By Hawley H.B. No. 1832
76R7534 MI-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the implementation and financing of approved management
1-3 plans for designated estuaries of national significance in the
1-4 state.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-7 (1) "Approved implementation program" means an
1-8 implementation plan identified as part of an approved comprehensive
1-9 conservation and management plan.
1-10 (2) "Approved comprehensive conservation and
1-11 management plan" means an estuary management plan that is prepared
1-12 through the efforts of citizens, organizations, industries, local
1-13 governments, and state and national agencies working together as
1-14 part of the National Estuary Program to develop long-term
1-15 comprehensive conservation and management plans (CCMPs) and that
1-16 has been approved by the governor of Texas and the administrator of
1-17 the United States Environmental Protection Agency to protect the
1-18 environment and the economies of the state and of the regions with
1-19 estuaries. The term includes the plans for Galveston Bay and the
1-20 Coastal Bend estuaries.
1-21 (3) "Implementing agency" means the entity identified
1-22 for day-to-day administration of an estuary program. An
1-23 implementing agency may be a state agency or other local or
1-24 regional entity, as identified in an approved estuary management
2-1 plan.
2-2 (4) "National Estuary Program" means the cooperative
2-3 estuary management program authorized by and developed under
2-4 Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
2-5 Section 1330), as amended.
2-6 SECTION 2. RECOGNITION OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ESTUARIES
2-7 OF TEXAS COAST. The state recognizes the state and national
2-8 significance of estuaries on the Texas coast and that the
2-9 cooperative efforts created by the National Estuary Program serve a
2-10 public and state purpose. By virtue of that state purpose, an
2-11 approved implementation program is eligible to receive state funds
2-12 through a grant program administered by the Texas Natural Resource
2-13 Conservation Commission.
2-14 SECTION 3. FINDING OF BENEFIT AND PUBLIC PURPOSE. The state
2-15 recognizes the importance of implementing estuary management plans
2-16 by protecting and improving water quality and restoring estuarine
2-17 habitat that makes the bays and estuaries productive, protecting
2-18 the economies of those areas, and continuing the involvement of the
2-19 public and the many interests who use and appreciate the estuarine
2-20 resources of Texas. State and local government participation in
2-21 estuary programs to protect natural resources serves a public use
2-22 and benefit. The state and the implementing agencies recognize the
2-23 prerogatives of local governments and the sanctity of private
2-24 property rights.
2-25 SECTION 4. LEAD STATE AGENCY. The Texas Natural Resource
2-26 Conservation Commission is the lead state agency for the
2-27 implementation of approved comprehensive conservation and
3-1 management plans developed under the National Estuary Program. The
3-2 commission may accept federal grants for purposes of this Act and
3-3 may award grants and enter into contracts with an implementing
3-4 agency for the implementation of approved plans under this Act.
3-5 SECTION 5. STATE AGENCY PARTICIPATION. The following state
3-6 agencies shall participate and provide assistance to the estuary
3-7 programs in implementing approved comprehensive conservation and
3-8 management plans:
3-9 (1) the General Land Office;
3-10 (2) the Parks and Wildlife Department;
3-11 (3) the Texas Department of Transportation;
3-12 (4) the Railroad Commission of Texas;
3-13 (5) the State Soil and Water Conservation Board;
3-14 (6) the Texas Water Development Board; and
3-15 (7) the Texas Department of Health.
3-16 SECTION 6. ESTUARY PROGRAM OFFICES. To accomplish the
3-17 purposes of this Act, the estuary program office of any estuary of
3-18 the state included in the National Estuary Program and for which
3-19 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission is the
3-20 implementing agency shall be maintained in the region of the
3-21 estuary involved.
3-22 SECTION 7. IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING. Funding for the
3-23 implementation of approved comprehensive conservation and
3-24 management plans is to be shared by the state, local governments in
3-25 the area of the estuaries, the federal government, and other
3-26 participants.
3-27 SECTION 8. ELIGIBILITY FOR STATE FUNDING. A comprehensive
4-1 conservation and management plan is eligible for state funding to
4-2 assist in implementation of the plan if:
4-3 (1) the estuary involved has been designated jointly
4-4 by the governor and the United States Environmental Protection
4-5 Agency as an estuary of national significance in accordance with
4-6 Section 320 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C.
4-7 Section 1330), as amended; and
4-8 (2) the comprehensive conservation and management plan
4-9 for the estuary involved, together with the accompanying
4-10 implementation plan, has been completed and approved.
4-11 SECTION 9. ADMINISTRATION. The Texas Natural Resource
4-12 Conservation Commission, as the lead state agency for administering
4-13 the state's share of funds, and any state agency designated as an
4-14 implementing agency for an approved comprehensive conservation and
4-15 management plan may accept and make grants and enter into contracts
4-16 to accomplish the actions identified in the approved plan and to
4-17 further the purposes of this Act.
4-18 SECTION 10. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
4-19 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-24 passage, and it is so enacted.