By: Sims S.B. No. 1305 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to regional assessment of water quality by watershed or 1-2 river basin. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. Section 26.0135(h) of the Texas Water Code is 1-5 amended to read as follows: 1-6 (h) The Texas Water Commission shall apportion, assess, and 1-7 recover the reasonable costs of administering water quality 1-8 management programs under this section from all users of water and 1-9 wastewater permit holders in the watershed according to the records 1-10 of the commission generally in proportion to their right, through 1-11 permit or contract, to use water from and discharge wastewater in 1-12 the watershed. The cost to river authorities and others to conduct 1-13 regional water quality assessment shall be subject to prior review 1-14 and approval by the commission as to methods of allocation and 1-15 total amount to be recovered. The commission shall adopt rules to 1-16 supervise and implement the water quality assessment and associated 1-17 costs. The rules shall ensure that water users and wastewater 1-18 dischargers do not pay excessive amounts, that a river authority 1-19 may recover no more than the actual costs of administering the 1-20 water quality management programs called for in this section, and 1-21 that no municipality shall be assessed cost for any efforts that 1-22 duplicate water quality management activities described in Section 1-23 26.177 of this chapter. The rules concerning the apportionment and 2-1 assessment of reasonable costs shall not provide for a recovery of 2-2 more than $5,000,000 annually. The authority granted in this 2-3 subsection expires on September 30, 1994. 2-4 SECTION 2. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation 2-5 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, 2-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force according to its 2-10 terms, and it is so enacted.