BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2015 By: Zwiener Land & Resource Management Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE According to the Texas Water Development Board's 2022 State Water Plan, by 2070, water demand is expected to increase by 9 percent, while water supply is expected to decrease by 18 percent. The report also states that approximately 29 percent of recommended water management strategies are expected to come from municipal conservation by 2070. The bill author has informed the committee that while current law authorizes home-rule municipalities to adopt and enforce ordinances to require water conservation, it does not grant a comparable authority to counties. The bill author has also informed the committee that areas outside of municipalities are experiencing population growth; according to the 2022 State of the Hill Country published by Siglo Group and the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, the population of the Hill Country grew by 103 percent in the unincorporated areas between 1990 and 2020. According to Rice University Kinder Institute's 2018 article "Special Districts Helped Form Houston," the proliferation of special purpose districts, including municipal utility districts, has been a contributing factor in the growth of Houston's urban sprawl. The bill author has further informed the committee that this population growth highlights the intersection between the need for greater water conservation and the lack of county authority. C.S.H.B. 2015 seeks to address this issue by requiring a developer's application to create a municipal utility district located within a specified area to include a water conservation plan. CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2015 amends the Water Code to require a petition requesting the creation of a proposed municipal utility district (MUD), if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), regardless of whether the proposed MUD provides that service in that manner. The bill requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to consider whether or not a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, for purposes of granting or refusing a petition, in determining if a project is feasible and practicable and if it is necessary and would be a benefit to the land included in the MUD. C.S.H.B. 2015 applies only to a petition requesting the creation of a MUD that is filed with the TCEQ on or after the bill's effective date. A petition requesting the creation of a MUD that was filed with the TCEQ before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2025. COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE While C.S.H.B. 2015 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill. The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced making the following requirements of the introduced applicable only with respect to a MUD wholly or partly located in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area: the requirement that a petition requesting the creation of a proposed MUD to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the TWDB; and the requirement that the TCEQ consider whether a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation.
BILL ANALYSIS
# BILL ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2015
By: Zwiener
Land & Resource Management
Committee Report (Substituted)
C.S.H.B. 2015
By: Zwiener
Land & Resource Management
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE According to the Texas Water Development Board's 2022 State Water Plan, by 2070, water demand is expected to increase by 9 percent, while water supply is expected to decrease by 18 percent. The report also states that approximately 29 percent of recommended water management strategies are expected to come from municipal conservation by 2070. The bill author has informed the committee that while current law authorizes home-rule municipalities to adopt and enforce ordinances to require water conservation, it does not grant a comparable authority to counties. The bill author has also informed the committee that areas outside of municipalities are experiencing population growth; according to the 2022 State of the Hill Country published by Siglo Group and the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, the population of the Hill Country grew by 103 percent in the unincorporated areas between 1990 and 2020. According to Rice University Kinder Institute's 2018 article "Special Districts Helped Form Houston," the proliferation of special purpose districts, including municipal utility districts, has been a contributing factor in the growth of Houston's urban sprawl. The bill author has further informed the committee that this population growth highlights the intersection between the need for greater water conservation and the lack of county authority. C.S.H.B. 2015 seeks to address this issue by requiring a developer's application to create a municipal utility district located within a specified area to include a water conservation plan.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2015 amends the Water Code to require a petition requesting the creation of a proposed municipal utility district (MUD), if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), regardless of whether the proposed MUD provides that service in that manner. The bill requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to consider whether or not a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, for purposes of granting or refusing a petition, in determining if a project is feasible and practicable and if it is necessary and would be a benefit to the land included in the MUD. C.S.H.B. 2015 applies only to a petition requesting the creation of a MUD that is filed with the TCEQ on or after the bill's effective date. A petition requesting the creation of a MUD that was filed with the TCEQ before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2025.
COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE While C.S.H.B. 2015 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill. The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced making the following requirements of the introduced applicable only with respect to a MUD wholly or partly located in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area: the requirement that a petition requesting the creation of a proposed MUD to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the TWDB; and the requirement that the TCEQ consider whether a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
According to the Texas Water Development Board's 2022 State Water Plan, by 2070, water demand is expected to increase by 9 percent, while water supply is expected to decrease by 18 percent. The report also states that approximately 29 percent of recommended water management strategies are expected to come from municipal conservation by 2070. The bill author has informed the committee that while current law authorizes home-rule municipalities to adopt and enforce ordinances to require water conservation, it does not grant a comparable authority to counties. The bill author has also informed the committee that areas outside of municipalities are experiencing population growth; according to the 2022 State of the Hill Country published by Siglo Group and the Texas Hill Country Conservation Network, the population of the Hill Country grew by 103 percent in the unincorporated areas between 1990 and 2020. According to Rice University Kinder Institute's 2018 article "Special Districts Helped Form Houston," the proliferation of special purpose districts, including municipal utility districts, has been a contributing factor in the growth of Houston's urban sprawl. The bill author has further informed the committee that this population growth highlights the intersection between the need for greater water conservation and the lack of county authority. C.S.H.B. 2015 seeks to address this issue by requiring a developer's application to create a municipal utility district located within a specified area to include a water conservation plan.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 2015 amends the Water Code to require a petition requesting the creation of a proposed municipal utility district (MUD), if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), regardless of whether the proposed MUD provides that service in that manner. The bill requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to consider whether or not a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation if the MUD will be located wholly or partly in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area, for purposes of granting or refusing a petition, in determining if a project is feasible and practicable and if it is necessary and would be a benefit to the land included in the MUD.
C.S.H.B. 2015 applies only to a petition requesting the creation of a MUD that is filed with the TCEQ on or after the bill's effective date. A petition requesting the creation of a MUD that was filed with the TCEQ before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2025.
COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 2015 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced making the following requirements of the introduced applicable only with respect to a MUD wholly or partly located in a county located wholly or partly within the boundaries of the Hill Country Priority Groundwater Management Area:
the requirement that a petition requesting the creation of a proposed MUD to include a water conservation plan that meets the requirements of such a plan submitted by a retail public utility that provides potable water service to 3,300 or more connections to the TWDB; and
the requirement that the TCEQ consider whether a proposed MUD and its system and subsequent development within the MUD will have an unreasonable effect on water conservation.