By Green H.B. No. 3839
76R13204 BDH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation, administration, powers, duties,
1-3 operation, and financing of the Hays County Trinity Groundwater
1-4 Conservation District.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Creation. (a) A conservation and reclamation
1-7 district, to be known as the Hays County Trinity Groundwater
1-8 Conservation District, is created in Hays County, subject to
1-9 approval at a confirmation election under Section 11 of this Act.
1-10 The district is a governmental agency and a body politic and
1-11 corporate.
1-12 (b) The district is created under and is essential to
1-13 accomplish the purposes of Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
1-14 Constitution.
1-15 SECTION 2. Definition. In this Act, "district" means the
1-16 Hays County Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.
1-17 SECTION 3. Boundaries. The boundaries of the district are
1-18 coextensive with the boundaries of Hays County, excluding the part
1-19 of the county within the boundaries of the Barton Springs-Edwards
1-20 Aquifer Conservation District or the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
1-21 SECTION 4. FINDING OF BENEFIT. All of the land and other
1-22 property included within the boundaries of the district will be
1-23 benefited by the works and projects that are to be accomplished by
1-24 the district under powers conferred by Section 59, Article XVI,
2-1 Texas Constitution. The district is created to serve a public use
2-2 and benefit.
2-3 SECTION 5. POWERS. (a) Except as provided by Subsections
2-4 (c) and (d) of this section, the district has all of the rights,
2-5 powers, privileges, authority, functions, and duties provided by
2-6 the general law of this state, including Chapter 36, Water Code,
2-7 applicable to groundwater conservation districts created under
2-8 Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, except that Chapter
2-9 49, Water Code, does not apply to the district. This Act prevails
2-10 over any provision of general law that is in conflict or
2-11 inconsistent with this Act.
2-12 (b) The district has the power to limit the transfer of
2-13 groundwater out of the district, including the power to prohibit
2-14 the transfer.
2-15 (c) The district may not:
2-16 (1) regulate the use of land in the district;
2-17 (2) regulate wastewater or septic systems;
2-18 (3) sell surface water or groundwater for any purpose;
2-19 (4) incur a debt that matures in more than one year;
2-20 (5) levy or collect an ad valorem tax;
2-21 (6) enter land in the district without permission of
2-22 the landowner;
2-23 (7) require a person to place a meter on a well; or
2-24 (8) refuse to grant a permit for the drilling of a
2-25 well if the applicant pays the fee required by Section 13 of this
2-26 Act.
2-27 (d) The Hays County Commissioners Court by resolution may
3-1 overrule a decision of the board of directors of the district. The
3-2 resolution must be adopted not later than the 60th day after the
3-3 date of the decision.
3-4 (e) The rights, powers, privileges, authority, functions,
3-5 and duties of the district are subject to the continuing right of
3-6 supervision of the state to be exercised by and through the Texas
3-7 Natural Resource Conservation Commission.
3-8 SECTION 6. FISCAL RESPONSIBILITIES. (a) The board of
3-9 directors of the district annually shall prepare a budget that
3-10 includes the proposed expenditures and disbursements and the
3-11 estimated receipts and collections for the following fiscal year.
3-12 (b) The board shall hold a public hearing on the proposed
3-13 budget. The board must publish notice of the hearing in a
3-14 newspaper of general circulation in Hays County not later than the
3-15 11th day before the date set for the hearing. Any resident of the
3-16 district may appear at the hearing and be heard on an item in the
3-17 proposed budget.
3-18 (c) The budget must be approved by the Hays County
3-19 Commissioners Court.
3-20 (d) At the written request of the Hays County Commissioners
3-21 Court, the county auditor shall audit the performance of the
3-22 district. The commissioners court may request that the county
3-23 auditor conduct:
3-24 (1) a general audit of the performance of the
3-25 district; or
3-26 (2) an audit of one or more particular duties,
3-27 practices, functions, or other matters of the district.
4-1 SECTION 7. GROUNDWATER STUDIES. The district by rule
4-2 shall, as needed but not less frequently than every five years,
4-3 develop, prepare, revise, and adopt comprehensive groundwater
4-4 management plans for the district. The plans:
4-5 (1) must be consistent with standards adopted by the
4-6 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission;
4-7 (2) must be consistent with regional planning; and
4-8 (3) shall include 10-year, 20-year, and 50-year
4-9 projections of water needs within the district.
4-10 SECTION 8. COORDINATION WITH OTHER DISTRICTS. (a) The
4-11 district may coordinate its plans with those of another
4-12 conservation and reclamation district created under Section 59,
4-13 Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and may enter into joint
4-14 undertakings for the purposes for which the districts are created.
4-15 (b) An action taken under this section:
4-16 (1) may not conflict with another section of this Act;
4-17 and
4-18 (2) must be approved by:
4-19 (A) the commissioners court of each county in
4-20 which the districts are located; and
4-21 (B) the board of directors of each district.
4-22 SECTION 9. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. (a) The district is
4-23 governed by a board of five directors.
4-24 (b) Each director must qualify to serve as director in the
4-25 manner provided by Section 36.055, Water Code.
4-26 (c) Temporary directors serve until initial directors are
4-27 elected under Section 11 of this Act.
5-1 (d) Initial directors serve until permanent directors are
5-2 elected under Section 12 of this Act.
5-3 (e) Permanent directors serve staggered four-year terms.
5-4 (f) A director serves until the director's successor has
5-5 qualified.
5-6 (g) If there is a vacancy on the board, the Hays County
5-7 Commissioners Court shall appoint a director to serve the remainder
5-8 of the term.
5-9 (h) A director may not receive a salary or other
5-10 compensation for service as a director but may be reimbursed for
5-11 actual expenses of attending meetings at the rate in effect for
5-12 employees of Hays County.
5-13 SECTION 10. TEMPORARY DIRECTORS. Not later than the 31st
5-14 day after the effective date of this Act, the Hays County
5-15 Commissioners Court shall appoint a temporary board of directors
5-16 consisting of five members.
5-17 SECTION 11. CONFIRMATION AND INITIAL DIRECTORS' ELECTION.
5-18 (a) Not earlier than the later of March 1, 2000, or the 90th day
5-19 after the date the Texas Water Development Board releases a study
5-20 of the Trinity Aquifer, the temporary board of directors shall call
5-21 and hold an election to confirm establishment of the district, to
5-22 elect five initial directors as provided by Chapter 36, Water Code,
5-23 and to submit any other propositions required by the temporary
5-24 board of directors.
5-25 (b) Except as provided by this section, a confirmation
5-26 election must be conducted as provided by Sections 36.017(b)-(h),
5-27 Water Code, and the Election Code.
6-1 (c) If the establishment of the district has not been
6-2 confirmed at an election held under this section before the second
6-3 anniversary of the effective date of this Act, this Act expires on
6-4 that date.
6-5 SECTION 12. ELECTION OF PERMANENT DIRECTORS. On the first
6-6 Saturday in May of the second year after the year in which the
6-7 confirmation election is held, an election shall be held in the
6-8 district for the election of three directors who shall serve a
6-9 two-year term and two directors who shall serve a four-year term.
6-10 Thereafter, on the first Saturday in May in each subsequent second
6-11 year, the appropriate number of directors shall be elected to the
6-12 board.
6-13 SECTION 13. ADDITIONAL POWERS AND DUTIES OF DISTRICT. (a)
6-14 In this section, "commercial water well" has the meaning determined
6-15 by the board of directors of the district but excludes any well
6-16 that produces water exclusively for use by an individual or
6-17 household for residential purposes or that produces less than
6-18 25,000 gallons of water a day.
6-19 (b) The district may require a permit for the drilling of a
6-20 water well in the district on or after the date the establishment
6-21 of the district is confirmed at an election under Section 11 of
6-22 this Act. The district may set a fee for an application for a
6-23 permit. The fee may not exceed the fee established by the Hays
6-24 County Commissioners Court for an application for a permit for an
6-25 on-site sewage disposal system, except that the fee for an
6-26 application for a permit to drill a commercial water well may not
6-27 exceed $1,000.
7-1 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the district shall
7-2 use all revenue that is not necessary for the maintenance and
7-3 operation of the district to fund annual hydro-geological studies
7-4 of aquifers. The district shall use the studies in the development
7-5 of a regional and county water development plan.
7-6 (d) The district must use all money collected by the
7-7 district in excess of $100,000 each year to issue rebates to
7-8 residents who participate in voluntary conservation projects
7-9 approved by the board, including rainwater collection, xeriscape
7-10 planting, and brush clearing.
7-11 SECTION 14. DISSOLUTION OF DISTRICT. Chapter 36, Water
7-12 Code, applies to dissolution of the district.
7-13 SECTION 15. FINDINGS RELATED TO PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.
7-14 (a) The proper and legal notice of the intention to introduce this
7-15 Act, setting forth the general substance of this Act, has been
7-16 published as provided by law, and the notice and a copy of this Act
7-17 have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials, or
7-18 entities to which they are required to be furnished by the
7-19 constitution and other laws of this state, including the governor,
7-20 who has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Natural Resource
7-21 Conservation Commission.
7-22 (b) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission has
7-23 filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor,
7-24 lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
7-25 within the required time.
7-26 (c) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this
7-27 state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect
8-1 to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled
8-2 and accomplished.
8-3 SECTION 16. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
8-4 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-8 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-9 passage, and it is so enacted.