89R8779 SCR-F
By: Gerdes H.B. No. 2034
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of groundwater permits to certain aliens
or foreign entities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 36.1141 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.1141. PERMITS ISSUED TO CERTAIN FOREIGN INDIVIDUALS
OR ENTITIES. (a) In this section:
(1) "Designated country" means a country identified by
the United States Director of National Intelligence as a country
that poses a risk to the national security of the United States in
each of the three most recent Annual Threat Assessments of the U.S.
Intelligence Community issued pursuant to Section 108B, National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. Section 3043b).
(2) "Governing authority," "governing person," and
"organization" have the meanings assigned by Section 1.002,
Business Organizations Code.
(3) "Risk to the health, safety, and welfare of the
public" includes a likelihood that an individual, organization, or
governmental entity will engage in an act that:
(A) constitutes:
(i) a violation of state or federal
criminal law;
(ii) corporate espionage; or
(iii) a public nuisance; or
(B) causes or threatens to cause bodily injury to
a person, including the introduction of a dangerous disease or
dangerous substance into an area.
(b) For purposes of this section, an organization is under
the control of an individual or another organization if the
controlling individual or organization is authorized to:
(1) direct the activities of the controlled
organization;
(2) make or direct others to make legal commitments on
behalf of the controlled organization; or
(3) hire and fire a principal decision maker of the
controlled organization.
(c) The authority of the controlling individual or
organization under Subsection (b) may derive from:
(1) exercise of a voting ownership interest of the
controlled organization sufficient to elect a governing person or
governing authority of the controlled organization to exercise on
the controlling individual's or organization's behalf the authority
described by Subsection (b); or
(2) a financial, legal, practical, contractual, or
other arrangement that functionally enables the controlling
individual or organization to exercise the authority described by
Subsection (b).
(d) This section does not apply to a permit or permit
amendment issued to:
(1) an individual who is a citizen or lawful permanent
resident of the United States, including an individual who is a
citizen of a foreign country; or
(2) an organization that is owned by or under the
control of one or more individuals described by Subdivision (1).
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (d) and
notwithstanding any other law, a district may not issue a permit or
a permit amendment to or renew a permit for the following if the
issuance or renewal of the permit or amendment would create a risk
to the health, safety, and welfare of the public:
(1) a governmental entity of a designated country;
(2) an organization that is:
(A) headquartered in a designated country;
(B) directly or indirectly under the control of
the government of a designated country; or
(C) owned by or under the control of one or more
individuals who are domiciled in a designated country;
(3) an organization that is owned by or under the
control of an organization described by Subdivision (2); or
(4) an individual who is domiciled in a designated
country.
SECTION 2. Section 36.1141, Water Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a permit issued, amended, or renewed by a
groundwater conservation district on or after the effective date of
this Act. A permit issued, amended, or renewed by a groundwater
conservation district before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.