S.B. No. 343
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of the placement of water wells and the
installation and maintenance of well pumps and equipment and to the
performance of certain electrical work; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 240, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. REGULATION OF WATER WELLS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
Sec. 240.041. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "on-site
sewage disposal system" has the meaning assigned by Section
366.002, Health and Safety Code.
Sec. 240.042. AUTHORITY TO REGULATE PLACEMENT OF WATER
WELLS. (a) The commissioners court of a county with a population
of 1.4 million or more by order may regulate the placement of
private water wells in the unincorporated area of the county to
prevent:
(1) the contamination of a well from an on-site sewage
disposal system;
(2) rendering an on-site sewage disposal system that
was in place before the well was drilled out of compliance with
applicable law because of the placement of the well; and
(3) drilling of a domestic well into a contaminated
groundwater plume or aquifer.
(b) A commissioners court that decides to regulate the
placement of private water wells under this subchapter by order
shall adopt rules governing the placement of a water well in
relation to an existing on-site sewage disposal system or drilling
into a contaminated groundwater plume or aquifer and enforcement of
those rules. The rules must require:
(1) a person desiring to drill a private water well, or
the owner of the land on which the well is to be located, to:
(A) notify the county health officer or an
official designated by the commissioners court of the intent to
drill the well; and
(B) include with the notice a diagram showing the
proposed location of the well and its distance from any on-site
sewage disposal system that is located within 100 feet of the well;
and
(2) the county health officer or an official
designated by the commissioners court to:
(A) review the notice and diagram;
(B) not later than the 10th business day after
the date the notice is received:
(i) approve the drilling of the well if the
well will not be drilled into or through an aquifer or groundwater
plume that has been confirmed as contaminated by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality or the United States
Environmental Protection Agency and placement of the well will not
violate the rules adopted by the Texas Commission of Licensing and
Regulation under Chapters 1901 and 1902, Occupations Code; or
(ii) disapprove the drilling of the well;
and
(C) provide a written acknowledgment to the
person desiring to drill the well and to the owner of the land on
which the well is to be located that states:
(i) that the requirements of the rules
adopted under Subdivision (1) have been satisfied; and
(ii) whether the drilling of the well has
been approved or disapproved.
Sec. 240.043. NOTICE. (a) Before rules adopted under
Section 240.042 may take effect, the commissioners court of the
county must publish notice of the adoption of the rules in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county.
(b) The notice must:
(1) include:
(A) a brief summary of the rules; and
(B) a statement that the full text of the rules is
on file in the office of the county clerk; and
(2) be published on two separate dates.
(c) The rules may not take effect until after the 14th day
after the date of the second publication as provided by Subsection
(b)(2).
Sec. 240.044. FEE. The county may impose a placement review
fee in the amount of not more than $50 to be paid by the person
drilling the well. Fees collected under this section shall be
deposited to the county's general fund to be used only for the
administration and enforcement of this subchapter.
Sec. 240.045. INSPECTION. A county health officer or an
official designated by the commissioners court may inspect a
proposed private water well site to ensure that it complies with the
requirements of this subchapter and county rules adopted under this
subchapter.
Sec. 240.046. COMPLIANCE REQUIRED. A person may not drill a
private water well in a county that has chosen to regulate the
placement of private water wells under this subchapter unless the
placement of the well complies with this subchapter and applicable
rules and has been approved by the county health officer or an
official designated by the commissioners court.
Sec. 240.047. OFFENSE; PENALTY. (a) A person who drills a
private water well without possessing a written acknowledgment, or
a copy of a written acknowledgment, under Section 240.042 by the
county health officer or an official designated by the
commissioners court approving the drilling of the well commits an
offense. An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(b) The county health officer or an official designated by
the commissioners court shall report a citation issued under this
section to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Sec. 240.048. EXCEPTIONS. This subchapter does not apply
to:
(1) a private water well drilled:
(A) on a parcel of land that:
(i) is 10 acres or more in size; or
(ii) is qualified open-space land, as
defined by Section 23.51, Tax Code;
(B) within the boundaries of a groundwater
conservation district;
(C) within the boundaries of a subsidence
district other than the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence
District; or
(D) incident to the exploration, development, or
production of oil, gas, or other minerals; or
(2) a public water system that has been permitted
under rules adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 1305.003, Occupations
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) the installation of electrical equipment in a
ship, watercraft other than a floating building, railway rolling
stock, aircraft, or a motor vehicle other than a mobile home or
recreational vehicle;
(2) the installation of electrical equipment
underground in a mine and in self-propelled mobile surface mining
machinery and its attendant electrical trailing cable;
(3) the installation of electrical equipment for
generation, transformation, transmission, or distribution of power
used exclusively to operate railway rolling stock or exclusively
for signaling and communications purposes;
(4) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of communications equipment provided by a
telecommunications provider;
(5) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment under the exclusive control of an
electric utility, electric cooperative, or municipally owned
utility and used for communications or metering, or for the
generation, control, transformation, transmission, and
distribution of electrical energy, and located:
(A) in a building used exclusively by a utility
for those purposes;
(B) outdoors on property owned or leased by the
utility;
(C) on public highways, streets, roads, or other
public rights-of-way; or
(D) outdoors by established rights in vaults or
on private property;
(6) work not specifically regulated by a municipal
ordinance that is performed in or on a dwelling by a person who owns
and resides in the dwelling;
(7) work involved in the manufacture of electrical
equipment;
(8) electrical maintenance work if:
(A) the work is performed by a person regularly
employed as a maintenance person at the building or premises;
(B) the work is performed in conjunction with the
business in which the person is employed; and
(C) the person does not engage in electrical work
for the public;
(9) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of electrical equipment or associated wiring under the
exclusive control of a gas utility and used for communications or
metering or for the control, transmission, or distribution of
natural gas;
(10) thoroughfare lighting, traffic signals,
intelligent transportation systems, and telecommunications
controlled by a governmental entity;
(11) electrical connections supplying heating,
ventilation, and cooling and refrigeration equipment, including
any required disconnect exclusively for the equipment, if the
service is performed by a licensed air conditioning and
refrigeration contractor under Chapter 1302;
(12) the design, installation, erection, repair, or
alteration of Class 1, Class 2, or Class 3 remote control,
signaling, or power-limited circuits, fire alarm circuits, optical
fiber cables, or communications circuits, including raceways, as
defined by the National Electrical Code;
(13) landscape irrigation installers, as necessary to
perform the installation and maintenance of irrigation control
systems, and landscapers, as necessary to perform the installation
and maintenance of low-voltage exterior lighting and holiday
lighting excluding any required power source;
(14) a person who is employed by and performs
electrical work solely for a private industrial business, including
a business that operates a chemical plant, petrochemical plant,
refinery, natural gas plant, natural gas treating plant, pipeline,
or oil and gas exploration and production operation;
(15) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of elevators, escalators, or related equipment, excluding
any required power source, regulated under Chapter 754, Health and
Safety Code;
(16) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of equipment or network facilities provided or utilized by a
cable operator, as that term is defined by 47 U.S.C. Section 522, as
amended; [and]
(17) the location, design, construction, extension,
maintenance, and installation of on-site sewage disposal systems in
accordance with Chapter 366, Health and Safety Code;
(18) the installation, maintenance, alteration, or
repair of well pumps and equipment in accordance with Chapter 1902;
and
(19) electrical work performed on a building,
structure, or equipment in agricultural use as defined by Section
11.002, Water Code, other than the processing of an agricultural
commodity.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 343 passed the Senate on
April 22, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays 1; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 27, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 343 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor