By:  Rosson                                            S.B. No. 450
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to regional water and wastewater planning for the County
    1-2  of El Paso.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  DEFINITIONS.  In this Act:
    1-5              (1)  "Application" means an application for financial
    1-6  assistance filed with an agency of the State of Texas, a federal
    1-7  agency, or an international agency for the planning, design, or
    1-8  construction of a system in the county.
    1-9              (2)  "City" means the City of El Paso.
   1-10              (3)  "County" means the geographical area within the
   1-11  boundary of the County of El Paso.
   1-12              (4)  "Person" means an individual, association,
   1-13  partnership, corporation, foundation, university, college,
   1-14  municipal corporation, county, water utility as defined herein,
   1-15  nonprofit corporation, any other person or entity that files an
   1-16  application, or an agent, employee, or department thereof.
   1-17              (5)  "PSB" means the Public Service Board of the city
   1-18  created by El Paso, Texas, Ordinance No. 752 (May 22, 1952), as
   1-19  amended, pursuant to Article 1115, Revised Statutes.
   1-20              (6)  "Regional planning" means the process of
   1-21  identifying existing and potential problems and solutions and their
   1-22  relative costs and benefits and recommending the most feasible
   1-23  solutions for regional water and wastewater facilities.
   1-24              (7)  "System" means water supply, treatment, and
    2-1  delivery or water and wastewater systems, or any component thereof.
    2-2              (8)  "Water utility" means:
    2-3                    (A)  any district or authority located within the
    2-4  county and created under either Sections 52(b)(1) and (2), Article
    2-5  III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, other than the
    2-6  El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1;
    2-7                    (B)  any municipality, other than the city, that
    2-8  is located within the county, either existing de facto or created
    2-9  or organized under the general or special laws or operating under a
   2-10  home-rule charter that has been adopted or amended as authorized by
   2-11  Section 5, Article XI, Texas Constitution, and that owns a system;
   2-12                    (C)  any nonprofit water supply corporation
   2-13  located within the county and created under Chapter 76, Acts of the
   2-14  43rd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1933 (Article 1434a, Vernon's
   2-15  Texas Civil Statutes); or
   2-16                    (D)  any other person who files an application.
   2-17        SECTION 2.  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.  The legislature finds
   2-18  that:
   2-19              (1)  the primary sources of raw water supply available
   2-20  for municipal water purposes to the residents within the county are
   2-21  the surface water of the Rio Grande and the groundwater of the
   2-22  Mesilla and Hueco aquifers; and
   2-23              (2)  increasing consumption of those resources requires
   2-24  increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation in the
   2-25  management of those resources.
   2-26        SECTION 3.  PURPOSES.  The purposes of this Act are to
   2-27  improve regional water and wastewater planning for the county and
    3-1  to encourage increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation
    3-2  in the management of regional water resources.
    3-3        SECTION 4.  DESIGNATION OF CITY AS REGIONAL WATER AND
    3-4  WASTEWATER PLANNER.  (a)  On the enactment of an enabling
    3-5  resolution by the city council of the city, the city is hereby
    3-6  designated, through its PSB, as the regional water and wastewater
    3-7  planner with the authority to conduct regional water and wastewater
    3-8  planning.
    3-9        (b)  The city, through its PSB, shall receive priority
   3-10  consideration for the funding of regional water and wastewater
   3-11  planning.
   3-12        (c)  Regional planning for which the PSB would receive
   3-13  priority consideration for funding does not include the following
   3-14  three categories of activities, but all persons filing applications
   3-15  for state or federal funding for the following three categories of
   3-16  activities must comply with all of the provisions of Section 5 of
   3-17  this Act:
   3-18              (1)  those activities directly related to the
   3-19  preparation of applications for state or federal permits;
   3-20              (2)  those activities associated with administrative or
   3-21  legal proceedings by regulatory agencies; and
   3-22              (3)  the preparation of engineering plans and
   3-23  specifications, specific facilities planning, design, construction,
   3-24  operation, or maintenance of a system to be constructed entirely
   3-25  within a water utility.
   3-26        (d)  Regional planning includes the following considerations:
   3-27              (1)  coordination of water and wastewater management on
    4-1  a regional watershed basis;
    4-2              (2)  water quality and water quantity conditions
    4-3  adversely affecting the public health and the environment;
    4-4              (3)  efficient planning for and management of water
    4-5  resources to remediate existing colonia conditions and to avoid
    4-6  future colonia conditions;
    4-7              (4)  participation in water and wastewater planning
    4-8  with the adjacent Texas counties and the border states of New
    4-9  Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico, to address transboundary water
   4-10  quality issues and to protect and preserve the region's water
   4-11  resources for human consumption;
   4-12              (5)  encouragement of conjunctive management of the
   4-13  limited surface water and groundwater resources of the region so
   4-14  that the integrity and quality of those limited resources are
   4-15  protected and preserved to the greatest extent reasonably possible;
   4-16              (6)  maximization of amounts, obtaining favorable
   4-17  terms, and making the optimal use of public funding to implement
   4-18  the purposes of this Act; and
   4-19              (7)  intergovernmental cooperation with water utilities
   4-20  to encourage their planning to be consistent with the regional
   4-21  plan.
   4-22        (e)  In this section, "regional plan" means:
   4-23              (1)  the El Paso Water Resource Management Plan dated
   4-24  July 19, 1991, prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, which
   4-25  includes the El Paso Water Conservation Plan approved by the PSB on
   4-26  November 28, 1990, the Policy for Extension of Water and Sewer
   4-27  Services in El Paso County dated August, 1991, and the Water
    5-1  Facilities Master Plan dated October 13, 1993, as may be amended;
    5-2              (2)  the Feasibility Report on Wastewater Reuse
    5-3  Opportunities dated November, 1992, prepared by Boyle Engineering
    5-4  Corporation, as may be amended; and
    5-5              (3)  the El Paso Water Facilities Master Plan dated
    5-6  June, 1994, prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, as may be
    5-7  amended.
    5-8        SECTION 5.  FUNDING APPLICATIONS.  (a)  A person who intends
    5-9  to file an application shall schedule a preapplication conference
   5-10  with the general manager of the PSB and, unless waived in writing
   5-11  by the PSB, the applicant shall confer with the PSB to discuss the
   5-12  proposed content of the application no later than 30 days prior to
   5-13  the filing of the application with the funding entity.
   5-14        (b)  A copy of all applications shall be filed with the PSB
   5-15  on or before the date on which the application is filed with the
   5-16  funding entity.  The PSB shall have 45 days after receipt to
   5-17  comment on the application but at any time during this 45-day
   5-18  period may notify the applicant that it has no comments.  No agency
   5-19  of the State of Texas shall approve an application until the
   5-20  earlier of 45 days after the date of receipt of the application,
   5-21  receipt of the PSB's comments, or receipt of the PSB's decision not
   5-22  to comment.
   5-23        (c)  All applicants for water and wastewater projects shall
   5-24  submit to the PSB the following information:
   5-25              (1)  the service area and estimation of the numbers of
   5-26  people that will benefit from the system;
   5-27              (2)  an explanation of why the system is needed;
    6-1              (3)  design and construction standards of the system;
    6-2              (4)  compatibility with, or distance from, the PSB's
    6-3  existing infrastructure;
    6-4              (5)  an evaluation of the consistency of the
    6-5  application with the regional plan, as may be amended;
    6-6              (6)  an evaluation of alternatives for providing
    6-7  adequate water and wastewater facilities that use less water
    6-8  resources;
    6-9              (7)  qualities of the system that improve human health
   6-10  and the environment; and
   6-11              (8)  proof of notice of the application to the PSB.
   6-12        (d)  All applicants for water projects shall submit to the
   6-13  PSB the following information in addition to the information listed
   6-14  in Subsection (c) of this section:
   6-15              (1)  identification of the source of water;
   6-16              (2)  estimation of water usage, including peak demand,
   6-17  and wastewater flows after completion of the recommended proposed
   6-18  facilities with an explanation of the basis of the estimation;
   6-19              (3)  conservation measures, including the use of
   6-20  reclaimed water where such use is technically feasible and
   6-21  cost-effective; and
   6-22              (4)  restrictions that minimize peak use to reduce the
   6-23  overdraft to and salinity of the source aquifer and to protect its
   6-24  natural recharge potential.
   6-25        (e)  If groundwater is the source of water, the application
   6-26  shall characterize the aquifer system and its recharge zone and
   6-27  determine the effect of approval of the application on the life of
    7-1  the aquifer, the quality of water in the aquifer, and the natural
    7-2  recharge of the aquifer.
    7-3        SECTION 6.  EXEMPTIONS.  Nothing in this Act shall apply to
    7-4  the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1.
    7-5        SECTION 7.  NONSURRENDER OF RATE JURISDICTION.  Nothing in
    7-6  this Act constitutes a surrender or grant of jurisdiction over
    7-7  rates and services to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
    7-8  Commission or any successor agency.
    7-9        SECTION 8.  SEVERABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION.  If any provisions
   7-10  of this Act or the application thereof to any person or
   7-11  circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
   7-12  other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given
   7-13  effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this
   7-14  end all the terms and provisions of this Act are declared
   7-15  severable.  All the terms and provisions of this Act are to be
   7-16  liberally construed to effectuate the purposes, powers, rights,
   7-17  functions, and authorities herein set forth.
   7-18        SECTION 9.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
   7-19  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   7-20  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   7-21  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   7-22  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   7-23  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   7-24  passage, and it is so enacted.