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