| 1 | 1 | | 89R13038 KRM-F |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 5341 |
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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 issuance by the Texas Commission on Environmental |
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| 10 | 10 | | Quality of permits to authorize the diversion of state water from |
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| 11 | 11 | | the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for |
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| 12 | 12 | | desalination and use for industrial purposes. |
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| 13 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 14 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Section 11.1405, Water Code, is amended by |
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| 15 | 15 | | amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (g-1) to read as |
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| 16 | 16 | | follows: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (g) The commission: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (1) shall [may] include any provision in a permit |
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| 19 | 19 | | issued under this section that the commission considers necessary |
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| 20 | 20 | | to comply with the environmental flow standards established under |
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| 21 | 21 | | Section 11.1471; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) may limit a point of diversion to an area located |
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| 23 | 23 | | outside of a sensitive habitat based on the environmental flow |
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| 24 | 24 | | analyses and recommended environmental flow regimes developed by |
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| 25 | 25 | | the applicable basin and bay expert science team under Section |
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| 26 | 26 | | 11.02362; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (3) may deny a permit for a diversion of state water |
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| 28 | 28 | | under this section if the point of diversion is in close proximity |
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| 29 | 29 | | to a sensitive habitat such as an oyster reef or seagrass bed. |
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| 30 | 30 | | (g-1) The commission by rule shall establish standards to |
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| 31 | 31 | | minimize impingement and entrainment caused by a permitted |
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| 32 | 32 | | diversion of state water from a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2026, the Texas |
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| 34 | 34 | | Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt or amend rules |
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| 35 | 35 | | necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act. |
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| 36 | 36 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 37 | 37 | | an application for a permit for the diversion of state water that is |
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| 38 | 38 | | submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or |
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| 39 | 39 | | after the effective date of this Act. An application for a permit |
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| 40 | 40 | | that was submitted to the commission before the effective date of |
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| 41 | 41 | | this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the |
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| 42 | 42 | | application was submitted, and the former law is continued in |
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| 43 | 43 | | effect for that purpose. |
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| 44 | 44 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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