BILL ANALYSIS


                                                    C.S.S.B. 1017
                                                    By: Wentworth
                                                            Water
                                                          3-22-95
                                   Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND

Under current law, cities over 5,000 population are authorized to
extend water quality regulations to their extraterritorial
jurisdiction in order to enable cities to prevent the pollution of
their water supply.  Abuse of this authority has led, in at least
one city, to regulatory chaos, suffocation of land development
outside the city, slashes in county and school district tax rolls,
rising housing costs due to stalled subdivision projects, loss of
construction jobs and other economic benefits.

PURPOSE

As proposed, C.S.S.B. 1017 designates water quality protection
zones within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of certain
municipalities in order to provide the flexibility necessary to
develop the land while ensuring the non-degradation of water
quality within the area.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 26E, Water Code, by adding Section
26.179, as follows:

     Sec. 26.179.  DESIGNATION OF WATER QUALITY PROTECTION ZONES IN
     CERTAIN AREAS.  (a) Authorizes "water quality protection" to
     be achieved by maintaining background levels of water quality
     in waterways, or by capturing and retaining the first 1.5
     inches of runoff from developed areas.
     
     (b) Defines "maintaining background levels of water quality
       in waterways" for the purpose of Subsection (a)(1).
       
       (c) Provides that this section applies only to those areas
       within the extraterritorial jurisdiction, outside the
       corporate limits of a municipality with a population greater
       than 5,000 that has extended a water pollution plan to its
       area of extraterritorial jurisdiction, in which the
       municipality has enacted or attempted to enforce three or
       more ordinances or amendments thereto attempting to regulate
       water quality within the five years preceding the effective
       date of this Act.
       
       (d) Authorizes the owner of a contiguous tract of land, over
       1,000 acres, located within an area subject to this section,
       to designate the tract as a "water quality protection zone"
       (protection zone).  Requires the tract to be deemed
       contiguous if all its parts are physically adjacent. 
       Provides that the purpose of a protection zone is to provide
       the flexibility necessary to develop the land within the
       zone, but which also is intended to result in the protection
       of the quality of water within the zone.
       
       (e) Authorizes water quality protection techniques within a
       zone to include one or more of the following: state-of-the-art management practices, land planning practices, routine
       monitoring and maintenance, and public education.
       
       (f) Requires a protection zone designated under this section
       to be described by metes and bounds.  Requires the
       designation to include a general description of the proposed
       land uses, a water quality plan, and a general description
       of the water quality facilities and infrastructure to be
       constructed for water quality protection in the zone.
       
       (g) Requires the creation of a protection zone to become
       effective immediately upon recordation of the designation in
       the deed records of the county where the land is located and
       the clerk of the county in which the property is located.
       
       (h) Requires the water quality plan for a zone to be signed
       and sealed by a registered professional engineer
       acknowledging the ability of the plan to achieve the water
       quality protection standard defined in this section. 
       Requires the plan to be submitted to and accepted by the
       Texas Water Commission (commission) for approval, and
       requires the commission to accept and approve the plan
       unless the commission finds that implementation of the plan
       will not reasonably attain the water quality protection as
       defined in this section.  Sets forth provisions for
       amendment to the plan, assessment of fees, and commission
       review and enforcement of the plan.
       
       (i) Requires the water quality plan for a zone to be a
       covenant running with the land.
       
       (j) Prohibits a municipality from enforcing any of its
       ordinances, land use ordinances, rules, or requirements and
       from collecting fees or assessments, or exercising powers of
       eminent domain within a zone until annexation of the zone.
       
       (k) Requires subdivision plats within a protection zone to
       be approved by the commissioners court of the county, if the
       plat complies with the county's subdivision design
       regulations and if a registered professional engineer
       acknowledges that the plat complies with the water quality
       plan currently in effect in the protection zone.
       
       (l) Presumes that a protection zone implementing a water
       quality plan which meets the requirements of this section
       satisfies all other state and local requirements for the
       protection of water quality.
       
       SECTION 2.   Amends Section 26.177(b), Chapter 26E, Water Code, to
subject the water pollution control and abatement program of a city
to Section 26.179, Chapter 26E, Water Code.

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.
           Effective date: upon passage.