By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1747
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a restriction on permits authorizing direct discharges
of waste or pollutants into water in certain stream segments or
assessment units.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 26.0462 to read as follows:
Sec. 26.0462. RESTRICTION ON PERMITS FOR DISCHARGES OF
WASTE OR POLLUTANTS INTO CERTAIN STREAM SEGMENTS OR ASSESSMENT
UNITS. (a) In this section, "classified stream segment" and
"assessment unit within a classified stream segment" mean a
classified stream segment or an assessment unit within a classified
stream segment monitored under the commission's Surface Water
Quality Monitoring Program as it existed during the period from
January 1, 2010 to January 2020.
(b) This section applies to the drainage area of a
classified stream segment or an assessment unit within a classified
stream segment that, on September 1, 2021, has had, according to
commission data, a total phosphorus level at or below .06
milligrams per liter in 90 percent or more of all water quality
samples taken from the stream segment or assessment unit for the 10
calendar years preceding January 1, 2020. This section does not
apply to a classified stream segment or assessment unit of a
classified stream segment that is located in the drainage area of
another classified stream segment or assessment unit within a
classified stream segment.
(c) The commission may not:
(1) issue a new permit authorizing the direct
discharge of waste or pollutants into the drainage area of a
classified stream segment or an assessment unit within a classified
stream segment to which this section applies; or
(2) amend a permit issued before September 1, 2021, to
authorize an increase in the amount of waste or pollutants that may
be directly discharged into the drainage area of a classified
stream segment or an assessment unit within a classified stream
segment to which this section applies.
(d) This section does not affect the authority of the
commission to issue:
(1) a new or amended permit to a municipality or a
river authority that authorizes a direct discharge of waste or
pollutants into the drainage area of a classified stream segment or
an assessment unit within a classified stream segment;
(2) an individual permit for a municipal separate
storm sewer system; or
(3) a general permit for stormwater and associated
non-stormwater discharges.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for a permit or permit amendment that is submitted
to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the
effective date of this Act. An application for a permit or permit
amendment that was submitted to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect at the time the application was filed,
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, 2021.