition
challenging the reasonableness of a desired future condition; and
(4) the information required by Subsections (a) and
(e).
SECTION 2. Section 36.1083(a)(1), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Affected person" means:
(A) an owner of land in a district in the same
management area in which a petition is filed;
(B) a district;
(C) a regional water planning group that has
approved a regional water plan that includes a water management
strategy applicable to the district that adopted the desired future
conditions;
(D) a person who holds or is applying for a permit
from a district in the same management area in which a petition is
filed;
(E) a person who has groundwater rights in a
district in the same management area in which a petition is filed;
or
(F) any other person defined as affected by
commission rule [has the meaning assigned by Section 36.1082].
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a petition filed under Section 36.1083, Water Code, as amended by
this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act. A petition
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the hearing was conducted, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.