BILL ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3193
By: Saunders
April 28, 1995
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND
Water authorities are created to control and distribute storm,
flood, and river water for irrigation, power, and other useful
purposes, including reclamation and irrigation of arid land;
drainage; conservation and development of hydroelectric power;
conservation of forests; navigation; protection of the state's
water purity and sanitation; the supplying of water; alteration of
land elevations; and the provision of recreational facilities. The
legislature is given the authority to create these districts in
Article 16, Section 59 of the Texas Constitution
PURPOSE
This bill creates a water district in Travis County.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly
grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
department, agency, or institution.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
ARTICLE 1 Provides for the creation of the Southwest Travis County
Water District under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
Constitution and defines terms.
ARTICLE 2 Provides for a board of nine directors with three
appointed by the Governor, three appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor, and three members appointed by the
Lieutenant Governor from a list submitted by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives. Directors must be
residents of Travis County, and at least five of the
directors must reside in the district. Also, the
directors serve for staggered 6 year terms. The board
is directed to organize and meet at least four times
each year, and members are to be compensated at the rate
of $50 per day. The board is also directed to employ
a general manager. Conflicts of interest are prohibited
and employees bonds are required. In addition, the
authority shall establish a district office, maintain
certain records, and adopt a seal. This section also
states that the authority may sue and be sued in its
corporate name.
ARTICLE 3 Provides for the general powers and duties of the
authority including the coordination of the provision
of water, wastewater, solid waste disposal, and drainage
services and control and abatement of water pollution
within the district. Creation of a political
subdivision within the district requires consent of the
district board. Annexation of district territory
requires consent of the district board and approval of
all landowners in the area to be annexed.
The district's rights within the district to: regulate
septic tanks; regulate pollution of certain sources of
water supply; protect a watershed; protect and manage
endangered species; regulate subdivision of land, zoning
and land use, resource extraction activities, and use
and development of public parkland; coordinate provision
of water, wastewater, solid waste disposal, or drainage
services; and control and abate water pollution are
subject to the Texas Natural Resources Conservation
Commission's authority but not to the authority of any
local government. The district is granted general
rulemaking power, the right to enter land, hold
hearings, and recover penalties. The district is
granted extensive power within the district to:
prescribe pollution abatement programs; devise water,
wastewater or drainage control plans; establish minimum
standards of operation for all activities and facilities
in the district that are related to solid waste;
regulate use of septic systems; approve plats and
replats of tracts; enforce, amend, or terminate
provisions of agreements between MUDs and political
subdivisions; acquire, construct, and operate systems;
contract systems; sell water; receive permits; exercise
eminent domain; relocate facilities; use public
easements; acquire, use, or operate facilities; enter
into contracts; and enter into cooperative agreements.
The district's actions are reviewable by a district
court. However, a person bringing an unsuccessful
challenge to any portion of this Act shall pay
reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred by
prevailing parties in defending this Act.
ARTICLE 4 Provides that the authority shall select a depository
bank and may disburse money only by an instrument signed
by an authorized person and that the authority may
establish fees and charges. The authority may borrow
money and accept grants. The board shall also establish
the authority's fiscal year, and an annual audit is
required.
ARTICLE 5 Provides that the authority may issue revenue bonds and
refunding bonds and establishes procedures for approval
and registration of the bonds. The section also states
that the authority may not levy ad valorem taxes, except
upon the approval of qualified voters in the district.
ARTICLE 6 Provides that the authority shall include all territory
within the district, whether the territory contains
noncontiguous parcels of land and whether the territory
is located within the boundaries of any municipality or
other governmental entity or political subdivision of
the state. The district specifically includes the
territory contained within the metes and boundaries
described in this section. A finding is made that the
authority is created to serve a public use and benefit.
In addition, provision is made for adding territory to
the authority area via petition process. Also,
limitations on the amount of land the district can annex
are delineated, including a maximum size limitation of
8,000 acres for the district territory.
ARTICLE 7 A finding is made that procedures required for the
introduction of a local bill have been made. Reconciles
the jurisdictions of the district and certain existing
conservation and reclamation districts. Provides that
any existing contracts between the district and a local
government regarding provision of water, wastewater,
drainage, or solid waste disposal service within the
district govern the local government's obligations
regarding such services. A severability provision is
included. Emergency clause; effective upon passage.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The name of the conservation and reclamation district to be created
is changed from the North Hays County Water Authority, in the
original bill, to the Southwest Travis County Authority, in the
substitute. This reflects the fact that the district territory in
the substitute is limited to within Travis County, compared to the
original, which included land within Hays County.
In Section 1.02 of the substitute, the definition of "authority" is
replaced by a definition for "district", and a definition of
"pollution" is added. Also, throughout the substitute, the term
"authority" is replaced by the term "district".
Section 2.02 of the substitute states that all of the directors of
the district must reside in Travis County and at least five of the
directors must reside in the district. Subsection (c), Section
2.05 of the substitute clarifies that a majority of the directors
constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business and that a
vote of a majority of directors present at a meeting at which a
quorum is present is required for board action.
Solid waste disposal is added to the list of powers and duties in
Section 3.01(a)(3) of the substitute. Subsection (b), Section 3.01
of the substitute clarifies that the annexation of any district
territory by a political subdivision or local government requires
approval of all landowners in the area to be annexed. In addition,
the substitute states that all area within the district is removed
and excluded from the ETJ of any local government or other
political subdivision in the state. Subsection (c) of the
substitute expands the district's powers, subject only to the
TNRCC's authority, to do the following within the district:
regulate septic tanks; prohibit the pollution of and enforce rules
regarding any stream, drain, or tributary that may constitute a
source of water supply; adopt and enforce rules protecting a
watershed; provide for the protection and management of an
endangered species located within the district or affected by
activities in the district; regulate the subdivision of land, all
zoning and land use, resource extraction activities, and the use
and development of public parkland; coordinate the provision of
water, wastewater, solid waste disposal, or drainage services
within, to, or from the district; and control or abate water
pollution caused within the district.
A new subsection (d) is added to Section 3.06 in the substitute,
requiring a person who unsuccessfully challenges the validity of
any portion of this Act to pay the reasonable attorney's fees,
expert witness fees, and other costs incurred by all opposing
parties in defending this Act.
Language has been revised in Sections 3.07 and 3.08 of the
substitute to reflect that the district's water pollution control
and abatement program shall achieve state water quality standards
adopted by TNRCC and in effect on January 1, 1995. The language in
the original stated that the district's program should be "designed
to protect human health" and "consistent with uniform state water
quality standards adopted by the commission." The commission, in
the substitute, is required to notify the district of the
commission's specific objections to the district's program within
30 days of receipt of the program, after which time the program
becomes operative. This 30-day time period replaces a 90-day time
period contained in the original bill.
A new subsection (b) is added to Section 3.08 in the substitute,
stating that the Act does not authorize the district to develop,
own, or operate a surface water dam or reservoir for potable water
supply purposes or to limit or supersede an existing water
management plan, water right, or water supply or wastewater
treatment facility of a certain conservation and reclamation
district described in the substitute.
Section 3.09 in the substitute is amended by deleting subsections
(a)-(d) relating to the authority's procedures for establishing
minimum standards of operation for all solid waste activities and
facilities in the authority, and replaces that language with new
subsection (a), granting the district the powers and duties
relating to the regulation of solid waste granted to a local
government under the Health & Safety Code. Such powers include the
ability to require permits for solid waste activities, so that
language is removed from subsection (b) as it appears in the
substitute.
New Section 3.11, relating to subdivisions, is inserted in the
substitute. This section provides the district the power and
jurisdiction to approve a plat or replat of tracts of land in the
district, subject to certain county powers and jurisdiction. Also,
it states that a district regulation regarding the subdivision of
land within the district supersedes a conflicting county
regulation. Subsection (b) establishes procedures for the county
and district to approve or disapprove plats or replats of land in
the district. Subsection (c) prohibits the county and district
from regulating certain land uses on land within the district.
New Section 3.12, relating to municipal utility districts, is
inserted in the substitute. Subsection (a) states that only the
TNRCC shall regulate creation of MUDs within the district.
Subsection (b) gives the district the power to enforce, amend, or
terminate provisions of agreements between a MUD in the district
and any local government or political subdivision in the state
relating to land use or site plans, restrictive covenants, the
provision of drainage and solid waste disposal, the regulation of
septic tanks, the control and abatement of water pollution, the
prohibition of pollution and policing of any source of water
supply, or the protection and policing of watersheds in the
district. Subsection (c) clarifies that the authority granted to
the district in subsection (b) of this section supersedes the
authority of any local government or political subdivision in the
state regarding the matters in subsection (b). Subsection (d)
provides that the district's rules in effect at the time of
creation of a MUD in the district govern the MUD until the bonds
issued by the MUD have been paid. Subsection (d) also places
restrictions on the types of requirements and conditions that a
political subdivision or local government may place on the MUD.
A new subsection (b) is added to the section entitled Eminent
Domain, in the substitute, prohibiting the district from exercising
its eminent domain powers in a certain conservation and reclamation
district described in the Act. Also, a new subsection (b) is added
to the section entitled Use of Public Easements, in the substitute,
making the section inapplicable to an easement of a certain
conservation and reclamation district described in the Act.
In Section 6.01 of the substitute, the size of the district is
given as 4,661.248 acres, as compared to a 4,584.7234 acre tract
described in the original bill. Also, the legal description for
the tract in the substitute includes references to certain tracts
not referenced in the legal description for the district territory
in the original bill. Also, a reference to Hays County property in
the legal description in the original bill does not appear in the
legal description for the district territory in the substitute.
Consistent with the differing configurations of the territories
described in the original and substitute versions of the bill, the
metes and bounds descriptions of the territories in the respective
versions of the bill are different.
In Section 6.04 of the substitute, it is clarified that the
district may annex territory located in the Bear Creek, Slaughter
Creek, or Williamson Creek watersheds and not located in the
corporate limits of a municipality. Also, the substitute requires
100% landowner approval, via petition, of any territory proposed to
be annexed. The original bill stated that a petition for
annexation could be initiated by the owners of 50 percent or more
of the value of the land proposed to be annexed. The substitute
also eliminates the requirement for voter approval of the
annexation by property owners in either the area to be annexed or
the district. Finally, a new subsection in Section 6.04 of the
substitute states that the district may not increase its area
through annexation more than 10 percent per year by area, and that
the district territory may not exceed 8,000 acres. However, if the
district does not annex in a given year, it may carry over that 10
percent limit to succeeding years, provided, however, that the
district may not annex in a calendar year a total area greater than
30 percent of the total area of the district territory as of
January 1 of that year.
Section 7.02 of the substitute addresses how the authority of a
certain conservation and reclamation district described by the Act
is reconciled with the powers and duties of the district.
Section 7.03 of the substitute states that existing contracts
relating to a local government's providing of water, wastewater,
drainage, or solid waste disposal service to an area within the
district shall govern the local government's obligations to provide
service to the area within the district, until the contract
expires.
Section 7.04 provides a severability clause, that was not contained
in the original version of the bill.
Section 7.05 of the substitute adds a provision that the Act be
effective upon passage.
SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION
H.B. 3193 was considered by the committee in a public hearing on
April 18, 1995.
The following persons testified in favor of the bill:
James O'Reilly, representing himself and the
Organization of Unified Circle C Homeowners;
William Terry Bray, representing Gary Bradley;
Kevin Cromack, representing himself; and
Jeffrey Groux, representing himself.
The following persons testified against the bill:
Luther Polnau, representing the City of Austin;
Roger Duncan, representing the City of Austin; and
Pamela Thompson, representing herself and Citizens
Organized to Defend Austin.
The following persons testified neutrally on the bill:
Representative Alec Rhodes; and
Bill Couch, representing himself and the Barton Springs
/ Edwards Aquifer Conservation District.
The bill was left pending.
H.B. 3193 was considered by the committee in a formal meeting on
April 24, 1995.
The committee considered a complete substitute for the bill. The
substitute was adopted without objection.
The bill was reported favorably as substituted, with the
recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of
8 ayes, 0 nays, 0 pnv, 1 absent.