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.