| 1 | 1 | | By: Guillen (Senate Sponsor - Parker) H.B. No. 4119 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House May 3, 2023; |
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| 3 | 3 | | May 10, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural |
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| 4 | 4 | | Resources & Economic Development; May 18, 2023, reported favorably |
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| 5 | 5 | | by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 18, 2023, sent to |
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| 6 | 6 | | printer.) |
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| 7 | 7 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | |
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| 10 | 10 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 11 | 11 | | AN ACT |
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| 12 | 12 | | relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production |
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| 13 | 13 | | area authorizations. |
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| 14 | 14 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 15 | 15 | | SECTION 1. Section 27.0513(d), Water Code, is amended to |
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| 16 | 16 | | read as follows: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and |
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| 18 | 18 | | 27.018, an application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
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| 19 | 19 | | authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and |
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| 20 | 20 | | restoration activities in production zones within the boundary |
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| 21 | 21 | | established in the permit is an uncontested matter not subject to a |
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| 22 | 22 | | contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001, |
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| 23 | 23 | | Government Code, if: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (1) the authorization is for a production zone located |
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| 25 | 25 | | within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each |
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| 26 | 26 | | production zone addressed in the application, a range table of |
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| 27 | 27 | | groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater |
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| 28 | 28 | | restoration by the commission; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (2) the application includes, for each production zone |
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| 30 | 30 | | addressed in the application, groundwater quality restoration |
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| 31 | 31 | | values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established |
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| 32 | 32 | | in Subdivision (1); and |
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| 33 | 33 | | (3) the authorization is for a production zone located |
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| 34 | 34 | | within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater |
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| 35 | 35 | | baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required |
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| 36 | 36 | | by commission rule. |
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| 37 | 37 | | SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are |
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| 38 | 38 | | repealed. |
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| 39 | 39 | | SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 40 | 40 | | to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
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| 41 | 41 | | authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on |
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| 42 | 42 | | Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 43 | 43 | | An application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
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| 44 | 44 | | authorization that was submitted to the commission before the |
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| 45 | 45 | | effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the |
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| 46 | 46 | | time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law |
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| 47 | 47 | | is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |
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| 49 | 49 | | * * * * * |
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