78R15012 E
By: Hope H.B. No. 2950
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2950:
By: Puente C.S.H.B. No. 2950
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers of a groundwater conservation district
protecting the historic use of groundwater.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.113, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (h), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
(h) In implementing Subsection (e) or Section 36.116(b), a
district may require an existing or historic user to prove the
maximum annual amount of groundwater that the user applied to a
beneficial use during a reasonable period established by the
district that ends on or before the date on which the district
publishes notice or adopts rules protecting existing or historic
users under Subsection (e) or Section 36.116(b).
(i) In implementing Subsection (h), a district shall:
(1) for a user who produced groundwater for only part
of the final year of the period established under Subsection (h),
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;
(2) for use based on agricultural irrigation, issue a
permit based on:
(A) the maximum annual amount of groundwater
actually used during the period established under Subsection (h);
or
(B) the acreage irrigated during the period
established under Subsection (h); or
(3) for an electric utility, a power generation
company, or retail electric provider as defined by Section 31.002,
Utilities Code, issue a permit based on:
(A) the amount actually used as computed under
and for the period established under Subsection (h) or Subdivision
(1) of this subsection; or
(B) an amount necessary to annually provide
sufficient groundwater for cooling, boiler make-up, and potable
purposes for use at an existing or planned power generation
facility using land or the right to produce groundwater from land
that was acquired by the electric utility, power generation
company, or retail electric provider before May 1, 2003, to supply
water to power generation facilities that on that date existed or
were planned for future construction.
(j) An annual report of groundwater use previously
submitted to a state agency is admissible as evidence of existing or
historic use under Subsection (h) or (i).
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 36.1132 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.1132. DEFINED 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 adjacent to a district created under Chapter
626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993;
(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), and
notwithstanding the periods described under Section 36.113(h), a
district shall require 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 for only part of the final year of the period
established under Subsection (b)(2), a district shall 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 3. (a) The legislature finds that:
(1) groundwater conservation districts have existing
statutory authority to protect existing or historic use under
Sections 36.113(e) and 36.116(b), Water Code;
(2) in implementing Sections 36.113(e) and 36.116(b),
Water Code, it is important that groundwater conservation
districts, in the conservation and management of groundwater, adopt
precise rules regarding existing or historic use of groundwater,
and that those rules include definite time periods during which
existing or historic use must be proven; and
(3) it will benefit the state and its citizens to set
express statutory guidelines that clarify the ability of
groundwater conservation districts to define and identify existing
or historic use periods.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act do not:
(1) limit the express or implied powers that
groundwater conservation districts had before the effective date of
this Act to implement Sections 36.113(e) and 36.116(b), Water Code,
using reasonable time periods during which existing or historic use
must be proven by a permit applicant; or
(2) invalidate rules lawfully adopted by a groundwater
conservation district before the effective date of this Act that
use those reasonable time periods.
SECTION 4. 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.