Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1746 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1746
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to financial assistance provided to political
7	7	subdivisions by the Texas Water Development Board for nature-based
8	8	water quality enhancement projects.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 15.604(b), Water Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(b) The board shall adopt rules specifying the manner in
13	13	which any additional state revolving fund hereafter established by
14	14	the board, or any capitalization grant under the state water
15	15	pollution control revolving fund, the safe drinking water revolving
16	16	fund, or any additional state revolving fund, may be used to provide
17	17	financial assistance to an eligible applicant for public works.
18	18	Such rules shall require financial assistance to be provided for
19	19	the purpose or purposes and on the terms authorized by the federal
20	20	legislation or federal agency program under which the additional
21	21	state revolving fund was established or the capitalization grant
22	22	was awarded. To the extent not prohibited by board rule, any
23	23	additional state revolving fund established under this subchapter
24	24	may be used to provide financial assistance for projects described
25	25	by Section 17.280.
26	26	SECTION 2. Section 17.001(10), Water Code, is amended to
27	27	read as follows:
28	28	(10) "Water quality enhancement" means the
29	29	construction of treatment works or projects described by Section
30	30	17.280 by political subdivisions with loans provided by water
31	31	quality enhancement funds.
32	32	SECTION 3. Section 17.271, Water Code, is amended to read as
33	33	follows:
34	34	Sec. 17.271. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to
35	35	provide for making loans of water quality enhancement funds
36	36	authorized by Article III, Sections 49-d-1, 49-d-2, 49-d-6, and
37	37	49-d-7, of the Texas Constitution to political subdivisions of the
38	38	state for water quality enhancement [the construction of treatment
39	39	works].
40	40	SECTION 4. Section 17.272, Water Code, is amended to read as
41	41	follows:
42	42	Sec. 17.272. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE. The board may use water
43	43	quality enhancement funds to provide financial assistance to
44	44	political subdivisions for purposes of water quality enhancement,
45	45	including projects proposed under the water resource restoration
46	46	program established under Section 17.280.
47	47	SECTION 5. Section 17.274, Water Code, is amended by adding
48	48	Subsection (b) to read as follows:
49	49	(b) An application for financial assistance administered
50	50	through the water resource restoration program established under
51	51	Section 17.280 must include a copy of a resolution approving the
52	52	proposed project adopted by the governing body of a municipality or
53	53	special purpose district or the commissioners court of a county in
54	54	which the proposed project is to be located.
55	55	SECTION 6. Section 17.275, Water Code, is amended to read as
56	56	follows:
57	57	Sec. 17.275. CONSIDERATIONS IN PASSING ON APPLICATION. In
58	58	passing on an application from a political subdivision for
59	59	financial assistance for water quality enhancement purposes, the
60	60	board shall consider:
61	61	(1) the water quality needs of the waters into which
62	62	effluent from the treatment works will be discharged, the benefit
63	63	of the treatment works to such water quality needs, the
64	64	relationship of the treatment works to the overall, statewide water
65	65	quality needs; and the relationship of the treatment works to water
66	66	quality planning for the state;
67	67	(2) the availability of revenue to the political
68	68	subdivision, from all sources, for the ultimate repayment of the
69	69	cost of the treatment works, including interest; [and]
70	70	(3) whether the political subdivision has been
71	71	designated, pursuant to Section 26.082 of this code, to provide a
72	72	regional system to serve all or part of the waste disposal needs of
73	73	a defined area, the development of such systems being the declared
74	74	policy of the legislature; and
75	75	(4) whether the political subdivision proposes a
76	76	project through the water resource restoration program established
77	77	under Section 17.280.
78	78	SECTION 7. Section 17.279, Water Code, is amended to read as
79	79	follows:
80	80	Sec. 17.279. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. If there is
81	81	insufficient money available to fund all applications under this
82	82	subchapter, the board shall give preference to applications for
83	83	political subdivisions that:
84	84	(1) the board finds cannot reasonably finance the
85	85	treatment works without assistance from the state;
86	86	(2) propose a project through the water resource
87	87	restoration program established under Section 17.280 that provides
88	88	a significant improvement to water quality in the relevant
89	89	watershed; or
90	90	(3) propose a project through the water resource
91	91	restoration program established under Section 17.280 that affects
92	92	a disadvantaged community, as determined by board rule.
93	93	SECTION 8. Subchapter F, Chapter 17, Water Code, is amended
94	94	by adding Section 17.280 to read as follows:
95	95	Sec. 17.280. WATER RESOURCE RESTORATION PROGRAM. (a) In
96	96	this section:
97	97	(1) "Program" means the water resource restoration
98	98	program.
99	99	(2) "Project" means nature-based infrastructure that
100	100	will improve water quality in the political subdivision where the
101	101	project is located and includes the acquisition of real property
102	102	and the use of nature-based water treatment technologies.
103	103	(b) The board shall establish and administer the water
104	104	resource restoration program to assist in enhancing water quality
105	105	in the state through the provision of financial assistance to
106	106	political subdivisions for locally directed projects.
107	107	(c) The board will create an option to bundle a water
108	108	resource restoration project with a state revolving fund project
109	109	so the total cost of both projects to the applicant will be no more
110	110	than the cost of the state revolving fund project alone.
111	111	(d) A proposed project must be compatible with the goals of
112	112	the program and include the application of best management
113	113	practices for the primary purpose of water quality protection and
114	114	improvement. A proposed project may include:
115	115	(1) the preservation or restoration of regional scale
116	116	natural landscape features, including forests, floodplains, and
117	117	wetlands;
118	118	(2) practices that reduce impervious cover in a
119	119	watershed;
120	120	(3) practices that increase water infiltration and
121	121	retention, including the use of bioretention, trees, green roofs,
122	122	permeable pavements, rain gardens, constructed wetlands, and
123	123	cisterns;
124	124	(4) the implementation of green streets in public
125	125	rights-of-way;
126	126	(5) the implementation of a comprehensive street tree
127	127	or urban forestry program to manage stormwater and enhance tree
128	128	health;
129	129	(6) the expanded use of tree box filters;
130	130	(7) stormwater collection and distribution systems,
131	131	including cisterns, separate stormwater sewer systems, and
132	132	downspout disconnection systems that use onsite stormwater
133	133	management and remove stormwater from sewer systems;
134	134	(8) soil quality enhancement activities;
135	135	(9) the removal and replacement of turf with native
136	136	grasses and vegetation that improve water infiltration;
137	137	(10) the establishment or restoration of permanent
138	138	riparian buffers, floodplains, wetlands, and other natural
139	139	features including vegetative buffers, grass swales, soft
140	140	bioengineered stream banks, and stream daylighting;
141	141	(11) the management of wetlands to improve water
142	142	quality and support water infiltration and retention; and
143	143	(12) sustainable landscaping to improve hydrologic
144	144	processes.
145	145	(e) A proposed project may not include:
146	146	(1) passive recreation activities and trails
147	147	including bike trails, playgrounds, athletic fields, picnic
148	148	tables, and picnic grounds;
149	149	(2) non-permeable surface parking lots;
150	150	(3) stormwater ponds or dirt-lined detention basins
151	151	that serve an extended or filtration function;
152	152	(4) in-line and end-of-pipe treatment systems that
153	153	only filter or detain stormwater without the use of natural plants
154	154	and trees;
155	155	(5) underground stormwater control and treatment
156	156	devices, including hydrodynamic separators, baffle systems for
157	157	grit, trash removal, and oil and grease separators;
158	158	(6) stormwater conveyance systems, including pipes
159	159	and concrete channels, that are not soil or vegetation based;
160	160	(7) hardening, channelizing, dredging, or
161	161	straightening streams or stream banks;
162	162	(8) street sweepers, sewer cleaners, and vacuum trucks
163	163	unless they support nature-based infrastructure projects; and
164	164	(9) supplemental environmental projects required as a
165	165	part of a consent decree.
166	166	(f) A project may not include the acquisition of property,
167	167	an interest in property, or improvements to property through the
168	168	use of eminent domain.
169	169	(g) The board shall adopt rules to establish a means of
170	170	prioritizing projects in disadvantaged communities. The board
171	171	shall include the following criteria to determine whether a
172	172	political subdivision seeking financing under this section is a
173	173	disadvantaged community:
174	174	(1) median household income in the community as a
175	175	percentage of statewide household income;
176	176	(2) annual water and sewer rates as a percentage of
177	177	median household income in the community;
178	178	(3) families below the poverty level in the community
179	179	as a percentage of the statewide number of families below the
180	180	poverty level;
181	181	(4) per capita outstanding debt of the wastewater
182	182	system serving the community as a percentage of median household
183	183	income in the community; and
184	184	(5) cost-effectiveness calculated by determining
185	185	construction costs of the proposed project per user.
186	186	(h) An application for the financing of a project under
187	187	this section must include a viability assessment that includes:
188	188	(1) the ability of the applicant to provide proper
189	189	oversight and management through a certified operator; and
190	190	(2) the financial ability of the users to support the
191	191	long-term maintenance of the project.
192	192	(i) The board shall adopt rules necessary for the
193	193	implementation and administration of this section.
194	194	SECTION 9. Not later than September 1, 2022, the Texas Water
195	195	Development Board shall adopt rules necessary to implement Section
196	196	17.280, Water Code, as added by this Act.
197	197	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.