By: Landgraf (Senate Sponsor - Perry) H.B. No. 3810

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2023; May 12, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs; May 19, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3810 By: Perry

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to certain notices provided to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality by public water supply systems.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 341.033, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (i) and adding Subsection (i-1) to read as follows:

(i) An owner, agent, manager, operator, or other person in charge of a public water supply system that furnishes water for public or private use or a wastewater system that provides wastewater services for public or private use shall maintain internal procedures to notify the commission immediately of the following events, if the event may negatively impact the production or delivery of safe and adequate drinking water:

(1) an unusual or unexplained unauthorized entry at property of the public water supply or wastewater system;

(2) an act of terrorism against the public water supply or wastewater system;

(3) an unauthorized attempt to probe for or gain access to proprietary information that supports the key activities of the public water supply or wastewater system;

(4) a theft of property that supports the key activities of the public water supply or wastewater system; [or]

(5) a natural disaster, accident, or act that results in damage to the public water supply or wastewater system; or

(6) for a nonindustrial public water supply system, an unplanned condition that has caused a public water supply outage or the public water supply system to issue a do-not-use advisory, do-not-consume advisory, or boil water notice.

(i-1) The commission may collaborate with the Texas Division of Emergency Management in administering the notification requirement in Subsection (i)(6), including determining the method by which the notifications are provided. Subsection (i)(6) does not require an owner, agent, manager, operator, or other person in charge of a nonindustrial public water supply system to provide notice of a weather or emergency alert, warning, or watch issued by the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the Texas Division of Emergency Management or a successor federal or state agency.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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