Amend CSSB 312 (House committee printing) as follows:
(1) Between the enacting clause and SECTION 1 of the bill
(page 1, between lines 4 and 5), insert the following SECTION and
renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION 3. The legislature finds that:
(1) economically distressed subdivisions commonly
called colonias are found throughout those counties located within
50 miles of the international border of this state;
(2) a substantial number of homes in the economically
distressed subdivisions lack an adequate potable water supply and
sewer services, creating a serious and unacceptable health hazard
from contagious and other serious illnesses and posing a clear and
substantial threat not only to the environment of the border region
but also to the environment of the entire state;
(3) although significant improvement has been made by
this state and the political subdivisions of the border area in
addressing the public health hazard created in those economically
distressed subdivisions, many of those economically distressed
subdivisions are located in isolated rural areas far from water or
wastewater providers or are otherwise situated so as to make the
provision of water or wastewater services by political subdivisions
to those areas difficult or impossible using conventional capital
improvement strategies;
(4) the lack of an adequate potable water supply and
wastewater services, coupled with the location of those
subdivisions, erodes the economic stability of the counties that
contain those subdivisions and that depend on a healthy and safe
environment for the residents of the subdivisions and counties;
(5) the economic stability of those counties is
necessary for the mutual development of trade, transportation, and
commerce in the border region and affects not only the border
region, but all regions of the state involved in those reciprocal
economic activities;
(6) alternative capital improvement mechanisms are
necessary to ensure that the maximum number of economically
distressed subdivisions obtain adequate water or wastewater
services to eliminate public health problems and encourage the
development and diversification of the economy in those counties
and the entire state;
(7) nonprofit organizations have succeeded in
planning, platting, engineering, designing, and constructing water
and wastewater projects to serve those inaccessible, economically
distressed subdivisions using assistance from the residents
immediately benefiting from the water or wastewater services, thus
creating an alternative capital improvement mechanism with a proven
record of success that deserves state support;
(8) many residents of colonias are motivated to
improve their situation and have worked with nonprofit
organizations on self-help projects to build their own
infrastructure, ultimately saving on the total cost of water and
wastewater projects; and
(9) creating a program to provide public funds to
those nonprofit organizations for self-help projects will assist in
the reduction of the public health problems created by the lack of
adequate water and wastewater services and will encourage the
development and diversification of the economy of the counties in
which those subdivisions are located as well as throughout the
entire state.
(2) Between SECTIONS 9 and 10 of the bill (page 10, between
lines 7 and 8), insert the following appropriately numbered SECTION
and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Section 15.008, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 15.008. GRANT STANDARDS. The law regarding uniform
grants and contract management, Chapter 783, Government Code,
<Uniform Grant and Contract Management Act of 1981 (Article
4413(32g), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)> does not apply to a
contract under Subchapter F, H, <or> K, or P <of this chapter>.
(3) In SECTION 10 of the bill (page 10, line 19), strike
"and the rural" and substitute "the rural".
(4) In SECTION 10 of the bill, between "chapter" and the
period (page 10, line 20), insert ", and the colonia self-help
account created under Subchapter P of this chapter".
(5) In SECTION 11 of the bill (page 10, line 24), strike "or
O" and substitute "O, or P".
(6) In SECTION 11 of the bill, between "fund" and "created"
(page 10, line 25), insert "or account".
(7) Between SECTIONS 17 and 18 of the bill (page 23, between
lines 3 and 4), insert the following appropriately numbered SECTION
and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Chapter 15, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter P to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER P. COLONIA SELF-HELP PROGRAM
Sec. 15.951. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Account" means the colonia self-help account.
(2) "Colonia" means a geographic area that:
(A) is an economically distressed area as
defined by Section 17.921; and
(B) is located in a county any part of which is
within 50 miles of an international border.
(3) "Program" means the colonia self-help program
established under this subchapter.
(4) "Retail public utility" has the meaning assigned
by Section 13.002.
(5) "Self-help project" means a project in which the
people who will benefit from the project actively participate.
Sec. 15.952. CREATION OF ACCOUNT. (a) The colonia
self-help account is an account in the general revenue fund that
may be appropriated only for the purposes of this subchapter.
(b) The account consists of:
(1) money transferred by the legislature directly to
the account;
(2) money transferred at the board's discretion from
the fund;
(3) gifts, grants, or donations to the account; and
(4) interest earned on money credited to the account.
(c) Sections 403.095 and 404.071, Government Code, do not
apply to the account.
Sec. 15.953. USE OF ACCOUNT. (a) The board may use funds
in the account only to reimburse nonprofit organizations eligible
under Section 15.954 for expenses incurred in a self-help project
that results in the provision of adequate water or wastewater
services to a colonia. Expenses that may be reimbursed include:
(1) construction expenses;
(2) facility planning expenses;
(3) platting expenses;
(4) surveying expenses;
(5) engineering expenses;
(6) equipment expenses; and
(7) other expenses necessary to provide water or
wastewater services to the colonia, as determined appropriate by
the board.
(b) The board may award a grant under the program directly
to a nonprofit organization to reimburse the organization for
expenses incurred in a self-help project described by Subsection
(a).
Sec. 15.954. ELIGIBLE NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS. To be
eligible to receive a grant under the program, an organization
must:
(1) apply for the grant;
(2) qualify for an exemption from federal income taxes
under Section 501(c)(3), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;
and
(3) as of January 1, 2001, have a demonstrated record
of completing in coordination with a retail public utility
construction of self-help projects described by Section 15.953(a).
Sec. 15.955. GRANT APPLICATION. An eligible nonprofit
organization must apply to the board for a grant under the program
before incurring any expense associated with a self-help project
described by Section 15.953(a). The application must include:
(1) the name of the nonprofit organization, the names
of the organization's principal officers, and verification of the
organization's 501(c)(3) status;
(2) a description of the project area, the anticipated
number of water and wastewater connections to be made, and the
anticipated number of colonia residents to be served;
(3) a description of the existing water and wastewater
facilities in the colonia;
(4) a description of the project and the aspect of the
project for which the grant will be used;
(5) a description of the anticipated participation in
the project by residents of the colonia;
(6) the estimated total cost of both the project and
the aspect of the project for which the grant will be used;
(7) the amount of the grant that is requested from the
colonia self-help account and the sources of funding for the entire
project;
(8) from a retail public utility authorized to provide
water or wastewater services to the colonia, a resolution in which
the retail public utility:
(A) agrees to inspect the project during and
after construction to ensure the adequacy of the project; and
(B) commits to provide the water or wastewater
services that the project intends to use; and
(9) any other information required by the board.
Sec. 15.956. BOARD CONSIDERATIONS IN EVALUATING GRANT
APPLICATION. In evaluating an application for a grant under the
program, the board shall consider:
(1) the number, quality, and character of projects
previously completed by the applicant; and
(2) the capability of the retail public utility to
provide water or wastewater services to the colonia on completion
of the project.
Sec. 15.957. ACTION ON GRANT APPLICATION. (a) Not later
than the 60th day after the date the board receives a complete
application for a grant under the program, the board by written
resolution shall:
(1) approve the application; or
(2) disapprove the application.
(b) On approval of an application, the board shall authorize
the executive administrator of the board to execute a contract with
the applicant for a grant to reimburse eligible expenses. The
contract may provide a budget, schedule, terms for payment of
funds, and any other terms the board or its executive administrator
considers appropriate.
Sec. 15.958. RULES. The board shall adopt rules necessary
to administer the program established under this subchapter.
Sec. 15.959. CO-ADMINISTRATION. The program shall be
co-administered by the office of the secretary of state until the
second anniversary of the date on which the program begins
operations under this subchapter.
(8) Between SECTIONS 20 and 21 of the bill (page 27, between
lines 25 and 26), insert the following appropriately numbered
SECTION and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. Subsection (g), Section 16.343, Water Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) Before <filing> an application for funds <for facility
engineering> under Section 15.407 or Subchapter P, Chapter 15, <of
this code> or <financial assistance under> Subchapter K, Chapter
17, may be considered by the board <of this code>, a political
subdivision must adopt the model rules pursuant to this section.
If the applicant is <or, in the case of> a district, <or> nonprofit
water supply corporation, or colonia, the applicant must be located
in a city or county that has adopted such rules. Applicants for
funds under Section 15.407 or Subchapter P, Chapter 15, or
Subchapter K, Chapter 17, may not receive funds under those
provisions unless the applicable political subdivision <An affected
county may not receive funds under either Section 15.407 of this
code or Subchapter K, Chapter 17, of this code unless the county>
adopts and enforces the model rules.
(9) Between SECTIONS 31 and 32 of the bill (page 34, between
lines 12 and 13), insert the following appropriately numbered
SECTION and renumber the subsequent SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. The Texas Water Development Board is required
to implement the colonia self-help program under Subchapter P,
Chapter 15, Water Code, as added by this Act, only if the
legislature appropriates money specifically for that purpose. If
the legislature does not appropriate money specifically for that
purpose, the Texas Water Development Board may, but is not required
to, implement the colonia self-help program using other
appropriations available for that purpose.