HBA-NLM H.B. 3027 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3027 By: Dutton Land & Resource Management 4/7/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not require ordinances, enacted by a city, to apply uniformly through the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The purpose of this bill is to require cities which enact certain ordinances relating to the control or abatement of pollution of air or water to be applied uniformly throughout the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. H.B. 3027 provides that adopted water quality ordinances, regulations, or methodologies must have uniform applications and cover the entire area of all streams, drains, recharge features, recharge areas, or tributaries that may constitute the source or recharge of water supply for any municipality and that are located in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 401.002, Local Government Code, as follows: Sec. 401.002. PROTECTION OF STREAMS AND WATERSHEDS BY HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITY. (a) Authorizes a home-rule municipality to police any portion of a stream, drain, recharge feature, recharge area, or tributary located in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. (b) Provides that water quality ordinances, regulations, or methodologies adopted under Subsection (a) must have uniform applications and cover the entire area of all streams, drains, recharge features, recharge areas, or tributaries that may constitute the source or recharge of water supply for any municipality and that are located in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, except as provided for by Subsection (c). Deletes existing text relating to a home-rule municipality's authority to provide for the protection of and to police any watersheds. (c) Authorizes a home-rule municipality that adopts water quality ordinances, regulations, or methodologies under this section to use certain procedures as provided by Section 26.901 (Requirements and Methodologies Relating to Control and Abatement of Water Pollution Within City or its Extraterritorial Jurisdiction), Water Code. Deletes existing text relating to the use of the authority granted by this section. (d) Provides that this section does not apply to a water quality ordinance, regulation, or methodology to the extent the provisions of such are specifically required by federal or state law. Provides that the municipality must provide that any ordinance, regulation, or methodology adopted to meet the permit is uniformly applied and enforced in the entire area of the streams, drains, recharge features, recharge areas, or tributaries located in the municipality and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, if federal or state law requires a permit for implementing water quality regulations. (e) Prohibits a home-rule municipality from regulating water pollution in the municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction, except as provided by this section and Sections 26.177 (Water Pollution Control Duties of Cities) and 26.901, Water Code. SECTION 2. Amends Section 26.177(c), Water Code, to provide that the water pollution control and abatement program otherwise required by this section must cover the entire area of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Provides that a program adopted under this section must apply identical water quality ordinances or regulations and use identical methodologies throughout the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. Provides that the rules must provide that to be approved a program must meet the requirements of this section, Section 26.901, Water Code, and Section 401.002 (Protection of Streams and Watersheds by Home-Rule Municipalites), Local Government Code. SECTION 3. Amends Section 26.180(c), Water Code, to prohibit the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (commission) from approving the ordinance if the ordinance does not meet the requirements of this section and Sections 26.177 and 26.901. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 4. Amends Chapter 26, Water Code, by adding Subchapter Z, as follows: SUBCHAPTER Z. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS Sec. 26.901. REQUIREMENTS AND METHODOLOGIES RELATING TO CONTROL AND ABATEMENT OR WATER POLLUTION WITHIN CITY OR ITS EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION. (a) Requires certain entities to apply and enforce the regulation, or use the methodology, uniformly throughout the entire area of the river basin or groundwater aquifer that is located in the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. (b) Authorizes certain entities to use differing water quality regulations for residential, commercial, or industrial land use categories, and differing methodologies that result in achievement of uniform water quality regulation, as provided. (c) Requires certain entities with water pollution control authority to use differing methodologies to establish and administer a program of regular monitoring to demonstrate that the methodologies result in compliance with the water quality regulation for the applicable land use category of residential, commercial, or industrial. Provides that the monitoring program of certain entities must be submitted to and approved by the commission before the use of differing methodologies, and provides that monthly monitoring reports from the system must be filed with the commission. Authorizes the commission to order that the differing methodologies may no longer be used, and requires the governmental entity using the methodologies to then use only identical methodologies for each land use category, if the monitoring reports indicate that the differing methodologies are achieving the applicable water quality regulation for less than six months during any one calendar year. Provides that the approval of any monitoring program reviewed by the commission is a contested case under Chapter 2001(Administrative Procedure), Government Code. (d) Provides that this section does not apply to a water quality regulation or methodology to the extent that it is specifically required by federal law, or a water quality regulation or methodology of a city to the extent that it is specifically required by state law. (e) Provides that if federal or state law requires a permit for implementing water quality regulations or methodologies, a city must provide that any ordinance, rule, regulation, order, or methodology adopted to meet the permit is uniformly applied and enforced throughout the entire area of the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction. SECTION 5. (a) Effective date: September 1, 1999. (b) Specifies that a water quality ordinance, regulation, rule, or methodology that is in effect on the effective date of this Act that does not comply with the changes in law made by this Act is void. SECTION 6. Emergency clause.