By Rosson S.B. No. 450
74R5062 E
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to regional water and wastewater planning for the County
1-3 of El Paso.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-6 (1) "Application" means an application for financial
1-7 assistance filed with an agency of the State of Texas, a federal
1-8 agency, or an international agency for planning, design, or
1-9 construction of a system in the county.
1-10 (2) "City" means the City of El Paso;
1-11 (3) "County" means the geographical area within the
1-12 boundary of the County of El Paso;
1-13 (4) "Person" means an individual, association,
1-14 partnership, corporation, foundation, university, college,
1-15 municipal corporation, county water utility as defined herein,
1-16 nonprofit corporation, any other person or entity that files an
1-17 application, or an agent, employee, or department thereof.
1-18 (5) "PSB" means the Public Service Board of the city
1-19 created by El Paso, Texas, Ordinance No. 752 (May 22, 1952), as
1-20 amended, pursuant to Article 1115, Revised Statutes;
1-21 (6) "Regional planning" means the process of
1-22 identifying existing and potential problems and solutions and their
1-23 relative costs and benefits and recommending the most feasible
1-24 solutions for regional water and wastewater facilities.
2-1 (7) "System" means water supply, treatment, and
2-2 delivery or water and wastewater systems, or any component thereof;
2-3 (8) "Water utility" means:
2-4 (A) any district or authority located within the
2-5 county and created under either Sections 52(b)(1) and (2), Article
2-6 III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, other than the
2-7 El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1;
2-8 (B) any municipality, other than the city, that
2-9 is located within the county, either existing de facto, or created
2-10 or organized under the general or special laws or operating under a
2-11 home-rule charter that has been adopted or amended as authorized by
2-12 Section 5, Article XI, Texas Constitution, and that owns a system;
2-13 (C) any nonprofit water supply corporation
2-14 located within the county and created under Chapter 76, Acts of the
2-15 43rd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1933 (Article 1434a, Vernon's
2-16 Texas Civil Statutes); or
2-17 (D) any other person who files an application.
2-18 SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
2-19 that:
2-20 (1) the primary sources of raw water supply available
2-21 for municipal water purposes to the residents within the county are
2-22 the surface water of the Rio Grande and the groundwater of the
2-23 Mesilla and Hueco aquifers; and
2-24 (2) increasing consumption of those resources requires
2-25 increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation in the
2-26 management of those resources.
2-27 SECTION 3. PURPOSES. The purposes of this Act are to
3-1 improve regional water and wastewater planning for the county and
3-2 to encourage increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation
3-3 in the management of regional water resources.
3-4 SECTION 4. DESIGNATION OF CITY AS REGIONAL WATER AND
3-5 WASTEWATER PLANNER. (a) On the enactment of an enabling
3-6 resolution by the city council of the city, the city is hereby
3-7 designated, through its PSB, as the regional water and wastewater
3-8 planner with the authority to conduct regional water and wastewater
3-9 planning.
3-10 (b) The city, through its PSB, shall receive priority
3-11 consideration for funding of regional water and wastewater
3-12 planning.
3-13 (c) Regional planning for which the PSB would receive
3-14 priority consideration for funding does not include the following
3-15 three categories of activities, but all persons filing applications
3-16 for state or federal funding for the following three categories of
3-17 activities must comply with all of the provisions of Section 5 of
3-18 this Act:
3-19 (1) those activities directly related to the
3-20 preparation of applications for state or federal permits;
3-21 (2) those activities associated with administrative or
3-22 legal proceedings by regulatory agencies; and
3-23 (3) the preparation of engineering plans and
3-24 specifications, specific facilities planning, design, construction,
3-25 operation, or maintenance of a system to be constructed entirely
3-26 within a water utility.
3-27 (d) Regional planning includes the following considerations:
4-1 (1) coordination of water and wastewater management on
4-2 a regional watershed basis;
4-3 (2) water quality and water quantity conditions
4-4 adversely affecting the public health and the environment;
4-5 (3) efficient planning for and management of water
4-6 resources to remediate existing colonia conditions and to avoid
4-7 future colonia conditions;
4-8 (4) participation in water and wastewater planning
4-9 with the adjacent Texas counties and the border states of New
4-10 Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico, to address transboundary water
4-11 quality issues and to protect and preserve the region's water
4-12 resources for human consumption;
4-13 (5) encouragement of conjunctive management of the
4-14 limited surface water and groundwater resources of the region so
4-15 that the integrity and quality of those limited resources are
4-16 protected and preserved to the greatest extent reasonably possible;
4-17 (6) maximization of amounts, obtaining favorable
4-18 terms, and making the optimal use of public funding to implement
4-19 the purposes of this Act; and
4-20 (7) intergovernmental cooperation with water utilities
4-21 to encourage their planning to be consistent with the regional
4-22 plan.
4-23 (e) In this section, "regional plan" means:
4-24 (1) the El Paso Water Resource Management Plan dated
4-25 July 19, 1991, prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, which
4-26 includes the El Paso Water Conservation Plan approved by the PSB on
4-27 November 28, 1990, the Policy for Extension of Water and Sewer
5-1 Services in El Paso County dated August, 1991, and the Water
5-2 Facilities Master Plan dated October 13, 1993, as may be amended;
5-3 (2) the Feasibility Report on Wastewater Reuse
5-4 Opportunities dated November 1992 prepared by Boyle Engineering
5-5 Corporation, as may be amended; and
5-6 (3) the El Paso Water Facilities Master Plan dated
5-7 June 1994 prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, as may be
5-8 amended.
5-9 SECTION 5. FUNDING APPLICATIONS. (a) A person who intends
5-10 to file an application shall schedule a preapplication conference
5-11 with the general manager of the PSB and, unless waived in writing
5-12 by the PSB, the applicant shall confer with the PSB to discuss the
5-13 proposed content of the application no later than 30 days prior to
5-14 the filing of the application with the funding entity.
5-15 (b) A copy of all applications shall be filed with the PSB
5-16 on or before the date on which the application is filed with the
5-17 funding entity. The PSB shall have 45 days after receipt to
5-18 comment on the application but at any time during this 45-day
5-19 period may notify the applicant that it has no comments. No agency
5-20 of the State of Texas shall approve an application until the
5-21 earlier of 45 days after the date of receipt of the application,
5-22 receipt of the PSB's comments, or receipt of the PSB's decision not
5-23 to comment.
5-24 (c) All applicants for water and wastewater projects shall
5-25 submit to the PSB the following information:
5-26 (1) the service area and estimation of the numbers of
5-27 people that will benefit from the system;
6-1 (2) an explanation of why the system is needed;
6-2 (3) design and construction standards of the system;
6-3 (4) compatibility with, or distance from, the PSB's
6-4 existing infrastructure;
6-5 (5) an evaluation of the consistency of the
6-6 application with the regional plan, as may be amended;
6-7 (6) an evaluation of alternatives for providing
6-8 adequate water and wastewater facilities that use less water
6-9 resources;
6-10 (7) qualities of the system that improve human health
6-11 and the environment; and
6-12 (8) proof of notice of the application to the PSB.
6-13 (d) All applicants for water projects shall submit to the
6-14 PSB the following information in addition to the information listed
6-15 in Subsection (c) of this section:
6-16 (1) identification of the source of water;
6-17 (2) estimation of water usage, including peak demand,
6-18 and wastewater flows after completion of the recommended proposed
6-19 facilities with an explanation of the basis of the estimation;
6-20 (3) conservation measures, including the use of
6-21 reclaimed water where such use is technically feasible and
6-22 cost-effective; and
6-23 (4) restrictions that minimize peak use to reduce the
6-24 overdraft to and salinity of the source aquifer and to protect its
6-25 natural recharge potential.
6-26 (e) If groundwater is the source of water, the application
6-27 shall characterize the aquifer system and its recharge zone and
7-1 determine the effect of approval of the application on the life of
7-2 the aquifer, the quality of water in the aquifer, and the natural
7-3 recharge of the aquifer.
7-4 SECTION 6. EXEMPTIONS. Nothing in this Act shall apply to
7-5 the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1.
7-6 SECTION 7. NONSURRENDER OF RATE JURISDICTION. Nothing in
7-7 this Act constitutes a surrender or grant of jurisdiction over
7-8 rates and services to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
7-9 Commission or any successor agency.
7-10 SECTION 8. SEVERABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION. If any provisions
7-11 of this Act or the application thereof to any person or
7-12 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
7-13 other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given
7-14 effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this
7-15 end all the terms and provisions of this Act are declared
7-16 severable. All the terms and provisions of this Act are to be
7-17 liberally construed to effectuate the purposes, powers, rights,
7-18 functions, and authorities herein set forth.
7-19 SECTION 9. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
7-20 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-25 passage, and it is so enacted.