1-1 By: Saunders (Senate Sponsor - Sims) H.B. No. 1385
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 1995;
1-3 May 12, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
1-4 Resources; May 17, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 17, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the limitation and termination of annual cost recovery
1-9 fees for regional water quality assessments.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 26.0135(h), Water Code, as amended by
1-12 Section 1, Chapter 53, by Section 1, Chapter 316, by Section 1.01,
1-13 Chapter 564, and by Section 4, Chapter 746, Acts of the 73rd
1-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
1-15 (h) The commission shall apportion, assess, and recover the
1-16 reasonable costs of administering the water quality management
1-17 programs under this section through the fiscal year ending August
1-18 31, 1998, from users of water and wastewater permit holders in the
1-19 watershed according to the records of the commission generally in
1-20 proportion to their right, through permit or contract, to use water
1-21 from and discharge wastewater in the watershed. Irrigation water
1-22 rights will not be subject to this assessment. The cost to river
1-23 authorities and others to conduct regional water quality assessment
1-24 shall be subject to prior review and approval by the commission as
1-25 to methods of allocation and total amount to be recovered. The
1-26 commission shall adopt rules to supervise and implement the water
1-27 quality assessment and associated costs. The rules shall ensure
1-28 that water users and wastewater dischargers do not pay excessive
1-29 amounts, that a river authority may recover no more than the actual
1-30 costs of administering the water quality management programs called
1-31 for in this section, and that no municipality shall be assessed
1-32 cost for any efforts that duplicate water quality management
1-33 activities described in Section 26.177 of this chapter. The rules
1-34 concerning the apportionment and assessment of reasonable costs
1-35 shall provide for a recovery of not more than $5,000,000 annually
1-36 through the <for> fiscal year ending August 31, 1998 <years 1994
1-37 and 1995>. Costs recovered by the commission are to be deposited
1-38 to the water quality fund. The commission may apply not more than
1-39 10 percent of the costs recovered annually toward the commission's
1-40 overhead costs <and are appropriated to the commission> for the
1-41 administration of this section and the implementation of regional
1-42 water quality assessments. The commission shall file a final
1-43 written report accounting for the costs recovered under this
1-44 section with the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker
1-45 of the house of representatives on or before December 31, 1998.
1-46 This subsection expires January 1, 1999.
1-47 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
1-48 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-49 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-50 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-51 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
1-52 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
1-53 passage, and it is so enacted.
1-54 * * * * *