S.B. No. 693
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by
  groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of
  Administrative Hearings.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsections (a) and (b), Section 36.406, Water
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A hearing must be conducted by:
               (1)  a quorum of the board; [or]
               (2)  an individual to whom the board has delegated in
  writing the responsibility to preside as a hearings examiner over
  the hearing or matters related to the hearing; or
               (3)  the State Office of Administrative Hearings under
  Section 36.416.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 36.416,
  the board president or the hearings examiner shall serve as the
  presiding officer at the hearing.
         SECTION 2.  Section 36.416, Water Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 36.416.  HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY STATE OFFICE OF
  ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; RULES.  (a)  If a district contracts with
  the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing,
  the hearing shall be conducted as provided by Subchapters C, D, and
  F, Chapter 2001, Government Code.  The district may adopt rules for
  a hearing conducted under this section that are consistent with the
  procedural rules of the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
         (b)  If requested by the applicant or other party to a
  contested case, a district shall contract with the State Office of
  Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing.  If the district
  does not prescribe a deadline by rule, the applicant or other party
  must request the hearing before the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings not later than the 14th day before the date the evidentiary
  hearing is scheduled to begin.  The hearing must be held in Travis
  County or at a location described by Section 36.403(c).  The
  district shall choose the location.
         (c)  The party requesting the hearing before the State Office
  of Administrative Hearings shall pay all costs associated with the
  contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an
  amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing
  begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund
  any excess money to the paying party.  All other costs may be
  assessed as authorized by this chapter or district rules.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter M, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
  by adding Section 36.4165 to read as follows:
         Sec. 36.4165.  FINAL DECISION; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS. In
  a proceeding for a permit application or amendment in which a
  district has contracted with the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings for a contested case hearing, the board has the authority
  to make a final decision on consideration of a proposal for decision
  issued by an administrative law judge consistent with Section
  2001.058, Government Code.
         SECTION 4.  The heading to Section 36.418, Water Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 36.418.  RULES; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS; APPLICABILITY
  OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.
         SECTION 5.  Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
  follows:
         (b)  Except as provided by this section and Sections 
  [Section] 36.416 and 36.4165, Chapter 2001, Government Code, does
  not apply to a hearing under this subchapter.
         (c)  The district shall adopt rules to:
               (1)  establish a procedure for preliminary and
  evidentiary hearings;
               (2)  allow the presiding officer, at a preliminary
  hearing by the district and before a referral of the case to the
  State Office of Administrative Hearings, to determine a party's
  right to participate in a hearing according to Section
  36.415(b)(2); and
               (3)  set a deadline for a party to file a request to
  refer a contested case to the State Office of Administrative
  Hearings under Section 36.416.
         SECTION 6.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a permit or permit amendment application determined to be
  administratively complete on or after the effective date of this
  Act. A permit or permit amendment application determined to be
  administratively complete before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect at the time the application was
  determined to be administratively complete, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 693 passed the Senate on
  April 7, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 693 passed the House on
  April 29, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0, three
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor