By Duncan                                              S.B. No. 270
         76R1711 CAG-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the protection of playa lakes by certain home-rule
 1-3     municipalities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 401, Local Government Code, is amended by
 1-6     adding Section 401.004 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 401.004.  PROTECTION OF PLAYA LAKES BY CERTAIN HOME-RULE
 1-8     MUNICIPALITIES.  (a)  In this section, "playa lake" means a
 1-9     flat-floored, clayey bottom of an undrained basin that is located
1-10     in an arid or semiarid part of the state, is naturally dry most of
1-11     the year, and collects runoff from rain but is subject to rapid
1-12     evaporation. The term includes all areas within the highest point
1-13     of the elevation of the surface water of the  playa lake in the
1-14     event of a 100-year design storm event.
1-15           (b)  The governing body of a home-rule municipality with a
1-16     population of 185,000 or more may regulate the alteration or
1-17     filling of a playa lake within the municipality's extraterritorial
1-18     jurisdiction to prevent:
1-19                 (1)  harmful flooding; or
1-20                 (2)  excess surface water as a method for stormwater
1-21     management.
1-22           (c)  A regulation adopted under this section may not:
1-23                 (1)  interfere with normal agricultural practices,
1-24     including moving soil, berming for tail water reuse, plowing,
 2-1     seeding, cultivating, and harvesting for the production of food or
 2-2     fiber; or
 2-3                 (2)  prohibit any practice or activity that does not
 2-4     decrease the water holding capacity of a playa lake.
 2-5           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.