| 1 | | - | By: Schwertner, Eckhardt S.B. No. 616 |
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| 1 | + | By: Schwertner S.B. No. 616 |
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| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed December 13, 2024; February 3, 2025, |
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| 3 | + | read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture and |
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| 4 | + | Rural Affairs; February 25, 2025, reported favorably by the |
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| 5 | + | following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; February 25, 2025, sent to |
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| 6 | + | printer.) |
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| 7 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 4 | 8 | | |
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| 5 | 9 | | |
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| 6 | 10 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 7 | 11 | | AN ACT |
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| 8 | 12 | | relating to aquifer storage and recovery projects that transect a |
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| 9 | 13 | | portion of the Edwards Aquifer. |
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| 10 | 14 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 15 | | SECTION 1. Section 27.051(i), Water Code, is amended to |
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| 12 | 16 | | read as follows: |
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| 13 | 17 | | (i) For purposes of this subsection, "Edwards Aquifer" has |
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| 14 | 18 | | the meaning assigned by Section 26.046(a). Except as otherwise |
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| 15 | 19 | | provided by this subsection, the commission may not authorize by |
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| 16 | 20 | | rule or permit an injection well that transects or terminates in the |
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| 17 | 21 | | Edwards Aquifer. The commission by rule or permit may authorize: |
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| 18 | 22 | | (1) injection of groundwater withdrawn from the |
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| 19 | 23 | | Edwards Aquifer; |
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| 20 | 24 | | (2) injections of storm water, flood water, or |
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| 21 | 25 | | groundwater through improved sinkholes or caves located in karst |
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| 22 | 26 | | topographic areas; [or] |
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| 23 | 27 | | (3) injections of water made in accordance with |
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| 24 | 28 | | Section 1.44(e)(3), Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, |
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| 25 | 29 | | Regular Session, 1993; or |
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| 26 | 30 | | (4) an aquifer storage and recovery project that |
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| 27 | 31 | | includes an ASR injection well, as defined under Section 27.151, |
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| 28 | 32 | | that transects the Edwards Aquifer in the area of Williamson County |
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| 29 | 33 | | east of Interstate Highway 35 for the injection of water into a |
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| 30 | 34 | | geologic formation that underlies the Edwards Aquifer. |
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| 31 | 35 | | SECTION 2. Not later than March 1, 2026, the Texas |
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| 32 | 36 | | Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt rules to implement |
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| 33 | 37 | | Section 27.051(i), Water Code, as amended by this Act. |
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| 34 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 35 | 39 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 36 | 40 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 37 | 41 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 38 | 42 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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