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By:  Armbrister                                                   S.B. No. 56 
	(In the Senate - Filed July 15, 2003; July 16, 2003, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources; 
July 17, 2003, reported favorably, as amended, by the following 
vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; July 17, 2003, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                                By:  Armbrister


Amend S.B. No. 56, on page 1, line 40, by striking "its" after "
with", and inserting "this chapter and the district's".


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to the establishment of defined existing and historic use 
periods for certain groundwater conservation districts.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended 
by adding Section 36.1132 to read as follows:
	Sec. 36.1132.  DEFINED EXISTING AND HISTORIC USE PERIODS FOR 
CERTAIN DISTRICTS.  (a)  This section applies only to a groundwater 
conservation district created under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas 
Constitution, that:
		(1)  is, at least in part, adjacent to an international 
border;      
		(2)  has within its boundaries a part of an aquifer that 
is regulated under Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 
Regular Session, 1993; and
		(3)  is not regulated under Chapter 626, Acts of the 
73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993.
	(b)  In implementing Section 36.113(e) or 36.116(b), a 
district may institute a process requiring an existing or historic 
user to prove the maximum annual amount of groundwater that the user 
applied to a beneficial use during the period from:
		(1)  June 1, 1972, to December 31, 1991; or                            
		(2)  January 1, 1992, to January 7, 2003.                              
	(c)  In implementing Subsection (b), for a user who produced 
groundwater only within the final year of the period established 
under Subsection (b)(2), a district may issue a permit for existing 
or historic use based on an extrapolation of the user's beneficial 
use of groundwater to the amount that would have been used in a full 
calendar year for the same beneficial use.
	(d)  If a district limits or reduces total permitted 
production within its boundaries in a manner consistent with its 
certified groundwater district management plan under Section 
36.1072, the district shall limit or reduce the amount of permitted 
production of groundwater through proportionate reductions that 
will apply equally among classes of users in the following order, 
with all limitations or reductions that can be made in one class 
being made in that class before proceeding with limitations or 
reductions in the next subsequent class:
		(1)  new users, except as provided by Subdivision (2);                 
		(2)  the class of users described by Subsections (b)(1) 
and (c), or any new user who was issued a permit by the district on 
or before May 1, 2003, for the amount recognized in the permit; and
		(3)  the class of users described by Subsection (b)(2).                
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the 
legislative session.



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