S.B. No. 502
AN ACT
1-1 relating to certain powers and duties of the State Soil and Water
1-2 Conservation Board.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subsections (a), (b), (c), (d), and (h), Section
1-5 26.0135, Water Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) The commission shall ensure the comprehensive regional
1-7 assessment of water quality in each watershed and river basin of
1-8 the state. In order to conserve public funds and avoid duplication
1-9 of effort, river authorities shall, to the greatest extent possible
1-10 and under the supervision of the commission, conduct regional
1-11 assessments of their own watersheds. Regional assessments
1-12 involving agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source pollution
1-13 shall be coordinated through the State Soil and Water Conservation
1-14 Board with local soil and water conservation districts. The
1-15 commission, either directly or through cooperative agreements and
1-16 contracts with local governments, shall conduct regional
1-17 assessments of watersheds where a river authority is unable to
1-18 perform an adequate assessment of its own watershed. The
1-19 assessment must include a review of wastewater discharges, nonpoint
1-20 source pollution, nutrient loading, toxic materials, biological
1-21 health of aquatic life, public education and involvement in water
1-22 quality issues, local and regional pollution prevention efforts,
1-23 and other factors that affect water quality within the watershed.
1-24 The assessment shall also review any significant regulatory or
2-1 enforcement issues affecting the watershed. The assessment
2-2 required by this section is a continuing duty, and the assessment
2-3 shall be revised as necessary to show changes in the factors
2-4 subject to assessment.
2-5 (b) In order to assist in the coordination and development
2-6 of assessments and reports required by this section, a river
2-7 authority shall organize and lead a basin-wide steering committee
2-8 that includes representatives from all appropriate state agencies,
2-9 the State Soil and Water Conservation Board, political
2-10 subdivisions, and other governmental bodies with an interest in
2-11 water quality matters of the watershed or river basin. Each
2-12 committee member shall help identify significant water quality
2-13 issues within the basin and shall make available to the river
2-14 authority all relevant water quality data held by the represented
2-15 entities. A river authority shall also develop a public input
2-16 process that provides for meaningful comments and review by private
2-17 citizens and organizations on each regional assessment and report.
2-18 (c) The purpose of the assessment required by this section
2-19 is not to mandate exhaustive and detailed water quality studies,
2-20 but rather to identify significant issues affecting water quality
2-21 within each watershed and river basin of the state and to provide
2-22 sufficient information for the commission, the State Soil and Water
2-23 Conservation Board, river authorities, and other governmental
2-24 bodies to take appropriate corrective action necessary to maintain
2-25 and improve the quality of the state's water resources. The
2-26 commission shall establish by rule the level of detail required for
2-27 each watershed and river basin assessment.
3-1 (d) On or before October 1 of each even-numbered year, each
3-2 river authority shall report in writing to the governor,
3-3 commission, State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and Parks and
3-4 Wildlife Department on the water quality assessment of the
3-5 authority's watershed, including an identification of any
3-6 significant regulatory or enforcement issues, and on any actions
3-7 taken by the authority and other local governments to improve water
3-8 quality within the authority's watershed. The assessment report
3-9 must identify each legal, administrative, economic, or other
3-10 impediment to further water quality efforts by the authority and
3-11 local governments. The commission shall then prepare a report that
3-12 summarizes each river authority's assessment report, describes the
3-13 commission's regional water quality assessment efforts, and lists
3-14 the commission's past and proposed actions for improving water
3-15 quality within the watersheds subject to such assessments. The
3-16 commission shall submit its report, along with the commission's
3-17 comments and recommendations on regional water quality management,
3-18 to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the
3-19 house of representatives on or before December 1 of each
3-20 even-numbered year.
3-21 (h) The Texas Water Commission shall apportion, assess, and
3-22 recover the reasonable costs of administering water quality
3-23 management programs under this section from <all> users of water
3-24 and wastewater permit holders in the watershed according to the
3-25 records of the commission generally in proportion to their right,
3-26 through permit or contract, to use water from and discharge
3-27 wastewater in the watershed. The cost to river authorities and
4-1 others to conduct regional water quality assessment shall be
4-2 subject to prior review and approval by the commission as to
4-3 methods of allocation and total amount to be recovered. The
4-4 commission shall adopt rules to supervise and implement the water
4-5 quality assessment and associated costs. The rules shall ensure
4-6 that water users and wastewater dischargers do not pay excessive
4-7 amounts, that a river authority may recover no more than the actual
4-8 costs of administering the water quality management programs called
4-9 for in this section, and that no municipality shall be assessed
4-10 cost for any efforts that duplicate water quality management
4-11 activities described in Section 26.177 of this chapter.
4-12 SECTION 2. Section 26.0136, Water Code, is amended to read
4-13 as follows:
4-14 Sec. 26.0136. Regional Water Quality Implementation. The
4-15 commission is the agency with primary responsibility for
4-16 implementation of regional water quality management functions,
4-17 including enforcement actions, within the state. The commission by
4-18 rule shall coordinate the water quality responsibilities of river
4-19 authorities within each watershed and shall, where appropriate,
4-20 delegate water quality functions to local governments under Section
4-21 26.175 of this code. The State Soil and Water Conservation Board
4-22 shall coordinate and administer all programs for abating
4-23 agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source pollution, as
4-24 provided by Section 201.026, Agriculture Code. Nothing in this
4-25 section is intended to enlarge, diminish, or supersede the water
4-26 quality powers, including enforcement authority, authorized by law
4-27 for river authorities, the State Soil and Water Conservation Board,
5-1 and local governments. Nothing in this section is intended to
5-2 enlarge, diminish, or supersede the responsibilities of the Texas
5-3 Agricultural Extension Service and the Texas Agricultural
5-4 Experiment Station to conduct educational programs and research
5-5 regarding nonpoint source pollution and related water resource and
5-6 water quality matters. For purposes of this section, river
5-7 authority shall have the same meaning as that contained in Section
5-8 26.0135(i) of this code.
5-9 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
5-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.