By Wentworth                                          S.B. No. 1165
         76R8074 SMH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to water quality protection zones.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 26.179, Water Code, is amended by
 1-5     amending Subsections (c), (d), (f), and (g) and by adding
 1-6     Subsection (q) to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  This section applies only to those areas within the
 1-8     extraterritorial jurisdiction, outside the corporate limits of a
 1-9     municipality with a population greater than 10,000 [5,000], and in
1-10     which the municipality either:
1-11                 (1)  has enacted or attempted to enforce three or more
1-12     ordinances or amendments thereto attempting to regulate water
1-13     quality or control or abate water pollution in the area within the
1-14     five years preceding the effective date of this Act, whether or not
1-15     such ordinances or amendments were legally effective upon the area;
1-16     or
1-17                 (2)  enacts or attempts to enforce three or more
1-18     ordinances or amendments thereto attempting to regulate water
1-19     quality or control or abate water pollution in the area in any
1-20     five-year period, whether or not such ordinances or amendments are
1-21     legally effective upon the area.
1-22           (d)  The owner or owners of a contiguous tract of land in
1-23     excess of 1,000 acres that is located within an area subject to
1-24     this section may designate the tract as a "water quality protection
 2-1     zone."  Upon prior approval of the commission, the owner of a
 2-2     contiguous tract of land containing less than 1,000 acres, but not
 2-3     less than 500 acres, that is located within an area subject to this
 2-4     section may also designate the tract as a "water quality protection
 2-5     zone."  The tract shall be deemed contiguous if all of its parts
 2-6     are physically adjacent, without regard to easements,
 2-7     rights-of-way, roads, streambeds, and public or quasi-public land,
 2-8     or it is part of an integrated development under common ownership
 2-9     or control.  The purpose of a water quality protection zone is to
2-10     provide for the consistent protection of water quality in the zone
2-11     without imposing undue regulatory uncertainty on owners of land in
2-12     the zone [the flexibility necessary to facilitate the development
2-13     of the land within the zone, but which also is intended to result
2-14     in the  protection of the quality of water within the zone].
2-15           (f)  Creation of a water quality protection zone shall become
2-16     immediately effective upon recordation of the designation in the
2-17     deed records of the county in which the land is located.  The
2-18     designation shall be signed by the owner or owners of the land, and
2-19     notice of such filing shall be given to the city clerk of the
2-20     municipality within whose extraterritorial jurisdiction the zone is
2-21     located and the clerk of the county in which the property is
2-22     located.  The designation may be amended from time to time.  The
2-23     designation may specify a person who may sign an amendment of the
2-24     designation or the water quality plan for the zone.  Land may be
2-25     added to or omitted from the zone by an amendment to the
2-26     designation.  An amendment to the designation must be signed by
2-27     each owner of the land included in the zone or a person specified
 3-1     by the designation.  An amendment takes effect on recordation of
 3-2     the amendment in the deed records of the county in which the land
 3-3     is located.
 3-4           (g)  The water quality plan for a zone, including the
 3-5     determination of background levels of water quality, shall be
 3-6     signed and sealed by a registered professional engineer
 3-7     acknowledging that the plan is designed to achieve the water
 3-8     quality protection standard defined in this section.  On
 3-9     recordation in the deed records, the water quality plan shall be
3-10     submitted to and accepted by the commission for approval, and the
3-11     commission shall accept and approve the plan unless the commission
3-12     finds that implementation of the plan will not reasonably attain
3-13     the water quality protection as defined in this section.  A water
3-14     quality plan may be amended from time to time on filing with the
3-15     commission, and all such amendments shall be accepted by the
3-16     commission unless there is a finding that the amendment will impair
3-17     the attainment of water quality protection as defined in this
3-18     section.  The commission shall adopt and assess reasonable and
3-19     necessary fees adequate to recover the costs of the commission in
3-20     administering this section.  The commission's review and approval
3-21     of a water quality plan or an amendment to the plan shall be
3-22     performed by the commission staff that is responsible for reviewing
3-23     pollution abatement plans in the county where the zone is located.
3-24     The review and approval of the plan or an amendment to the plan
3-25     shall be completed within 120 days of the date it is filed with the
3-26     commission.  A public hearing on the plan or amendment shall not be
3-27     required, and acceptance, review, and approval of the water quality
 4-1     plan or water quality protection zone shall not be delayed pending
 4-2     the adoption of rules.  The commission shall have the burden of
 4-3     proof for the denial of a plan or amendments to a plan, and any
 4-4     such denial shall be appealable to a court of competent
 4-5     jurisdiction.  The water quality plan, or any amendment thereto,
 4-6     shall be effective upon recordation of the plan or the amendment in
 4-7     the deed records and shall apply during the period of review and
 4-8     approval by the commission or appeal of the denial of the plan or
 4-9     any amendment, except that development of the land in the zone may
4-10     not proceed until the commission approves the plan or amendment.
4-11           (q)  On application of each owner of land in the zone or a
4-12     person specified by the designation of the zone or an amendment to
4-13     the designation, the commission may terminate a zone on reasonable
4-14     terms specified by the rules of the commission.