By Puente H.B. No. 2979
75R5470 SMH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the protection of the water supply of a municipality.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 401.002(a), Local Government Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) A home-rule municipality may prohibit the pollution or
1-7 degradation of and may police a stream, drain, recharge feature,
1-8 recharge area, or tributary that may constitute or recharge the
1-9 source of water supply of any municipality.
1-10 SECTION 2. Chapter 401, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-11 adding Sections 401.004 and 401.005 to read as follows:
1-12 Sec. 401.004. PROTECTION OF CERTAIN RECHARGE FEATURES. (a)
1-13 A home-rule municipality may not grant any final approval of a
1-14 development under any municipal ordinance unless the owner of the
1-15 tract on which the development occurs constructs a buffer
1-16 surrounding each recharge feature that:
1-17 (1) is located on the tract;
1-18 (2) is highly significant according to criteria
1-19 adopted by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission;
1-20 (3) drains at least 10 acres in a watershed; and
1-21 (4) recharges the sole source of the water supply of a
1-22 municipality.
1-23 (b) The buffer must be sufficient to prevent contamination
1-24 of the water supply from one-half inch of runoff following a storm
2-1 event.
2-2 (c) If the slope of the land surrounding the recharge
2-3 feature:
2-4 (1) does not exceed 2.5 percent, the buffer must be at
2-5 least 60 feet wide;
2-6 (2) exceeds 2.5 percent but does not exceed 5 percent,
2-7 the buffer must be at least 70 feet wide;
2-8 (3) exceeds 5 percent but does not exceed 7.5 percent,
2-9 the buffer must be at least 80 feet wide;
2-10 (4) exceeds 7.5 percent but does not exceed 10
2-11 percent, the buffer must be at least 90 feet wide; or
2-12 (5) exceeds 10 percent, the buffer must be at least
2-13 100 feet wide.
2-14 (d) The width of the buffer is measured from the outer
2-15 perimeter of the recharge feature.
2-16 (e) The recharge feature may not be sealed and must be
2-17 maintained in its natural condition.
2-18 (f) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission by
2-19 rule shall adopt criteria for determining whether a recharge
2-20 feature is highly significant. The criteria may include:
2-21 (1) the feature's vertical length;
2-22 (2) the size of the feature's aperture;
2-23 (3) the relative infiltration of the feature;
2-24 (4) the size of the area drained by the feature;
2-25 (5) the topography of the area in which the feature is
2-26 located; and
2-27 (6) the potential recharge of the feature.
3-1 Sec. 401.005. GEOLOGIC SITE ASSESSMENT. (a) A home-rule
3-2 municipality may not grant any final approval of a residential
3-3 development under any municipal ordinance unless the owner of the
3-4 tract on which the development occurs provides the municipality
3-5 with:
3-6 (1) a geologic assessment of the tract; and
3-7 (2) a water pollution abatement plan for the tract.
3-8 (b) This section does not apply to a single-family
3-9 residential development consisting of fewer than five residences.
3-10 SECTION 3. Sections 401.004 and 401.005, Local Government
3-11 Code, as added by this Act, apply only to a development for which
3-12 the preparation of the site begins on or after the effective date
3-13 of this Act. A development for which the preparation of the site
3-14 began before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
3-15 as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
3-16 and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-17 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
3-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.