78R6683 MI-F
By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1698
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to goals for and certification of groundwater management
plans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Following notice and hearing, the district shall, in
coordination with surface water management entities on a regional
basis, develop a comprehensive management plan which contains a
management goal describing the desired future condition for the
aquifer in quantified terms and which addresses the following
management goals, as applicable:
(1) providing the most efficient use of groundwater;
(2) controlling and preventing waste of groundwater;
(3) controlling and preventing subsidence;
(4) addressing conjunctive surface water management
issues;
(5) addressing natural resource issues;
(6) addressing drought conditions; and
(7) addressing conservation.
SECTION 2. Section 36.1072, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (h), (i), and (j) to
read as follows:
(b) Within 150 [60] days of receipt of a management plan
adopted under Section 36.1071, the executive administrator shall
certify a management plan if the plan is administratively complete
and if the review committee has made the findings required by
Subsection (i). A management plan is administratively complete
when it contains the information required to be submitted under
Section 36.1071. The executive administrator may determine that
conditions justify waiver of the requirements under Section
36.1071(e)(4) or justify certification of the management plan
without the findings required by Subsection (i).
(h) The executive administrator shall organize a review
committee to make recommendations regarding management plans
submitted to the executive administrator for certification. The
review committee shall be composed of:
(1) the executive administrator or the executive
administrator's designee;
(2) the executive director or the executive director's
designee;
(3) the executive director of the Parks and Wildlife
Department or that executive director's designee; and
(4) a person experienced in the operation of
groundwater conservation districts selected by the executive
administrator.
(i) The review committee established under Subsection (h)
shall recommend that the executive administrator certify a
management plan only if the committee finds that:
(1) the groundwater conservation district has
adequate resources to implement the management plan;
(2) the management plan's goals are consistent with
recognized issues of concern relating to groundwater management in
the district; and
(3) the management plan's goals, management
objectives, and performance standards are either:
(A) adequate to maintain current groundwater
conditions in the district if those conditions are at or near
natural conditions; or
(B) designed to improve the management and
conservation of groundwater resources where depletion of those
resources has been documented.
(j) The board may reimburse the person selected to serve on
the review committee under Subsection (h)(4) for the reasonable
costs incurred for travel, lodging, and meals in serving on the
review committee.
SECTION 3. (a) 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.
(b) The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a
management plan submitted under Section 36.1071, Water Code, on or
after the effective date of this Act.