LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session May 2, 2001 TO: Honorable J.E. "Buster" Brown, Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: HB2690 by Walker (Relating to enforcement measures available to groundwater conservation districts.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would allow groundwater conservation districts to set, by rule, reasonable civil penalties for breach of any rule of the district. Penalties could not exceed $10,000 per day per violation, with each day of a continuing violation constituting a separate violation. If the district prevails in any suit to enforce its rules, the court would be required to order the defendant to pay for the district's attorney's fees and other costs associated with the lawsuit. Groundwater conservation districts could experience significant revenue gain only if there were to be a large number of violations and the maximum penalty was to be imposed; otherwise, no significant fiscal impact is anticipated to units of local government. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, CL, DB