HBA-AMW C.S.H.B. 666 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 666 By: Bailey Land & Resource Management 2/23/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In counties with a population of 2.8 million or more, municipalities currently regulate the size, type, and method of construction of water and wastewater facilities in their extraterritorial jurisdictions. The standards imposed by these municipalities often prevent a developer or a county from using the most economical means to provide sewer and water service and can result in their reluctance to install replacement systems. The reluctance to replace failing systems can pose potential environmental and public health risks for residents of the developed tract and for downstream locations. These risks could be mitigated by removing restrictions on developers and counties that prevent them from installing safe and economical replacement systems. C.S.H.B. 666 prohibits a municipality that is located in a county with a population of 2.8 million or more from regulating the size, type, or method of construction of a water or wastewater facility in its extraterritorial jurisdiction under certain conditions. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 666 amends the Local Government Code to prohibit a municipality that is located in a county with a population of 2.8 million or more from regulating the size, type, or method of construction of a water or wastewater facility in its extraterritorial jurisdiction. The bill exempts from municipal regulation a facility that meets the minimum standards established for water or wastewater facilities by state and federal regulatory entities and that can be constructed to serve a developed tract of land that is served by on-site septic systems constructed before September 1, 2001, that fail to provided adequate services or by on-site water wells constructed before September 1, 2001, that fail to provide an adequate supply of safe drinking water. These provisions apply to water and wastewater facilities under construction on the effective date of this bill. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute differs from the original bill by providing that for a water or wastewater facility to be exempt from regulation by the municipality, the facility must meet the minimum standards established for water or wastewater facilities by state and federal regulatory entities and that the failing on-site septic systems or onsite water wells serving the water or wastewater facility's developed tract of land have been constructed before September 1, 2001.