By: Kacal H.B. No. 5302
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a petition for inquiry of a groundwater conservation
district before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.3011, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (d-1), (d-2), (e-1),
and (e-2) to read as follows:
(d) If the petition is not dismissed under Subsection (c),
the commission shall appoint a review panel consisting of a
chairperson and four other members. A director or general manager
of a district located outside the management area that is the
subject of the petition may be appointed to the review panel. The
commission may not appoint more than two members of the review panel
from any one district. The commission also shall appoint a
disinterested person to serve as a nonvoting recording secretary
for the review panel. The recording secretary shall [may] be an
employee of the commission.
(d-1) A member of the review panel is not entitled to a fee
of office or other compensation for serving on the review panel, but
is entitled to receive from the commission reimbursement of actual
expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred while engaging in
activities on behalf of the review panel. In order to receive
reimbursement for expenses, each review panel member shall file
with the executive director a verified statement describing the
expenses incurred and including any relevant receipts.
(d-2) The review panel serves only in an advisory role to
the commission. The review panel is not a governmental body under
Chapters 551 or 552, Government Code. The records and documents of
the recording secretary of the proceedings of the review panel
prepared under Subsection (d) shall be provided to the executive
director and are public information under Chapter 552, Government
Code. The executive director shall provide notice of any public
meeting or public hearing required under Subsection (e) upon
request from the review panel not less than seven days prior to the
date of the public meeting or public hearing by:
(1) posting notice on the commission's Internet
website;
(2) providing notice by regular mail to:
(A) the district that is the subject of the
petition;
(B) the petitioner; and
(C) the county clerk of each county in the
district.
(e-1) The commission or the review panel may request
assistance on technical issues involved in the petition from the
Texas Water Development Board by submitting a written request to
the executive administrator. The executive administrator shall
provide the technical assistance requested through a written
response no later than 120 days after receiving the request. A
deadline set forth under Subsections (c), (e), or (h) is extended by
120 days if a request for technical assistance is submitted to the
executive administrator during that phase of the petition review.
(e-2) The office of public interest counsel shall provide
legal advice and assistance to the review panel upon request from a
member of the review panel. Notwithstanding Section 5.273 or any
other law, the public interest counsel shall not participate as a
party in an inquiry under this section and shall have no duties or
responsibilities to represent the public interest or otherwise in
an inquiry except as provided by this subsection.
SECTION 2. 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.