78R9869 SMH-D


By:  Puente                                                       H.B. No. 975



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the plugging of abandoned or deteriorated water wells.            
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 1901.053(a), Occupations Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Section 1901.256, the [The] 
department shall deposit money collected under this chapter to the 
credit of the water well drillers account in the general revenue 
fund.  Money deposited in that account under this section may be 
used only to administer this chapter.
	SECTION 2.  Section 1901.101(b), Occupations Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	(b)  One member appointed under Subsection (a)(1) must be 
selected from the state at large and the remaining five driller 
members must be selected from each of the following geographic 
areas of the state, as defined by department rule:
		(1)  Gulf Coast area;                                                         
		(2)  Trans-Pecos area;                                                        
		(3)  Central Texas area;                                                      
		(4)  Northeast Texas area; and                                                
		(5)  Panhandle-South Plains area.                                             
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter F, Chapter 1901, Occupations Code, is 
amended by adding Section 1901.256 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1901.256.  WATER WELL PLUGGING ACCOUNT.  (a)  The 
department may assess a fee for each well drilled in an amount 
determined by department rule for the purpose of plugging abandoned 
or deteriorated wells.
	(b)  The department shall deposit a fee assessed under this 
section to the credit of the water well plugging account.  The water 
well plugging account is an account in the general revenue fund that 
may be appropriated to the department only for the purpose of 
plugging abandoned or deteriorated wells.  The account is exempt 
from the application of Section 403.095, Government Code.
	(c)  The account consists of five subaccounts corresponding 
to the geographic areas described in Section 1901.101(b).  The fee 
for each well drilled in a geographic area shall be deposited to the 
credit of the subaccount established for that geographic area.  
Fees in a subaccount may be used only to pay:
		(1)  the administrative costs of the department;                       
		(2)  the costs of plugging high priority or hazardous 
wells, as defined by department rule, located anywhere in the 
state; and
		(3)  the costs of plugging wells, other than high 
priority or hazardous wells, located in the geographic service area 
for which the subaccount was established.
	(d)  The department may allocate not more than:                         
		(1)  20 percent of the money in the account to pay the 
administrative costs of the department; and
		(2)  10 percent of the money in the account to pay the 
costs of plugging high priority or hazardous wells.
	(e)  The department may use money in the account to plug an 
abandoned or deteriorated well only if the department determines 
that the landowner or other person possessing the well:
		(1)  cannot be located; or                                             
		(2)  does not have sufficient assets to plug the well as 
determined by criteria established by department rule.
	(f)  The department may transfer money in a subaccount to a 
groundwater conservation district to be used by the district to 
plug one or more abandoned or deteriorated wells designated by the 
department if the department is entitled to use money in that 
subaccount to plug those wells.  From the money transferred, the 
district may allocate not more than $50 for each well to pay the 
district's administrative costs.
	SECTION 4.  The fee authorized by Section 1901.256, 
Occupations Code, as added by this Act, applies only to a water well 
for which initial drilling operations begin on or after the 
effective date of the rules adopted by the Texas Department of 
Licensing and Regulation providing for the assessment of the fee.
	SECTION 5.  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 September 1, 2003.