Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By Hawley H.B. No. 2665
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the permitting of commercial mariculture facilities for
1-3 shrimp in coastal counties, and granting rulemaking authority.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended by adding a
1-6 new Section 26.0286 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 26.0286. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN
1-8 MARICULTURE FACILITIES ALONG THE TEXAS COAST. (a) This section
1-9 applies to new and existing mariculture facilities designed for the
1-10 commercial production of shrimp in any county bordering on the Gulf
1-11 of Mexico or on the tidewater limits of the Gulf.
1-12 (b) The commission by rule shall require that any facility
1-13 described in subsection (a) of this section shall obtain an
1-14 individual permit for any discharge prior to construction of the
1-15 facility or prior to any conversion from a facility that does not
1-16 discharge to one that does discharge, and that an application for
1-17 such a permit must include the following:
1-18 (1) a certification that a copy of the application has
1-19 been filed by the applicant with the Texas Parks and Wildlife
1-20 Department and the commissioners court for the county in which the
1-21 facility is or is proposed to be located prior to or concurrently
1-22 with the filing of the application with the commission;
1-23 (2) a copy of a resolution from the county and city,
1-24 if the facility is or will be located within the corporate limits
2-1 or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a city, in which the facility
2-2 is located indicating the position of that local government on the
2-3 permitting of the facility or, if the applicant is unable to get
2-4 such a resolution, the sworn documentation that the applicant made
2-5 reasonable attempts to obtain such a resolution(s) including the
2-6 description of the attempts made.
2-7 (3) an environmental report describing in detail:
2-8 (A) the design and operating plans for the
2-9 facilities, including plans for waste water management and
2-10 prevention of the creation of nuisance conditions;
2-11 (B) the existing environmental conditions at the
2-12 proposed site, including aquatic habitats and the conditions of the
2-13 waters of the state from which any diversion of water is planned or
2-14 into which a discharge is proposed; and
2-15 (C) any potential impacts of waste discharges,
2-16 and any other significant activities related to the construction
2-17 and operation of the facility on sensitive aquatic habitats in the
2-18 areas of the proposed site.
2-19 All or a part of the requirments of this subsection for an
2-20 environmental report may be waived by the commission for
2-21 applications filed after January 1, 2002, if, by rule, the
2-22 commission provides for waiver and making a formal finding, based
2-23 on a factual record that, as a result of the development of
2-24 adequate experience and expertise, the commission is able to
2-25 adequately evaluate the impacts of discharges from such facilities
2-26 without all or a part of the environmental reports.
2-27 (4) A description of the best management practices
2-28 that the applicant proposes for use in minimizing potential impacts
2-29 to the environment from activities including water intake and
2-30 entrainment, pond management at the facility for water and bottom
3-1 sediments, routine water exchange, management of water during
3-2 harvests, feeding regimes to minimize waste, and stocking
3-3 densities.
3-4 (c) The commission may grant a discharge permit to a
3-5 facility described in Subsection (a) above only if it finds:
3-6 (1) the discharge will not cause a violation of any
3-7 water quality standard or other appropriate requirements imposed
3-8 pursuant to this chapter;
3-9 (2) the operator of the facility will use appropriate
3-10 best management practices and make reasonable efforts to minimize
3-11 adverse effects to the environment, including sensitive aquatic
3-12 habitats;
3-13 (3) the operator will post a bond or provide other
3-14 appropriate financial assurance to the benefit of the commission.
3-15 The amount of the financial assurance shall be sufficient to
3-16 provide the resources needed by the commission to quarantine the
3-17 facility, disinfect the facility of any viruses, and dispose of any
3-18 wastes in case of abandonment of the facility by the operator; and
3-19 (4) the permit provides
3-20 (A) a prohibition on any discharge of water from
3-21 a facility if any disease is suspected or confirmed in any shrimp
3-22 being raised or if the executive director and the executive
3-23 director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department notifies the
3-24 operator in writing that there is good cause to suspect the
3-25 existence of disease at the facility. The prohibition must remain
3-26 in effect until the executive director of the Texas Parks and
3-27 Wildlife Department issues a written order that discharges can
3-28 begin;
3-29 (B) a requirement that any unit in the facility
3-30 in which disease has been identified must be put in a condition of
4-1 quarantine with no movement of water or animals to or from the unit
4-2 until a written approval for the movement of water or species to or
4-3 from the unit is issued by the executive director of the Texas
4-4 Parks and Wildlife Department; and
4-5 (C) notwithstanding Section 481.143(a) of the
4-6 Government Code, that the operator will comply with the best
4-7 management practices applicable to facilities subject to this
4-8 section as determined by the commission by rule, including
4-9 amendments to those best management practices adopted by the
4-10 commission by rule during the pendency of the permit.
4-11 (D) that the facility must have and implement a
4-12 disease monitoring and response plan that includes:
4-13 (i) a periodic disease monitoring program,
4-14 (ii) immediate reporting of any indication
4-15 of disease or detection of disease to the executive director and
4-16 the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
4-17 (iii) for any pond in which disease is
4-18 suspected or confirmed, provisions for the use of netting or other
4-19 appropriate steps to minimize the removal of diseased organisms by
4-20 birds and other animals, and
4-21 (iv) the immediate quarantine of any area
4-22 in which disease is suspected or confirmed to assure that there is
4-23 no release of water or animals from the area until authorized by
4-24 the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
4-25 (d) In this section, the term "mariculture" has the meaning
4-26 assigned to it in section 11.1421 of this code.
4-27 (e) Construction of new facility or expansion of an existing
4-28 facility for the commercial production of shrimp in any county
4-29 bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or bordering on the tidewater
4-30 limits of the Gulf is prohibited until the permit required under
5-1 this chapter has been issued if the facility will have a discharge.
5-2 SECTION 2. Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended
5-3 to add a new section 66.0071 to read as follows:
5-4 Sec. 66.0071. LIMITATIONS ON ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN LICENSES
5-5 FOR EXOTIC SPECIES. No license or other authorizations may be
5-6 issued or renewed for the possession of any exotic species of
5-7 shrimp for purposes of commercial production in any county
5-8 bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or on the tidewater limits of the
5-9 Gulf unless the applicant for the license, renewal or other
5-10 authorization proves to the department through a letter from the
5-11 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission stating that the
5-12 facility to be used for commercial production
5-13 (a) has all required discharge permits or other
5-14 authorizations from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
5-15 Commission for the discharge of waste waters from the production
5-16 facility or
5-17 (b) does not need a discharge permit or other authorization
5-18 since the production facility is adequately designed to operate
5-19 without any discharge of waste waters.
5-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three separate
5-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-26 passage, and it is so enacted.