By: Parker S.B. No. 1061
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production
area authorizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 27.0513, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(c-1) The commission shall prioritize the conservation of
regional groundwater water supplies when establishing the methods
under Subsection (c) for determining the restoration table values
for a portion of an aquifer that the United States Environmental
Protection Agency prohibits from being used as an underground
source of drinking water.
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and
27.018, an application for an authorization or an amendment to an
authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and
restoration activities in production zones within the boundary
established in the permit is an uncontested matter not subject to a
contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001,
Government Code, if:
(1) the authorization is for a production zone located
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each
production zone addressed in the application, a range table of
groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater
restoration by the commission;
(2) the application includes, for each production zone
addressed in the application, groundwater quality restoration
values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established
in Subdivision (1); and
(3) the authorization is for a production zone located
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater
baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required
by commission rule.
SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an
authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.
An application for an authorization or an amendment to an
authorization that was submitted to the commission before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.