| 1 | 1 | | 89R13394 KRM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 3728 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to the adoption by the Texas Commission on Environmental |
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| 10 | 10 | | Quality of salinity requirements for bays and estuaries. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended |
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| 13 | 13 | | by adding Section 26.0231 to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | Sec. 26.0231. SALINITY OF BAYS AND ESTUARIES. The |
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| 15 | 15 | | commission shall incorporate in standards set under Section 26.023: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) numeric salinity gradients for bays and estuaries |
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| 17 | 17 | | where site-specific salinity studies exist; and |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) narrative salinity criteria for bays and estuaries |
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| 19 | 19 | | listing specific species within bays and estuaries to support |
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| 20 | 20 | | attainable estuarine dependent aquatic life. |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Commission on Environmental |
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| 22 | 22 | | Quality shall ensure that water quality standards set by the |
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| 23 | 23 | | commission under Section 26.023, Water Code, comply with Section |
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| 24 | 24 | | 26.0231, Water Code, as added by this Act, in the first revision of |
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| 25 | 25 | | the commission's relevant rules that occurs after the effective |
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| 26 | 26 | | date of this Act. |
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| 27 | 27 | | (b) Not later than September 1, 2026, the Texas Commission |
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| 28 | 28 | | on Environmental Quality shall publish on its Internet website a |
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| 29 | 29 | | report on the results of long-term studies conducted between 2003 |
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| 30 | 30 | | and 2025 by the commission and other state agencies of estuarine |
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| 31 | 31 | | salinity gradients. The report must assess, based on available |
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| 32 | 32 | | information from stakeholders and the studies, the effects of |
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| 33 | 33 | | additional wastewater loading, desalination, and changes in |
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| 34 | 34 | | hydrological conditions and rainfall on estuarine salinity |
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| 35 | 35 | | gradients and estuarine dependent wildlife. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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