By Saunders                                           H.B. No. 2620
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to regional assessment of water quality by watershed or
    1-3  river basin.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 26.0135(h) of the Texas Water Code is
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (h)  The Texas Water Commission shall apportion, assess, and
    1-8  recover the reasonable costs of administering water quality
    1-9  management programs under this section from all users of water and
   1-10  wastewater permit holders in the watershed according to the records
   1-11  of the commission generally in proportion to their right, through
   1-12  permit or contract, to use water from and discharge wastewater in
   1-13  the watershed.  The cost to river authorities and others to conduct
   1-14  regional water quality assessment shall be subject to prior review
   1-15  and approval by the commission as to methods of allocation and
   1-16  total amount to be recovered.  The commission shall adopt rules to
   1-17  supervise and implement the water quality assessment and associated
   1-18  costs.  The rules shall ensure that water users and wastewater
   1-19  dischargers do not pay excessive amounts, that a river authority
   1-20  may recover no more than the actual costs of administering the
   1-21  water quality management programs called for in this section, and
   1-22  that no municipality shall be assessed cost for any efforts that
   1-23  duplicate water quality management activities described in Section
    2-1  26.177 of this chapter.  The rules concerning the apportionment and
    2-2  assessment of reasonable costs shall not provide for a recovery of
    2-3  more than $5,000,000 annually and shall expire on September 30,
    2-4  1994.
    2-5        SECTION 2.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
    2-6  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-7  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    2-8  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    2-9  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
   2-10                       COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1
   2-11        Amend H.B. 2620 on page 2 by deleting lines 1 through 3 and
   2-12  substituting the following:
   2-13        "rules concerning the apportionment and assessment of
   2-14  reasonable costs shall provide for a recovery of not more than
   2-15  $5,000,000 annually for fiscal years 1994 and 1995."
   2-16                                                                Lewis