|
Senate Bill 2014 |
Senate Author: Creighton |
|
Effective: 9-1-17 |
House Sponsor: Schubert |
Senate Bill 2014 amends the Water Code to prohibit the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), if TCEQ determines that an application for the approval of water district bonds complies with the requirements for financial feasibility and the district submitting the application is not required to comply with rules regarding project completion, from disapproving the issuance of bonds for all or a portion of a project or requiring that the funding for all or a portion of a project be escrowed solely on the basis that the construction of the project is not complete at the time of the determination. The bill authorizes an application for the approval of water district bonds to include financing for payment of creation and organization expenses and requires TCEQ to approve certain applications to issue water district bonds to finance the costs of spreading and compacting fill to remove property from the 100-year floodplain or to provide drainage. The bill establishes that, if a district is approved for the issuance of bonds by TCEQ to use a certain return flow of wastewater, the approval applies to subsequent bond authorizations unless the district seeks approval to use a different return flow of wastewater. The bill revises provisions relating to district contract change orders.
Senate Bill 2014 removes the option for a petition requesting the annexation of a defined area to a water district, a petition requesting the creation of a municipal utility district, or a request to a city for its written consent to the creation of such a district to be signed by 50 property owners. The bill authorizes TCEQ to approve the creation of, and authorizes the legislature to create and validate the creation of, a municipal utility district that includes any portion of the land covered by the city's consent to the creation of the district.