1-1 By: Rosson S.B. No. 450
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed February 3, 1995; February 6, 1995,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; February 22, 1995, reported favorably, as amended, by
1-5 the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; February 22, 1995, sent to
1-6 printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Rosson
1-8 Amend S.B. No. 450 by adding a comma after the word "county" and
1-9 before the word "water" on page 1, line 15 (committee printing page
1-10 1, line 26).
1-11 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-12 AN ACT
1-13 relating to regional water and wastewater planning for the County
1-14 of El Paso.
1-15 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-16 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-17 (1) "Application" means an application for financial
1-18 assistance filed with an agency of the State of Texas, a federal
1-19 agency, or an international agency for the planning, design, or
1-20 construction of a system in the county.
1-21 (2) "City" means the City of El Paso.
1-22 (3) "County" means the geographical area within the
1-23 boundary of the County of El Paso.
1-24 (4) "Person" means an individual, association,
1-25 partnership, corporation, foundation, university, college,
1-26 municipal corporation, county water utility as defined herein,
1-27 nonprofit corporation, any other person or entity that files an
1-28 application, or an agent, employee, or department thereof.
1-29 (5) "PSB" means the Public Service Board of the city
1-30 created by El Paso, Texas, Ordinance No. 752 (May 22, 1952), as
1-31 amended, pursuant to Article 1115, Revised Statutes.
1-32 (6) "Regional planning" means the process of
1-33 identifying existing and potential problems and solutions and their
1-34 relative costs and benefits and recommending the most feasible
1-35 solutions for regional water and wastewater facilities.
1-36 (7) "System" means water supply, treatment, and
1-37 delivery or water and wastewater systems, or any component thereof.
1-38 (8) "Water utility" means:
1-39 (A) any district or authority located within the
1-40 county and created under either Sections 52(b)(1) and (2), Article
1-41 III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, other than the
1-42 El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1;
1-43 (B) any municipality, other than the city, that
1-44 is located within the county, either existing de facto or created
1-45 or organized under the general or special laws or operating under a
1-46 home-rule charter that has been adopted or amended as authorized by
1-47 Section 5, Article XI, Texas Constitution, and that owns a system;
1-48 (C) any nonprofit water supply corporation
1-49 located within the county and created under Chapter 76, Acts of the
1-50 43rd Legislature, 1st Called Session, 1933 (Article 1434a, Vernon's
1-51 Texas Civil Statutes); or
1-52 (D) any other person who files an application.
1-53 SECTION 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. The legislature finds
1-54 that:
1-55 (1) the primary sources of raw water supply available
1-56 for municipal water purposes to the residents within the county are
1-57 the surface water of the Rio Grande and the groundwater of the
1-58 Mesilla and Hueco aquifers; and
1-59 (2) increasing consumption of those resources requires
1-60 increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation in the
1-61 management of those resources.
1-62 SECTION 3. PURPOSES. The purposes of this Act are to
1-63 improve regional water and wastewater planning for the county and
1-64 to encourage increased consultation, coordination, and cooperation
1-65 in the management of regional water resources.
1-66 SECTION 4. DESIGNATION OF CITY AS REGIONAL WATER AND
1-67 WASTEWATER PLANNER. (a) On the enactment of an enabling
1-68 resolution by the city council of the city, the city is hereby
2-1 designated, through its PSB, as the regional water and wastewater
2-2 planner with the authority to conduct regional water and wastewater
2-3 planning.
2-4 (b) The city, through its PSB, shall receive priority
2-5 consideration for the funding of regional water and wastewater
2-6 planning.
2-7 (c) Regional planning for which the PSB would receive
2-8 priority consideration for funding does not include the following
2-9 three categories of activities, but all persons filing applications
2-10 for state or federal funding for the following three categories of
2-11 activities must comply with all of the provisions of Section 5 of
2-12 this Act:
2-13 (1) those activities directly related to the
2-14 preparation of applications for state or federal permits;
2-15 (2) those activities associated with administrative or
2-16 legal proceedings by regulatory agencies; and
2-17 (3) the preparation of engineering plans and
2-18 specifications, specific facilities planning, design, construction,
2-19 operation, or maintenance of a system to be constructed entirely
2-20 within a water utility.
2-21 (d) Regional planning includes the following considerations:
2-22 (1) coordination of water and wastewater management on
2-23 a regional watershed basis;
2-24 (2) water quality and water quantity conditions
2-25 adversely affecting the public health and the environment;
2-26 (3) efficient planning for and management of water
2-27 resources to remediate existing colonia conditions and to avoid
2-28 future colonia conditions;
2-29 (4) participation in water and wastewater planning
2-30 with the adjacent Texas counties and the border states of New
2-31 Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico, to address transboundary water
2-32 quality issues and to protect and preserve the region's water
2-33 resources for human consumption;
2-34 (5) encouragement of conjunctive management of the
2-35 limited surface water and groundwater resources of the region so
2-36 that the integrity and quality of those limited resources are
2-37 protected and preserved to the greatest extent reasonably possible;
2-38 (6) maximization of amounts, obtaining favorable
2-39 terms, and making the optimal use of public funding to implement
2-40 the purposes of this Act; and
2-41 (7) intergovernmental cooperation with water utilities
2-42 to encourage their planning to be consistent with the regional
2-43 plan.
2-44 (e) In this section, "regional plan" means:
2-45 (1) the El Paso Water Resource Management Plan dated
2-46 July 19, 1991, prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, which
2-47 includes the El Paso Water Conservation Plan approved by the PSB on
2-48 November 28, 1990, the Policy for Extension of Water and Sewer
2-49 Services in El Paso County dated August, 1991, and the Water
2-50 Facilities Master Plan dated October 13, 1993, as may be amended;
2-51 (2) the Feasibility Report on Wastewater Reuse
2-52 Opportunities dated November, 1992, prepared by Boyle Engineering
2-53 Corporation, as may be amended; and
2-54 (3) the El Paso Water Facilities Master Plan dated
2-55 June, 1994, prepared by Boyle Engineering Corporation, as may be
2-56 amended.
2-57 SECTION 5. FUNDING APPLICATIONS. (a) A person who intends
2-58 to file an application shall schedule a preapplication conference
2-59 with the general manager of the PSB and, unless waived in writing
2-60 by the PSB, the applicant shall confer with the PSB to discuss the
2-61 proposed content of the application no later than 30 days prior to
2-62 the filing of the application with the funding entity.
2-63 (b) A copy of all applications shall be filed with the PSB
2-64 on or before the date on which the application is filed with the
2-65 funding entity. The PSB shall have 45 days after receipt to
2-66 comment on the application but at any time during this 45-day
2-67 period may notify the applicant that it has no comments. No agency
2-68 of the State of Texas shall approve an application until the
2-69 earlier of 45 days after the date of receipt of the application,
2-70 receipt of the PSB's comments, or receipt of the PSB's decision not
3-1 to comment.
3-2 (c) All applicants for water and wastewater projects shall
3-3 submit to the PSB the following information:
3-4 (1) the service area and estimation of the numbers of
3-5 people that will benefit from the system;
3-6 (2) an explanation of why the system is needed;
3-7 (3) design and construction standards of the system;
3-8 (4) compatibility with, or distance from, the PSB's
3-9 existing infrastructure;
3-10 (5) an evaluation of the consistency of the
3-11 application with the regional plan, as may be amended;
3-12 (6) an evaluation of alternatives for providing
3-13 adequate water and wastewater facilities that use less water
3-14 resources;
3-15 (7) qualities of the system that improve human health
3-16 and the environment; and
3-17 (8) proof of notice of the application to the PSB.
3-18 (d) All applicants for water projects shall submit to the
3-19 PSB the following information in addition to the information listed
3-20 in Subsection (c) of this section:
3-21 (1) identification of the source of water;
3-22 (2) estimation of water usage, including peak demand,
3-23 and wastewater flows after completion of the recommended proposed
3-24 facilities, with an explanation of the basis of the estimation;
3-25 (3) conservation measures, including the use of
3-26 reclaimed water where such use is technically feasible and
3-27 cost-effective; and
3-28 (4) restrictions that minimize peak use to reduce the
3-29 overdraft to and salinity of the source aquifer and to protect its
3-30 natural recharge potential.
3-31 (e) If groundwater is the source of water, the application
3-32 shall characterize the aquifer system and its recharge zone and
3-33 determine the effect of approval of the application on the life of
3-34 the aquifer, the quality of water in the aquifer, and the natural
3-35 recharge of the aquifer.
3-36 SECTION 6. EXEMPTIONS. Nothing in this Act shall apply to
3-37 the El Paso County Water Improvement District No. 1.
3-38 SECTION 7. NONSURRENDER OF RATE JURISDICTION. Nothing in
3-39 this Act constitutes a surrender or grant of jurisdiction over
3-40 rates and services to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-41 Commission or any successor agency.
3-42 SECTION 8. SEVERABILITY AND CONSTRUCTION. If any provisions
3-43 of this Act or the application thereof to any person or
3-44 circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
3-45 other provisions or applications of this Act that can be given
3-46 effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this
3-47 end all the terms and provisions of this Act are declared
3-48 severable. All the terms and provisions of this Act are to be
3-49 liberally construed to effectuate the purposes, powers, rights,
3-50 functions, and authorities herein set forth.
3-51 SECTION 9. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
3-52 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-56 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-57 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-58 * * * * *