88R20694 JAM-F
By: Orr, Ashby, Harris of Anderson, Bonnen, H.B. No. 4757
Burrows, et al.
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 4757:
By: Ashby C.S.H.B. No. 4757
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the approval by the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the
authorization for an appropriation of water from certain water
bodies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 11.1274 to read as follows:
Sec. 11.1274. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT: APPROVAL OF
APPROPRIATION FROM CERTAIN WATER BODIES. The commission may not
approve an application for a new or amended water right authorizing
an appropriation of water from Big Brown Creek or Fairfield Lake in
the Trinity River basin of Freestone County unless the application:
(1) has first been approved by the Parks and Wildlife
Commission; and
(2) provides for the preservation of the historical
public access to and uses and water levels of Fairfield Lake.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
new or amended water right for which an application is pending
before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on the
effective date of this Act or is filed with the commission on or
after that date.
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, 2023.