| TO: | Honorable Robert Puente, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2914 by Puente (Relating to requirements and permits for irrigation systems. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill would amend Chapter 401, Local Government Code, by adding a section requiring a municipality with a population of 5,000 or more to require, by ordinance, an installer of an irrigation system to hold a license issued under Section 1903.251, Occupations Code, and to obtain a permit before installing a system. The ordinance must include the standards set out in Section 1903.053 and any rules adopted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The municipality may employ or contract with a licensed plumbing inspector or a licensed irrigator to enforce the ordinance. Additionally, the bill would amend Section 1903.053(b), Occupations Code, to require a commission to adopt standards relating to the design, installation, and operation of irrigation systems, water conservation, and the duties and responsibilities of licensed irrigators and to adopt rules that provide for effective enforcement of those standards. Under current statute, this requirement is optional.
TCEQ would be required to adopt rules as required by provisions of the bill by June 1, 2006. A municipality with a population of 5,000 or more would be required to adopt an ordinance as proposed by January 1, 2007.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2005.
TCEQ reports that the provisions of the bill can be implemented using existing resources.
| Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, WK, DLBa
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