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Senate Bill 2456 |
Senate Author: Hinojosa et al. |
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Effective: 6-19-09 |
House Sponsor: Rios Ybarra |
Senate Bill 2456 amends the Special District Local Laws Code to create the Brush Country Groundwater Conservation District, subject to voter approval at a confirmation election. The initial boundaries of the district include all of Jim Hogg County, and Brooks, Jim Wells, and Hildago Counties except for the portions of those counties that are located within the Kenedy County Groundwater Conservation District. The bill authorizes a person who owns a tract of land in Brooks or Hidalgo County that adjoins the boundaries of the Kenedy County Groundwater Conservation District as of June 19, 2009, to petition that district for annexation. If the tract of land is annexed not later than January 1, 2010, it will be disannexed at that time from the Brush Country Groundwater Conservation District. The bill grants the district general law powers and duties applicable to groundwater conservation districts, including the authorization to issue bonds and impose taxes, but limits the tax rate to an amount that does not exceed three cents on each $100. The bill prohibits the district from exercising the power of eminent domain. The bill gives the district standard powers to exempt wells from permitting requirements, but for the purposes of applying those provisions to the district, special definitions for "domestic use" and "livestock use" apply. Provisions prohibiting a district from imposing more restrictive permit conditions on transporters of water out of the district than the district imposes on existing in‑district users and provisions relating to certain permit periods and terms do not apply to the Brush Country Groundwater Conservation District. The bill authorizes the district to impose a fee or surcharge as an export fee, but provisions in the Water Code relating to methods of calculating such fees do not apply to the district.