79R7138 QS-F

By:  Chisum                                                       H.B. No. 2084



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the ownership of groundwater and governmental actions 
affecting the rights of owners of groundwater.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 36.0015, Water Code, is amended to read 
as follows:      
	Sec. 36.0015.  PURPOSE.  In order to provide for the 
conservation, preservation, protection, recharging, and prevention 
of waste of groundwater, and of groundwater reservoirs or their 
subdivisions, [and] to control subsidence caused by withdrawal of 
water from those groundwater reservoirs or their subdivisions, to 
protect the property rights of each landowner whose land overlies 
an aquifer, and to give each landowner a reasonable and equal 
opportunity to produce the groundwater beneath the landowner's 
land, consistent with the objectives of Section 59, Article XVI, 
Texas Constitution, groundwater conservation districts may be 
created as provided by this chapter.  Groundwater conservation 
districts created as provided by this chapter are the state's 
preferred method of groundwater management through rules 
developed, adopted, and promulgated by a district in accordance 
with the provisions of this chapter.
	SECTION 2.   Section 36.002, Water Code, is amended to read 
as follows:      
	Sec. 36.002.  OWNERSHIP OF GROUNDWATER.  The ownership and 
rights of each landowner whose land overlies an aquifer [the owners 
of the land and their lessees and assigns in groundwater] are hereby 
recognized, and nothing in this code shall be construed as 
depriving or divesting a landowner [the owners or their lessees and 
assigns] of ownership of the groundwater in place beneath the 
landowner's land, subject to reasonable regulation by a district 
consistent with Section 36.0015 [the ownership or rights, except as 
those rights may be limited or altered by rules promulgated by a 
district].
	SECTION 3.  Section 2007.003(b), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(b)  This chapter does not apply to the following 
governmental actions:      
		(1)  an action by a municipality except as provided by 
Subsection (a)(3);   
		(2)  a lawful forfeiture or seizure of contraband as 
defined by Article 59.01, Code of Criminal Procedure;
		(3)  a lawful seizure of property as evidence of a crime 
or violation of law;
		(4)  an action, including an action of a political 
subdivision, that is reasonably taken to fulfill an obligation 
mandated by federal law or an action of a political subdivision that 
is reasonably taken to fulfill an obligation mandated by state law;
		(5)  the discontinuance or modification of a program or 
regulation that provides a unilateral expectation that does not 
rise to the level of a recognized interest in private real property;
		(6)  an action taken to prohibit or restrict a 
condition or use of private real property if the governmental 
entity proves that the condition or use constitutes a public or 
private nuisance as defined by background principles of nuisance 
and property law of this state;
		(7)  an action taken out of a reasonable good faith 
belief that the action is necessary to prevent a grave and immediate 
threat to life or property;
		(8)  a formal exercise of the power of eminent domain;                        
		(9)  an action taken under a state mandate to prevent 
waste of oil and gas, protect correlative rights of owners of 
interests in oil or gas, or prevent pollution related to oil and gas 
activities;
		(10)  a rule or proclamation adopted for the purpose of 
regulating water safety, hunting, fishing, or control of 
nonindigenous or exotic aquatic resources;
		(11)  an action taken by a political subdivision:                             
			(A)  to regulate construction in an area 
designated under law as a floodplain;
			(B)  to regulate on-site sewage facilities; or                        
			(C)  [under the political subdivisions's 
statutory authority to prevent waste or protect rights of owners of 
interest in groundwater;  or
			[(D)]  to prevent subsidence;                               
		(12)  the appraisal of property for purposes of ad 
valorem taxation;        
		(13)  an action that:                                                         
			(A)  is taken in response to a real and 
substantial threat to public health and safety;
			(B)  is designed to significantly advance the 
health and safety purpose; and
			(C)  does not impose a greater burden than is 
necessary to achieve the health and safety purpose; [or]
		(14)  an action or rulemaking undertaken by the Public 
Utility Commission of Texas to order or require the location or 
placement of telecommunications equipment owned by another party on 
the premises of a certificated local exchange company; or
		(15)  an action taken by the Edwards Aquifer Authority 
under its statutory authority to prevent waste or protect rights of 
owners of interests in groundwater.
	SECTION 4.  Section 2007.003, Government Code, as amended by 
this Act, applies only to an action taken by a political subdivision 
under its statutory authority to prevent waste or protect rights of 
owners of interests in groundwater on or after the effective date of 
this Act.  An action taken by a political subdivision before the 
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the 
time the action was taken, and the former law is continued in effect 
for that purpose.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.