By: Rosson S.B. No. 1120
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to establishing a wastewater reclamation fund and
1-2 providing financing to political subdivisions for wastewater
1-3 reclamation projects to be administered by the Texas Water
1-4 Development Board.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 15 of the Water Code is hereby amended by
1-7 adding new Sections 15.701 through 15.709, to be entitled
1-8 "Financial Assistance for Water Reclamation Projects" to read as
1-9 follows:
1-10 Section 15.701. Creation of Wastewater Reclamation Fund.
1-11 The Wastewater Reclamation Fund is created which is to be
1-12 administered by the Board under this subchapter and in accordance
1-13 with rules adopted by the Board. The sum of twenty-five Million
1-14 Dollars ($25,000,000) is transferred from various accounts
1-15 containing available funds as identified by the Board to the
1-16 Wastewater Reclamation Fund, subject to the funds being available
1-17 for such purposes. The Wastewater Reclamation Fund shall be used
1-18 to provide financial assistance through low-interest loans and
1-19 grants to political subdivisions for the construction of wastewater
1-20 reclamation projects in accordance with the requirements of this
1-21 subchapter and the requirements for the use of the Texas
1-22 Administrative Code, Sections 310.1 through 310.18, and the rules
1-23 of the Texas Water Commission.
2-1 Section 15.702. Purpose. The purpose of this subchapter is
2-2 to promote conservation of the potable water supply and beneficial
2-3 uses of reclaimed wastewater by providing incentive financing
2-4 through low-interest loans and grants to political subdivisions for
2-5 the development of wastewater reclamation projects.
2-6 Section 15.703. Definitions. In this Act:
2-7 (1) "reclaimed wastewater" means domestic wastewater
2-8 or effluent that is under the direct control of a publicly owned
2-9 treatment works owner or operator which has been treated to a
2-10 quality suitable for beneficial use.
2-11 (2) "wastewater reclamation project" means the
2-12 construction, acquisition, improvement, extension or addition to
2-13 any wastewater reclamation and reclaimed water treatment,
2-14 transmission, storage, discharge, recharge, disposal or
2-15 distribution facility, or any similar or related wastewater
2-16 reclamation or reuse project or facility.
2-17 (3) Board means the Texas Water Development Board.
2-18 Section 15.704. Creation and Administration of Program. The
2-19 Wastewater Reclamation Fund shall be held separately from other
2-20 Funds by the Board outside the State Treasury to provide financial
2-21 assistance to political subdivisions for construction or
2-22 acquisition of wastewater reclamation projects. The Board shall
2-23 administer the Wastewater Reclamation Fund in the manner provided
2-24 by federal and state law and under the rules adopted by the Board.
2-25 Section 15.705. Financial Assistance From the Wastewater
3-1 Reclamation Fund. (a) The Board may use the Wastewater
3-2 Reclamation Fund to provide financial assistance to political
3-3 subdivisions for wastewater reclamation projects which shall
3-4 include, but not be limited to, the following:
3-5 (1) irrigation of restricted landscape areas as that
3-6 term is defined in Section 310.1 of the Texas Administrative Code,
3-7 including golf courses, cemeteries, roadway right-of-ways and
3-8 median dividers;
3-9 (2) irrigation of unrestricted landscape areas as that
3-10 term is defined in Section 310.1 of the Texas Administrative Code,
3-11 including parks, school yards, greenbelts and large multi-family
3-12 turf areas;
3-13 (3) use for commercial and industrial purposes,
3-14 including substitution for potable water for refineries, garment
3-15 finishers, commercial laundries and other industrial and commercial
3-16 complexes using more than twelve million gallons of potable water
3-17 per year;
3-18 (4) recharge into groundwater aquifers or basins; or
3-19 (5) any other water or wastewater project which the
3-20 Board determines constitutes beneficial wastewater reuse or results
3-21 in potable water conservation and which tends to preserve the
3-22 potable water supply available to the political subdivision.
3-23 (b) Two or more political subdivisions may jointly make an
3-24 application, or a regional authority may contract with one or more
3-25 political subdivisions as a joint venture for financial assistance.
4-1 (c) The Board may use the Wastewater Reclamation Fund to
4-2 provide financial assistance to political subdivisions as follows:
4-3 (1) to make loans from the Wastewater Reclamation Fund
4-4 which shall be set at a rate not more than a rate equal to fifty
4-5 percent of the interest rate paid by the State on the most recent
4-6 sale of State general obligation bonds for the Texas Water
4-7 Development Fund, with the rate to be computed according to the
4-8 true interest cost method and including interest free loans, at
4-9 terms not to exceed twenty years. Principal and interest payments
4-10 will begin not later than one year after completion of construction
4-11 or acquisition of any wastewater reclamation project and all loans
4-12 shall be fully amortized not later than twenty years after
4-13 completion of construction or acquisition of the wastewater
4-14 reclamation project;
4-15 (2) to buy or refinance the debt of political
4-16 subdivisions at or below market rates if necessary to facilitate
4-17 financing of a wastewater reclamation project;
4-18 (3) to guarantee or purchase insurance for the
4-19 obligations of political subdivisions if the guaranty or insurance
4-20 were to improve access to financial markets or reduce interest
4-21 rates on the obligations;
4-22 (4) as a source of revenue or security for the payment
4-23 of principal of or interest on bonds issued by the Board if the
4-24 proceeds of the sale of those bonds will be deposited in the
4-25 Wastewater Reclamation Fund;
5-1 (5) to provide loan guarantees to political
5-2 subdivisions to Accounts established by municipalities,
5-3 inter-municipal agencies or the federal government;
5-4 (6) to earn interest on the Wastewater Reclamation
5-5 Fund; and
5-6 (7) to pay the reasonable cost of administering the
5-7 Wastewater Reclamation Fund and conducting activities providing for
5-8 by any applicable law.
5-9 Section 15.706. Grants. (a) The Board may use the
5-10 Wastewater Reclamation Fund to make grants if the political
5-11 subdivision applying for the grant meets one or more of the
5-12 following conditions:
5-13 (1) The political subdivision is within a critical
5-14 groundwater area or has established, by a study which has been
5-15 approved by the Board, that it depends primarily on groundwater for
5-16 its water supply and the demand for groundwater resources will
5-17 exceed the available groundwater supply within fifty years from the
5-18 date of the grant application;
5-19 (2) The political subdivision's wastewater reclamation
5-20 project will directly benefit an economically distressed area as
5-21 that term is defined in Section 17.921(1) of this code;
5-22 (3) The political subdivision is located on an
5-23 international border, shares one or more common groundwater
5-24 aquifers or basins with a city located in Mexico and is
5-25 experiencing increased demands on its water supply due to
6-1 population and economic growth caused by the North American Free
6-2 Trade Agreement or other factors; and
6-3 (4) The Board determines that the wastewater
6-4 reclamation project will provide an alternate supply of water which
6-5 will significantly reduce potable water demands and the Board
6-6 determines that the revenue available to the political subdivision,
6-7 from all sources, is not sufficient for the repayment of a
6-8 low-interest loan.
6-9 (b) The Board may adopt rules to enable it to determine a
6-10 political subdivision's applicability for a grant under this
6-11 subchapter.
6-12 Section 15.707. Rules. The Board shall adopt necessary
6-13 rules to carry out this subchapter.
6-14 Section 15.708. Approval of Application. The Board may, by
6-15 resolution, approve an application for a low-interest loan if it
6-16 finds that in its opinion the revenue or taxes or both pledged by
6-17 the applicant will be sufficient to meet all the obligations
6-18 assumed by the political subdivision. The Board may approve a
6-19 grant, by resolution, if it finds that the applicant meets one or
6-20 more of the conditions for a grant under Section 15.706 above. A
6-21 program of water conservation for the more effective use of water
6-22 and a certification that the applicant's wastewater reclamation
6-23 project and the applicant meet all the requirements of applicable
6-24 law shall be required in the same manner as required for approval
6-25 of an application for financial assistance under Section 15.706 of
7-1 this code.
7-2 Section 15.709. Approval and Registration. The Board may
7-3 not buy or refinance any obligations or guarantee or purchase
7-4 insurance for obligations of a political subdivision that have not
7-5 been approved by the Attorney General and registered by the
7-6 Comptroller.
7-7 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
7-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its
7-13 terms from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.