By: Wentworth, Brown S.B. No. 1017
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the designation of water quality protection zones in
1-2 certain areas.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended
1-5 by adding Section 26.179 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 26.179. DESIGNATION OF WATER QUALITY PROTECTION ZONES
1-7 IN CERTAIN AREAS. (a) In this section, "non-degradation" means:
1-8 (1) maintaining background levels of water quality
1-9 measured in average annual loadings of total suspended solids,
1-10 nutrients (total phosphorous and total nitrogen), and chemical and
1-11 biological oxygen demand; or
1-12 (2) that the anti-degradation provisions of the
1-13 Federal Water Quality Act codified as 40 CFR 131.12(a)(1) are met,
1-14 which means that non-degradation is achieved if it is reasonably
1-15 foreseeable that an activity or development does not lower water
1-16 quality to the extent that it no longer is sufficient to protect
1-17 and maintain the existing uses in the water body which receives the
1-18 discharge from the activity or development.
1-19 (b) This section applies only to areas within the
1-20 extraterritorial jurisdiction, outside the corporate limits, of a
1-21 municipality that has disannexed territory previously annexed for
1-22 limited purposes, and that has enacted or attempted to enforce four
1-23 or more water quality ordinances or amendments thereto within the
2-1 five years preceding the effective date of this Act, whether or not
2-2 such ordinances or amendments were legally effective upon the area.
2-3 (c) The owner or owners of a contiguous tract of land in
2-4 excess of 1,000 acres that is located within an area subject to
2-5 this section may designate the tract as a "water quality protection
2-6 zone." The tract shall be deemed contiguous if all of its parts
2-7 are physically adjacent, without regard to easements,
2-8 rights-of-way, roads, streambeds, and public or quasi-public land.
2-9 The purpose of a water quality protection zone is to provide the
2-10 flexibility necessary to facilitate the development of the land
2-11 within the zone, but which also is intended to result in
2-12 non-degradation of the quality of water within the zone.
2-13 (d) Water quality non-degradation within a zone shall be
2-14 achieved through a combination of one or more of the following:
2-15 impervious cover limits of 16 percent of the gross site area of the
2-16 zone for all future construction, state-of-the-art best water
2-17 quality management and land planning practices, routine monitoring
2-18 and maintenance, and public education.
2-19 (e) A water quality protection zone designated under this
2-20 section shall be described by metes and bounds. The designation
2-21 shall include a general description of the proposed land uses
2-22 within the zone, a water quality plan for the zone, and a general
2-23 description of the water quality facilities and infrastructure to
2-24 be constructed to protect water quality and achieve the
2-25 non-degradation standard for the zone.
3-1 (f) Creation of a water quality protection zone shall become
3-2 immediately effective upon recordation of the designation in the
3-3 deed records of the county in which the land is located. The
3-4 designation shall be signed by the owner or owners of the land and
3-5 filed with the city clerk of the municipality within whose
3-6 extraterritorial jurisdiction the zone is located.
3-7 (g) The water quality plan for a zone, including the
3-8 determination of background levels of water quality, shall be
3-9 signed and sealed by a registered professional engineer
3-10 acknowledging that the plan is designed to achieve the
3-11 non-degradation standard defined in this section. The water
3-12 quality plan shall be submitted to the commission for approval, and
3-13 the commission shall approve the plan upon a finding that
3-14 implementation of the plan will reasonably result in attaining the
3-15 water quality non-degradation as defined in this section. A water
3-16 quality plan may be amended from time to time upon approval by the
3-17 commission, and any such amendment shall be approved by the
3-18 commission unless there is a finding that the amendment will impair
3-19 the attainment of water quality non-degradation as defined in this
3-20 section. The commission shall adopt and assess reasonable and
3-21 necessary fees adequate to recover the costs of the commission in
3-22 administering this section. The commission review and enforcement
3-23 of a water quality plan shall be performed by the commission staff
3-24 that is responsible for reviewing pollution abatement plans in the
3-25 county where the zone is located. The review and approval of the
4-1 plan shall be completed within 120 days of the date it is filed
4-2 with the commission.
4-3 (h) The water quality plan for a zone shall be a covenant
4-4 running with the land.
4-5 (i) Notwithstanding any other statutory authorization, a
4-6 municipality may not enforce in a zone any of its ordinances, rules
4-7 or requirements including, but not limited to, nuisance ordinances,
4-8 pollution abatement regulations or plans, water quality ordinances,
4-9 or subdivision requirements; nor shall a municipality collect fees
4-10 or assessments or exercise powers of eminent domain within a zone
4-11 until the zone has been annexed.
4-12 (j) Subdivision plats within a water quality protection zone
4-13 shall be approved by the commissioners court of the county in which
4-14 the zone is located if (i) the plat complies with the subdivision
4-15 design regulations of the county, and (ii) the plat is acknowledged
4-16 by a registered professional engineer stating that the plat is in
4-17 compliance with the water quality plan then in effect within the
4-18 water quality protection zone.
4-19 SECTION 2. Section 26.177(b), Subchapter E, Water Code, is
4-20 amended to read as follows:
4-21 (b) The water pollution control and abatement program of a
4-22 city shall encompass the entire city and subject to Section 26.179
4-23 of this subchapter, may include areas within its extraterritorial
4-24 jurisdiction which in the judgment of the city should be included
4-25 to enable the city to achieve the objectives of the city for the
5-1 area within its territorial jurisdiction. The city shall include
5-2 in the program the services and functions which, in the judgment of
5-3 the city or as may be reasonably required by the commission, will
5-4 provide effective water pollution control and abatement for the
5-5 city, including the following services and functions:
5-6 (1) the development and maintenance of an inventory of
5-7 all significant waste discharges into or adjacent to the water
5-8 within the city and, where the city so elects, within the
5-9 extraterritorial jurisdiction of the city, without regard to
5-10 whether or not the discharges are authorized by the commission;
5-11 (2) the regular monitoring of all significant waste
5-12 discharges included in the inventory prepared pursuant to
5-13 Subdivision (1) of this subsection;
5-14 (3) the collecting of samples and the conducting of
5-15 periodic inspections and tests of the waste discharges being
5-16 monitored to determine whether the discharges are being conducted
5-17 in compliance with this chapter and any applicable permits, orders,
5-18 or rules of the commission, and whether they should be covered by a
5-19 permit from the commission;
5-20 (4) in cooperation with the commission, a procedure
5-21 for obtaining compliance by the waste dischargers being monitored,
5-22 including where necessary the use of legal enforcement proceedings;
5-23 (5) the development and execution of reasonable and
5-24 realistic plans for controlling and abating pollution or potential
5-25 pollution resulting from generalized discharges of waste which are
6-1 not traceable to a specific source, such as storm sewer discharges
6-2 and urban runoff from rainwater; and
6-3 (6) any additional services, functions, or other
6-4 requirements as may be prescribed by commission rule.
6-5 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-10 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-11 passage, and it is so enacted.