88R8379 JXC-F
By: Kuempel H.B. No. 3666
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to judicial review of certain permitting decisions made by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.354, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.354. VENUE. (a) Except as provided by Subsection
(b), a [A] suit instituted under Section 5.351 or 5.352 [of this
code] must be brought in a district court in Travis County.
(b) A suit instituted under Section 5.351 that relates to
the issuance of a permit under Chapter 26 must be brought in a
county in which the permitted point of discharge of waste is located
or proposed to be located.
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 5, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 5.3541 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.3541. SCOPE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CHAPTER 26 PERMIT.
(a) This section applies only to a suit instituted under Section
5.351 that relates to the issuance of a permit under Chapter 26.
(b) The scope of review by the court is limited to:
(1) an argument brought before the commission during
consideration of the ruling, order, decision, or other act that is
the subject of the suit; and
(2) an allegation of the commission's violation of
this code or a commission rule committed during consideration of
the ruling, order, decision, or other act that is the subject of the
suit.
(c) The petition submitted under Section 5.351 must
include:
(1) a citation to each specific section of the
statutes and rules involved in the matter under review; and
(2) a citation to the administrative record to support
each allegation in the petition.
(d) The court shall give deference to the actions of the
commission consistent with applicable law and may find an action
unlawful only if:
(1) no evidence supports the commission's action; or
(2) the commission's action was not based on a
permissible construction of the statute.
(e) The court may not substitute its judgment for a judgment
of the commission on water quality degradation.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a suit instituted under Section 5.351, Water Code, on or after the
effective date of this Act. A suit instituted under Section 5.351,
Water Code, before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect at the time the suit was instituted, and the former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.