By: Sims S.B. No. 502
73R5773 CAS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain powers and duties of the State Soil and Water
1-3 Conservation Board.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 26.0135(a), (c), (d), and (h), Water
1-6 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The commission shall ensure the comprehensive regional
1-8 assessment of water quality in each watershed and river basin of
1-9 the state. An assessment involving agricultural or silvicultural
1-10 nonpoint source pollution shall be coordinated with local soil and
1-11 water conservation districts and the State Soil and Water
1-12 Conservation Board through the state board. In order to conserve
1-13 public funds and avoid duplication of effort, river authorities
1-14 shall, to the greatest extent possible and under the supervision of
1-15 the commission, conduct regional assessments of their own
1-16 watersheds. The commission, either directly or through cooperative
1-17 agreements and contracts with local governments, shall conduct
1-18 regional assessments of watersheds where a river authority is
1-19 unable to perform an adequate assessment of its own watershed. The
1-20 assessment must include a review of wastewater discharges, nonpoint
1-21 source pollution, nutrient loading, toxic materials, biological
1-22 health of aquatic life, public education and involvement in water
1-23 quality issues, local and regional pollution prevention efforts,
1-24 and other factors that affect water quality within the watershed.
2-1 The assessment shall also review any significant regulatory or
2-2 enforcement issues affecting the watershed. The assessment
2-3 required by this section is a continuing duty, and the assessment
2-4 shall be revised as necessary to show changes in the factors
2-5 subject to assessment.
2-6 (c) The purpose of the assessment required by this section
2-7 is not to mandate exhaustive and detailed water quality studies,
2-8 but rather to identify significant issues affecting water quality
2-9 within each watershed and river basin of the state and to provide
2-10 sufficient information for the commission, the State Soil and Water
2-11 Conservation Board, river authorities, and other governmental
2-12 bodies to take appropriate corrective action necessary to maintain
2-13 and improve the quality of the state's water resources. The
2-14 commission shall establish by rule the level of detail required for
2-15 each watershed and river basin assessment.
2-16 (d) On or before October 1 of each even-numbered year, each
2-17 river authority shall report in writing to the governor,
2-18 commission, State Soil and Water Conservation Board, and Parks and
2-19 Wildlife Department on the water quality assessment of the
2-20 authority's watershed, including an identification of any
2-21 significant regulatory or enforcement issues, and on any actions
2-22 taken by the authority and other local governments to improve water
2-23 quality within the authority's watershed. The assessment report
2-24 must identify each legal, administrative, economic, or other
2-25 impediment to further water quality efforts by the authority and
2-26 local governments. The commission shall then prepare a report that
2-27 summarizes each river authority's assessment report, describes the
3-1 commission's regional water quality assessment efforts, and lists
3-2 the commission's past and proposed actions for improving water
3-3 quality within the watersheds subject to such assessments. The
3-4 commission shall submit its report, along with the commission's
3-5 comments and recommendations on regional water quality management,
3-6 to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the
3-7 house of representatives on or before December 1 of each
3-8 even-numbered year.
3-9 (h) The Texas Water Commission shall apportion, assess, and
3-10 recover the reasonable costs of administering water quality
3-11 management programs under this section from all users of water and
3-12 wastewater permit holders in the watershed according to the records
3-13 of the commission generally in proportion to their right, through
3-14 permit or contract, to use water from and discharge wastewater in
3-15 the watershed. The commission shall reimburse the State Soil and
3-16 Water Conservation Board for the state board's costs of
3-17 administering water quality management programs under this section
3-18 that are the board's responsibility under this chapter or Section
3-19 201.026, Agriculture Code. The cost to river authorities and
3-20 others to conduct regional water quality assessment shall be
3-21 subject to prior review and approval by the commission as to
3-22 methods of allocation and total amount to be recovered. The
3-23 commission shall adopt rules to supervise and implement the water
3-24 quality assessment and associated costs. The rules shall ensure
3-25 that water users and wastewater dischargers do not pay excessive
3-26 amounts, that a river authority may recover no more than the actual
3-27 costs of administering the water quality management programs called
4-1 for in this section, and that no municipality shall be assessed
4-2 cost for any efforts that duplicate water quality management
4-3 activities described in Section 26.177 of this chapter.
4-4 SECTION 2. Section 26.0136, Water Code, is amended to read
4-5 as follows:
4-6 Sec. 26.0136. Regional Water Quality Implementation. The
4-7 commission is the agency with primary responsibility for
4-8 implementation of regional water quality management functions,
4-9 including enforcement actions, within the state. The commission by
4-10 rule shall coordinate the water quality responsibilities of river
4-11 authorities within each watershed and shall, where appropriate,
4-12 delegate water quality functions to local governments under Section
4-13 26.175 of this code. The State Soil and Water Conservation Board
4-14 shall coordinate and administer all programs for abating
4-15 agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source pollution, as
4-16 provided by Section 201.026, Agriculture Code. Nothing in this
4-17 section is intended to enlarge, diminish, or supersede the water
4-18 quality powers, including enforcement authority, authorized by law
4-19 for river authorities, the State Soil and Water Conservation Board,
4-20 and local governments. For purposes of this section, river
4-21 authority shall have the same meaning as that contained in Section
4-22 26.0135(i) of this code.
4-23 SECTION 3. Section 26.121(a), Water Code (effective until
4-24 delegation of NPDES permit authority to the Texas Natural Resource
4-25 Conservation Commission), is amended to read as follows:
4-26 (a) Except as authorized by a rule, permit, or order issued
4-27 by the commission, no person may:
5-1 (1) discharge sewage, municipal waste, recreational
5-2 waste, agricultural waste, or industrial waste into or adjacent to
5-3 any water in the state;
5-4 (2) discharge other waste into or adjacent to any
5-5 water in the state which in itself or in conjunction with any other
5-6 discharge or activity causes, continues to cause, or will cause
5-7 pollution of any of the water in the state, unless the discharge is
5-8 under the State Soil and Water Conservation Board's jurisdiction,
5-9 as provided by Section 201.026, Agriculture Code; or
5-10 (3) commit any other act or engage in any other
5-11 activity which in itself or in conjunction with any other discharge
5-12 or activity causes, continues to cause, or will cause pollution of
5-13 any of the water in the state, unless the activity is under the
5-14 jurisdiction of the Parks and Wildlife Department, the General Land
5-15 Office, the State Soil and Water Conservation Board, or the
5-16 Railroad Commission of Texas, in which case this subdivision does
5-17 not apply.
5-18 SECTION 4. Section 26.121(a), Water Code (effective upon
5-19 delegation of NPDES permit authority to the Texas Natural Resource
5-20 Conservation Commission), is amended to read as follows:
5-21 (a) Except as authorized by the commission, no person may:
5-22 (1) discharge sewage, municipal waste, recreational
5-23 waste, agricultural waste, or industrial waste into or adjacent to
5-24 any water in the state;
5-25 (2) discharge other waste into or adjacent to any
5-26 water in the state which in itself or in conjunction with any other
5-27 discharge or activity causes, continues to cause, or will cause
6-1 pollution of any of the water in the state, unless the discharge is
6-2 under the State Soil and Water Conservation Board's jurisdiction,
6-3 as provided by Section 201.026, Agriculture Code; or
6-4 (3) commit any other act or engage in any other
6-5 activity which in itself or in conjunction with any other discharge
6-6 or activity causes, continues to cause, or will cause pollution of
6-7 any of the water in the state, unless the activity is under the
6-8 jurisdiction of the Parks and Wildlife Department, the General Land
6-9 Office, the State Soil and Water Conservation Board, or the
6-10 Railroad Commission of Texas, in which case this subdivision does
6-11 not apply.
6-12 SECTION 5. Subchapter D, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
6-13 by adding Section 26.1311 to read as follows:
6-14 Sec. 26.1311. DUTY OF STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION
6-15 BOARD. The State Soil and Water Conservation Board and its
6-16 authorized agents are responsible for the control, abatement, and
6-17 prevention of pollution of surface and subsurface water resulting
6-18 from agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source pollution, as
6-19 provided by Section 201.026, Agriculture Code.
6-20 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
6-21 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.