Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4874 Compare Versions

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Version 2 (New)

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1	1	By: Bailes H.B. No. 4874
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to notice of a water right amendment filed with the Texas
7	7	Commission on Environmental Quality regarding a change in purpose
8	8	of use.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 11.122, Water Code, is amended by adding
11	11	section 11.122(b-4) as follows:
12	12	Sec. 11.122. AMENDMENTS TO WATER RIGHTS REQUIRED. (a) All
13	13	holders of permits, certified filings, and certificates of
14	14	adjudication issued under Section 11.323 of this code shall obtain
15	15	from the commission authority to change the place of use, purpose of
16	16	use, point of diversion, rate of diversion, acreage to be
17	17	irrigated, or otherwise alter a water right. Without obtaining an
18	18	amendment, the holder of a permit, certified filing, or certificate
19	19	of adjudication that includes industrial or irrigation use may use
20	20	or supply water for an agricultural use that was classified as
21	21	industrial or irrigation before September 1, 2001.
22	22	(b) Subject to meeting all other applicable requirements of
23	23	this chapter for the approval of an application, an amendment,
24	24	except an amendment to a water right that increases the amount of
25	25	water authorized to be diverted or the authorized rate of
26	26	diversion, shall be authorized if the requested change will not
27	27	cause adverse impact on other water right holders or the
28	28	environment on the stream of greater magnitude than under
29	29	circumstances in which the permit, certified filing, or certificate
30	30	of adjudication that is sought to be amended was fully exercised
31	31	according to its terms and conditions as they existed before the
32	32	requested amendment.
33	33	(b-1) A holder of a water right that begins using
34	34	desalinated seawater after acquiring the water right has a right to
35	35	expedited consideration of an application for an amendment to the
36	36	water right if the amendment:
37	37	(1) authorizes the applicant to divert water from a
38	38	diversion point that is different from or in addition to the point
39	39	or points from which the applicant was authorized to divert water
40	40	before the requested amendment;
41	41	(2) authorizes the applicant to divert from the
42	42	different or additional diversion point an amount of water that is
43	43	equal to or less than the amount of desalinated seawater used by the
44	44	applicant;
45	45	(3) authorizes the applicant to divert from all of the
46	46	diversion points authorized by the water right an amount of water
47	47	that is equal to or less than the amount of water the applicant was
48	48	authorized to divert under the water right before the requested
49	49	amendment;
50	50	(4) authorizes the applicant to divert water from all
51	51	of the diversion points authorized by the water right at a combined
52	52	rate that is equal to or less than the combined rate at which the
53	53	applicant was authorized to divert water under the water right
54	54	before the requested amendment; and
55	55	(5) does not authorize the water diverted from the
56	56	different or additional diversion point to be transferred to
57	57	another river basin.
58	58	(b-2) The executive director or the commission shall
59	59	prioritize the technical review of an application that is subject
60	60	to Subsection (b-1) over the technical review of applications that
61	61	are not subject to that subsection.
62	62	(b-3) In addition to an application that meets the
63	63	requirements of Subsection (b) and for which the commission has
64	64	determined that notice or an opportunity for a contested case
65	65	hearing is not required under another statute or a commission rule,
66	66	an application for an amendment to a water right is exempt from any
67	67	requirements of a statute or commission rule regarding notice and
68	68	hearing or technical review by the executive director or the
69	69	commission and may not be referred to the State Office of
70	70	Administrative Hearings for a contested case hearing if the
71	71	executive director determines after an administrative review that
72	72	the application is for an amendment that:
73	73	(1) adds a purpose of use that does not substantially
74	74	alter:
75	75	(A) the nature of the right from a right
76	76	authorizing only nonconsumptive use to a right authorizing
77	77	consumptive use; or
78	78	(B) a pattern of use that is explicitly
79	79	authorized in or required by the original right;
80	80	(2) adds a place of use located in the same basin as
81	81	the place of use authorized by the original right; or
82	82	(3) changes the point of diversion, provided that:
83	83	(A) the authorized rate of diversion is not
84	84	increased;
85	85	(B) the original point of diversion and the new
86	86	point of diversion are located in the same contiguous tract of land;
87	87	(C) the original point of diversion and the new
88	88	point of diversion are from the same source of supply;
89	89	(D) there are no points of diversion from the
90	90	same source of supply associated with other water rights that are
91	91	located between the original point of diversion and the new point of
92	92	diversion;
93	93	(E) there are no streamflow gauges located on the
94	94	source of supply between the original point of diversion and the new
95	95	point of diversion that are referenced in the original water right
96	96	or in another water right authorizing a diversion from the same
97	97	source of supply; and
98	98	(F) there are no tributary watercourses that
99	99	enter the watercourse that is the source of supply located between
100	100	the original point of diversion and the new point of diversion.
101	101	(b-4) An application for an amendment to a water right to
102	102	change the purpose of use from a consumptive use for power
103	103	generation to any other consumptive use shall provide public notice
104	104	of the application in the county where the water right is located,
105	105	in accordance with commission rules.
106	106	SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section
107	107	11.122, Water Code, applies only to an application filed with the
108	108	Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective
109	109	day of this Act.
110	110	SECTION 3. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
111	111	shall adopt rules necessary to implement the change in law made by
112	112	this Act as soon as practicable after the effective date of this
113	113	Act.
114	114	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
115	115	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
116	116	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
117	117	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
118	118	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.