By Bonnen H.B. No. 3340
75R8653 JJT-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the powers and duties of the Brazoria Drainage District
1-3 Number Four.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2, Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-8 (1) "Board" means the board of commissioners of the
1-9 district.
1-10 (2) "Construction, demolition, or modification" means
1-11 any change that will alter the rate, magnitude, or direction of
1-12 storm water runoff.
1-13 (3) "Detention facility" means a system designed to
1-14 detain storm water runoff and release it at a determined rate.
1-15 (4) "District" means the Brazoria Drainage District
1-16 Number Four.
1-17 (5) "Drainage channel" means a natural or man-made
1-18 ditch or stream that intercepts or carries storm water runoff.
1-19 (6) "Drainage plan" means a representation of the flow
1-20 of rainfall or storm water runoff on, onto, or off of a particular
1-21 area, generally depicting the drainage channels, detention
1-22 facilities, flood control improvements, and other drainage
1-23 facilities located in the area.
1-24 (7) "Flood control improvement" means a man-made
2-1 structure to regulate or distribute storm water runoff or flood
2-2 water.
2-3 (8) "Impervious cover" means material that
2-4 significantly, in the judgment of the board, affects the rate,
2-5 magnitude, or direction of storm water runoff.
2-6 (9) "Other drainage facility" means any natural or
2-7 man-made structure or channel that controls, manages, regulates, or
2-8 distributes storm water runoff or flood water.
2-9 (10) "Person" has the meaning assigned by Section
2-10 311.005, Government Code.
2-11 SECTION 2. Section 4, Chapter 991, Acts of the 74th
2-12 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, is amended by amending
2-13 Subsections (a), (c), (f), and (g) and by adding Subsections
2-14 (j)-(n) to read as follows:
2-15 (a) The district has all of the powers of a conservation and
2-16 reclamation district created under Section 52, Article III, or
2-17 Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and governed by
2-18 Chapters 49 (50) and 56, Water Code, and those powers necessary or
2-19 convenient for the drainage and reclamation of land in the
2-20 district, except as provided by this Act.
2-21 (c) The district shall comply with Chapter 49 [Section
2-22 50.061], Water Code, in making a contract for an improvement.
2-23 (f) The district shall maintain an office in accordance with
2-24 Section 49.062 [50.057], Water Code.
2-25 (g) The district shall preserve district records and keep
2-26 the district's records and minutes in accordance with Section
2-27 49.065 [Sections 50.029 and 50.054], Water Code.
3-1 (j) The district by rule may regulate any:
3-2 (1) construction, demolition, or modification of a
3-3 public or private drainage channel, detention facility, flood
3-4 control improvement, or other drainage facility in the district's
3-5 territory; or
3-6 (2) public or private activity that increases the
3-7 amount of impervious cover in the district's territory.
3-8 (k) Rules adopted under Subsection (j)(2) of this section
3-9 must be reasonably related to the provision of adequate drainage or
3-10 flood prevention.
3-11 (l) The district may require any person who engages in an
3-12 activity described by Subsection (j) of this section to:
3-13 (1) construct any appropriate drainage channel,
3-14 detention facility, flood control improvement, or other drainage
3-15 facility that may be necessary to prevent adverse drainage or
3-16 flooding conditions; and
3-17 (2) pay the cost of any drainage plan, drainage
3-18 channel, detention facility, flood control improvement, or other
3-19 drainage facility the district requires.
3-20 (m) The district may assess a reasonable impact fee in lieu
3-21 of the construction of a drainage channel, detention facility,
3-22 flood control improvement, or other drainage facility.
3-23 (n) The district by rule may:
3-24 (1) require a person engaged in an activity described
3-25 by Subsection (j) to present to the district a drainage plan;
3-26 (2) require a drainage plan presented under this
3-27 subsection to be under the seal of a registered professional
4-1 engineer registered under The Texas Engineering Practice Act
4-2 (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or
4-3 (3) establish procedures for presenting a drainage
4-4 plan and for approval or disapproval of a plan.
4-5 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-10 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-11 passage, and it is so enacted.