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Amend CSSB 3 by adding the following as a new Article and
numbering it and all sections appropriately:
ARTICLE ____. EDWARDS AQUIFER AUTHORITY.
SECTION ____. Subsection (f), Section 1.11, Chapter 626, Acts
of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to read
as follows:
(f) The authority may own, finance, design, [contract with a
person who uses water from the aquifer for the authority or that
person to] construct, operate, or [own, finance, and] maintain
recharge [water supply] facilities except in the Uvalde Pool.
[Management fees or special fees may not be used for purchasing or
operating these facilities.] For the purpose of this subsection,
"recharge [water supply] facility" means [includes] a dam,
reservoir, [treatment facility, transmission facility,] or other
method of recharge project and associated facilities, structures,
or works but does not include a facility to recirculate water at
Comal or San Marcos Springs
SECTION ____. Subsections (a), (c), (e), (f), and (h),
Section 1.14, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular
Session, 1993, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Authorizations to withdraw water from the aquifer and
all authorizations and rights to make a withdrawal under this Act
shall be limited in accordance with this section to:
(1) protect the water quality of the aquifer;
(2) protect the water quality of the surface streams
to which the aquifer provides springflow;
(3) achieve water conservation;
(4) maximize the beneficial use of water available for
withdrawal from the aquifer;
(5) recognize the extent of the hydro-geologic
connection and interaction between surface water and groundwater;
(6) protect aquatic and wildlife habitat;
(7) [(6)] protect species that are designated as
threatened or endangered under applicable federal or state law; and
(8) [(7)] provide for instream uses, bays, and
estuaries.
(c) Except as provided by Subsections [(d),] (f)[,] and (h)
of this section and Section 1.26 of this article, for the period
beginning January 1, 2008, the amount of permitted withdrawals from
the aquifer may not exceed or be less than 572,000 [400,000]
acre-feet of water for each calendar year, which is the sum of all
regular permits issued or for which an application was filed and
issuance was pending action by the authority as of January 1, 2005.
(e) The authority may not allow withdrawals from the aquifer
through wells drilled after June 1, 1993, except for replacement,
test, or exempt wells or to the extent that the authority approves
an amendment to an initial regular permit to authorize a change in
the point of withdrawal under that permit [additional water as
provided by Subsection (d) and then on an interruptible basis].
(f) If the level of the aquifer is equal to or greater than
660 [650] feet above mean sea level as measured at Well J-17, the
authority may authorize withdrawal from the San Antonio pool, on an
uninterruptible basis, of permitted amounts. If the level of the
aquifer is equal to or greater than 845 feet at Well J-27, the
authority may authorize withdrawal from the Uvalde pool, on an
uninterruptible basis, of permitted amounts. [The authority shall
limit the additional withdrawals to ensure that springflows are not
affected during critical drought conditions.]
(h) To accomplish the purposes of this article, [by June 1,
1994,] the authority, through a program, shall implement and
enforce water management practices, procedures, and methods to
ensure that, not later than December 31, 2012, the continuous
minimum springflows of the Comal Springs and the San Marcos Springs
are maintained to protect endangered and threatened species to the
extent required by federal law and to achieve other purposes
provided by Subsection (a) of this section and Section 1.26 of this
article. The authority from time to time as appropriate may revise
the practices, procedures, and methods. To meet this requirement,
the authority shall require:
(1) phased adjustments to [reductions in] the amount
of water that may be used or withdrawn by existing users or
categories of other users, including adjustments in accordance with
the authority's critical period management plan established under
Section 1.26 of this article; or
(2) implementation of alternative management
practices, procedures, and methods.
SECTION ____. Subsection (g), Section 1.16, Chapter 626,
Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to
read as follows:
(g) The authority shall issue an initial regular permit
without a term, and an initial regular permit remains in effect
until the permit is abandoned or[,] cancelled[, or retired].
SECTION ____. Subsection (b), Section 1.19, Chapter 626,
Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Withdrawal of water under a term permit must be
consistent with the authority's critical period management plan
established under Section 1.26 of this article. A holder of a term
permit may not withdraw water from the San Antonio pool of the
aquifer unless:
(1) the level of the aquifer is higher than 675 [665]
feet above sea level, as measured at Well J-17;
(2) the flow at Comal Springs as determined by Section
1.26(c) of this article is greater than 350 cubic feet per second;
and
(3) the flow at San Marcos Springs as determined by
Section 1.26(c) of this article is greater than 200 cubic feet per
second.
SECTION ____. Subsection (a), Section 1.22, Chapter 626,
Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The authority may acquire permitted rights to use water
from the aquifer for the purposes of:
(1) holding those rights in trust for sale or transfer
of the water or the rights to persons within the authority's
jurisdiction who may use water from the aquifer;
(2) holding those rights in trust as a means of
managing overall demand on the aquifer; or
(3) holding those rights for resale [or retirement as
a means of complying with pumping reduction requirements under this
article; or
[(4) retiring those rights, including those rights
already permitted].
SECTION ____. Article 1, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended by amending Section
1.26 and adding Section 1.26A to read as follows:
Sec. 1.26. CRITICAL PERIOD MANAGEMENT PLAN. (a) After
review of the recommendations received in the program document, as
prescribed by Section 1.26A of this article, the [The] authority by
rule shall adopt [prepare and coordinate implementation of] a [plan
for] critical period management plan consistent with Sections
1.14(a), (f), and (h) of this article [on or before September 1,
1995]. The critical period management plan shall be adopted by the
authority no later than six months after the authority's receipt of
the program document. On adoption of the critical period
management plan, the authority shall provide a written report to
the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
representatives describing the actions taken in response to each
recommendation and, for each recommendation not implemented, the
reason it was not implemented. The plan [mechanisms] must:
(1) distinguish between discretionary use and
nondiscretionary use;
(2) require reductions of all discretionary use to the
maximum extent feasible;
(3) require utility pricing, to the maximum extent
feasible, to limit discretionary use by the customers of water
utilities; [and]
(4) require reduction of nondiscretionary use by
permitted or contractual users, to the extent further reductions
are necessary, in the reverse order of the following water use
preferences:
(A) municipal, domestic, and livestock;
(B) industrial and crop irrigation;
(C) residential landscape irrigation;
(D) recreational and pleasure; and
(E) other uses that are authorized by law; and
(5) allow irrigation use to continue in order to
permit the user to complete the irrigation of a crop in progress.
(b) In this section, "MSL" means the elevation above mean
sea level, measured in feet, of the surface of the water in a well,
and "CFS" means cubic feet per second. Not later than January 1,
2008, the authority shall, by rule, adopt and enforce a critical
period management plan with withdrawal reduction percentages in the
amounts indicated in Tables 1 and 2 whether according to the index
well levels or the Comal or San Marcos Springs flow as applicable,
for a total in critical period Stage IV of 40 percent of the
permitted withdrawals under Table 1 and 35 percent under Table 2:
TABLE 1
CRITICAL PERIOD WITHDRAWAL REDUCTION STAGES
FOR THE SAN ANTONIO POOL
Comal San Marcos Index Well J-17 Critical Period Withdrawal
Springs Flow CF Springs Flow CF Level MSL Stage Reduction- San
FS FS Antonio Pool
<225 <96 <660 I 20%
<200 <80 <650 II 30%
<150 N/A <640 III 35%
<100 N/A <630 IV 40%
TABLE 2
CRITICAL PERIOD WITHDRAWAL REDUCTION STAGES
FOR THE UVALDE POOL
Withdrawal Reduction-Uvalde Pool Index Well J-27 Level MSL Critical Period Stage
N/A --- I
5% <850 II
20% <845 III
35% <842 IV
(c) A change to a critical period stage with higher
withdrawal reduction percentages is triggered if the 10-day average
of daily springflows at the Comal Springs or the San Marcos Springs
or the 10-day average of daily aquifer levels at the J-17 Index Well
drops below the lowest number of any of the trigger levels indicated
in Table 1. A change to a critical period stage with lower
withdrawal reduction percentages is triggered only when the 10-day
average of daily springflows at the Comal Springs and the San Marcos
Springs and the 10-day average of daily aquifer levels at the J-17
Index Well are all above the same stage trigger level. The
authority may adjust the withdrawal percentages for Stage IV in
Tables 1 and 2 if necessary in order to comply with Subsection (d)
or (e) of this section.
(d) Beginning September 1, 2007, the authority may not
require the volume of permitted withdrawals to be less than an
annualized rate of 340,000 acre-feet, under critical period Stage
IV.
(e) After January 1, 2013, the authority may not require the
volume of permitted withdrawals to be less than an annualized rate
of 320,000 acre-feet, under critical period Stage IV unless, after
review and consideration of the recommendations provided under
Section 1.26A of this article, the authority determines that a
different volume of withdrawals is consistent with Sections
1.14(a), (f), and (h) of this article in maintaining protection for
listed, protected and endangered species associated with the
aquifer to the extent required by federal law.
(f) Notwithstanding Subsections (d) and (e) of this
section, the authority may require further withdrawal reductions
before reviewing and considering the recommendations provided
under Section 1.26A of this article if the discharge of Comal
Springs or San Marcos Springs declines an additional 15 percent
after Stage IV withdrawal reductions are imposed under Subsection
(b) of this section. This subsection expires on the date that
critical period management plan rules adopted by the authority
based on the recommendations provided under Section 1.26A of this
article take effect.
(g) Notwithstanding the existence of any stage of an interim
or final critical period adopted by the authority under this
section, a person authorized to withdraw groundwater from the
aquifer for irrigation purposes shall, without regard to the
withdrawal reductions prescribed for that stage, be allowed to
finish a crop already planted in the calendar year during which the
critical period is in effect.
Sec. 1.26A. DEVELOPMENT OF WITHDRAWAL REDUCTION LEVELS AND
STAGES FOR CRITICAL PERIOD MANAGEMENT THROUGH RECOVERY
IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM. (a) The authority, with the assistance of
Texas A&M University, shall cooperatively develop a recovery
implementation program through a facilitated, consensus-based
process that involves input from the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, other appropriate federal agencies, and all
interested stakeholders, including those listed under Subsection
(e)(1) of this section. The recovery implementation program shall
be developed for the species that are:
(1) listed as threatened or endangered species under
federal law; and
(2) associated with the aquifer.
(b) The authority shall enter into a memorandum of agreement
with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, other appropriate
federal agencies, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality,
the Parks and Wildlife Department, the Department of Agriculture,
the Texas Water Development Board, and other stakeholders in order
to develop, not later than December 31, 2007, a program document
that may be in the form of a habitat conservation plan used in
issuance of an incidental take permit as outlined in Subsection (d)
of this section.
(c) The authority shall enter into an implementing
agreement with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, other
appropriate federal agencies, the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality, the Parks and Wildlife Department, the
Department of Agriculture, the Texas Water Development Board, and
other stakeholders to develop a program document that may be in the
form of a habitat conservation plan used in issuance of an
incidental take permit as outlined in Subsection (d) of this
section not later than December 31, 2009.
(d) The authority, the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality, the Parks and Wildlife Department, the Department of
Agriculture, the Texas Water Development Board, and other
stakeholders shall jointly prepare a program document that may be
in the form of a habitat conservation plan used in issuance of an
incidental take permit with the United States secretary of the
interior, through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and
other appropriate federal agencies, under Section 4 or Section 6,
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Section 1533 or 1535), as
applicable, based on the program developed under Subsection (a) of
this section. The program document shall:
(1) provide recommendations for withdrawal
adjustments based on a combination of spring discharge rates of the
San Marcos and Comal Springs and levels at the J-17 and J-27 wells
during critical periods to ensure that federally listed,
threatened, and endangered species associated with the Edwards
Aquifer will be protected at all times, including throughout a
repeat of the drought of record;
(2) include provisions to pursue cooperative and grant
funding to the extent available from all state, federal, and other
sources for eligible programs included in the cooperative agreement
under Subsection (c) of this section, including funding for a
program director; and
(3) be approved and executed by each agency not later
than September 1, 2012, and the agreement shall take effect
December 31, 2012.
(e) Texas A&M University shall assist in the creation of a
steering committee to oversee and assist in the development of the
cooperative agreement under Subsection (c) of this section. The
steering committee must be created not later than September 30,
2007. The initial steering committee shall be composed of:
(1) a representative of each of the following
entities, as appointed by the governing body of that entity:
(A) the Edwards Aquifer Authority;
(B) the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality;
(C) the Parks and Wildlife Department;
(D) the Department of Agriculture;
(E) the Texas Water Development Board;
(F) the San Antonio Water System;
(G) the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority;
(H) the San Antonio River Authority;
(I) the South Central Texas Water Advisory
Committee; and
(J) Bexar County; and
(2) nine other persons who respectively must be:
(A) a representative of a holder of an initial
regular permit issued to a retail public utility other than the San
Antonio Water System, to be appointed by the authority;
(B) a representative of a holder of an initial
regular permit issued by the authority for industrial purposes, to
be appointed by the authority;
(C) a representative of a holder of an industrial
surface water right in the Guadalupe River Basin, to be appointed by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
(D) a representative of a holder of a municipal
surface water right in the Guadalupe River Basin, to be appointed by
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality;
(E) a representative of a retail public utility
in whose service area the Comal Springs or San Marcos Springs is
located;
(F) a representative of a holder of an initial
regular permit issued by the authority for irrigation, to be
appointed by the commissioner of agriculture;
(G) a representative of an agricultural producer
from the Edwards Aquifer region, to be appointed by the
commissioner of agriculture;
(H) a representative of environmental interests
from the Texas Living Waters Project, to be appointed by the
governing body of that project; and
(I) a representative of recreational interests
in the Guadalupe River Basin, to be appointed by the Parks and
Wildlife Commission.
(f) The steering committee shall work with Texas A&M
University to:
(1) establish a regular meeting schedule and publish
that schedule to encourage public participation; and
(2) not later than October 31, 2007, hire a program
director to be housed at Texas A&M University.
(g) Texas A&M University may accept outside funding to pay
the salary and expenses of the program director hired under this
section and any expenses associated with the university's
participation in the creation of the steering committee or
subcommittees established by the steering committee.
(h) Where reasonably practicable or as required by law, any
meeting of the steering committee, the Edwards Aquifer area expert
science subcommittee, or another subcommittee established by the
steering committee must be open to the public.
(i) The steering committee appointed under
this section shall appoint an Edwards Aquifer area expert science
subcommittee not later than December 31, 2007. The expert science
subcommittee must be composed of an odd number of not fewer than
seven or more than 15 members who have technical expertise
regarding the Edwards Aquifer system, the threatened and endangered
species that inhabit that system, springflows, or the development
of withdrawal limitations. The Bureau of Economic Geology of The
University of Texas at Austin and the River Systems Institute at
Texas State University shall assist the expert science
subcommittee. Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
size, composition, or duration of the expert science subcommittee.
(j) The Edwards Aquifer area expert science subcommittee
shall, among other things, analyze species requirements in relation
to spring discharge rates and aquifer levels as a function of
recharge and withdrawal levels. Based on that analysis and the
elements required to be considered by the authority under Section
1.14 of this article, the expert science subcommittee shall,
through a collaborative process designed to achieve consensus,
develop recommendations for withdrawal reduction levels and stages
for critical period management including, if appropriate,
establishing separate and possibly different withdrawal reduction
levels and stages for critical period management for different
pools of the aquifer needed to maintain target spring discharge and
aquifer levels. The expert science subcommittee shall submit its
recommendations to the steering committee and all other
stakeholders involved in the recovery implementation program under
this section.
(k) The initial recommendations of the Edwards Aquifer area
expert science subcommittee must be completed and submitted to the
steering committee and other stakeholders not later than December
31, 2008, and should include an evaluation:
(1) of the option of designating a separate San Marcos
pool, of how such a designation would affect existing pools, and of
the need for an additional well to measure the San Marcos pool, if
designated;
(2) of the necessity to maintain minimum springflows,
including a specific review of the necessity to maintain a flow to
protect the federally threatened and endangered species; and
(3) as to whether adjustments in the trigger levels
for the San Marcos Springs flow for the San Antonio pool should be
made.
(l) In developing its recommendations, the Edwards Aquifer
area expert science subcommittee shall:
(1) consider all reasonably available science,
including any Edwards Aquifer-specific studies, and base its
recommendations solely on the best science available; and
(2) operate on a consensus basis to the maximum extent
possible.
(m) After development of the cooperative agreement, the
steering committee, with the assistance of the Edwards Aquifer area
expert science subcommittee and with input from the other recovery
implementation program stakeholders, shall prepare and submit
recommendations to the authority. The recommendations must:
(1) include a review of the critical period management
plan, to occur at least once every five years;
(2) include specific monitoring, studies, and
activities that take into account changed conditions and
information that more accurately reflects the importance of
critical period management; and
(3) establish a schedule for continuing the validation
or refinement of the critical period management plan adopted by the
authority and the strategies to achieve the program and cooperative
agreement described by this section.
(n) In this subsection, "recharge facility" means a dam,
reservoir, or other method of recharge project and associated
facilities, structures, or works but does not include facilities
designed to recirculate water at Comal or San Marcos Springs. The
steering committee shall establish a recharge facility feasibility
subcommittee to:
(1) assess the need for the authority or any other
entity to own, finance, design, construct, operate, or maintain
recharge facilities;
(2) formulate plans to allow the authority or any
other entity to own, finance, design, construct, operate, or
maintain recharge facilities;
(3) make recommendations to the steering committee as
to how to calculate the amount of additional water that is made
available for use from a recharge project including during times of
critical period reductions;
(4) maximize available federal funding for the
authority or any other entity to own, finance, design, construct,
operate, or maintain recharge facilities; and
(5) evaluate the financing of recharge facilities,
including the use of management fees or special fees to be used for
purchasing or operating the facilities.
(o) The steering committee may establish other
subcommittees as necessary, including a hydrology subcommittee, a
community outreach and education subcommittee, and a water supply
subcommittee.
(p) On execution of the memorandum of agreement described by
Subsection (b) of this section, the steering committee described by
Subsection (e) of this section may, by majority vote of its members,
vote to add members to the steering committee, change the makeup of
the committee, or dissolve the committee. If the steering
committee is dissolved, the program director hired under Subsection
(f) of this section shall assume the duties of the steering
committee.
(q) The authority shall provide an annual report to the
governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of
representatives not later than January 1 of each year that details:
(1) the status of the recovery implementation program
development process;
(2) the likelihood of completion of the recovery
implementation program and the cooperative agreement described by
Subsection (c) of this section;
(3) the extent to which the recommendations of the
Edwards Aquifer area expert science subcommittee are being
considered and implemented by the authority;
(4) any other actions that need to be taken in response
to each recommendation;
(5) reasons explaining why any recommendation
received has not been implemented; and
(6) any other issues the authority considers of value
for the efficient and effective completion of the program and the
cooperative agreement under this section.
SECTION ____. Subsections (b), (h), and (i), Section 1.29,
Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) The authority shall assess equitable aquifer management
fees based on aquifer use under the water management plan to finance
its administrative expenses and programs authorized under this
article. Each water district governed by Chapter 36 [52], Water
Code, that is within the authority's boundaries may contract with
the authority to pay expenses of the authority through taxes in lieu
of user fees to be paid by water users in the district. The contract
must provide that the district will pay an amount equal to the
amount that the water users in the district would have paid through
user fees. The authority may not collect a total amount of fees and
taxes that is more than is reasonably necessary for the
administration of the authority.
(h) Fees assessed by the authority may not be used to fund
the cost of reducing withdrawals or retiring permits or of
judgments or claims related to withdrawals or permit retirements
[Special fees collected under Subsection (c) or (d) of this section
may not be used to finance a surface water supply reservoir
project].
(i) The authority and other stakeholders,
including state agencies, listed under Section 1.26A of this
article shall provide money as necessary[, but not to exceed five
percent of the money collected under Subsection (d) of this
section,] to finance the activities of the steering committee and
any subcommittees appointed by the steering committee and the
program director of the recovery implementation program under
Section 1.26A of this article. The authority shall provide, as
necessary, up to $75,000 annually, adjusted for changes in the
consumer price index, to finance the South Central Texas Water
Advisory Committee's administrative expenses and programs
authorized under this article.
SECTION ____. Section 1.34, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended by amending
Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read
as follows:
(c) Subject to the limitations provided by Subsections (d),
(e), (f), and (g) of this section, a [A] permit holder may lease,
sell, or otherwise transfer ownership of permitted water rights.
(d) The[, but a] holder of an initial regular [a] permit for
irrigation use may [not] lease, sell, or otherwise transfer
ownership of not more than 50 percent of the irrigation rights
initially permitted. Except as provided by Subsections (e), (f),
and (g) of this section, the permit holder's [The user's] remaining
irrigation water rights must be used in accordance with the
original initial regular permit and must pass with transfer of the
irrigated land. Irrigation rights initially permitted based on
land irrigated from the applicant's well that were not owned by the
applicant are appurtenant to land owned by the applicant and
irrigated by the applicant's well.
(e) The place of use of the remaining irrigation water
rights under Subsection (d) of this section may be temporarily
transferred for irrigation purposes to another place of use owned
or leased by the permit holder. If the irrigated land to which the
water rights are appurtenant is sold or the ownership of the land is
otherwise transferred, the transfer of the irrigation water rights
is immediately voided by operation of law and the rights revert back
by operation of law to the irrigated land.
(f) The place of use of the remaining irrigation water
rights under Subsection (d) of this section may be temporarily
transferred for irrigation purposes for a term not to exceed 10
years to another place of use owned or leased by a third party. If
the irrigated land to which the water rights are appurtenant is sold
or the ownership of the land is otherwise transferred, the person to
whom the ownership of the land is transferred takes the land subject
to that temporary transfer of irrigation water rights.
(g) If the irrigated land identified as the place of use in
the initial regular permit originally issued for irrigation
purposes is developed as evidenced by actual physical alteration of
the land such that it is no longer reasonably capable of being
irrigated, the permit holder may apply to the authority to convert
the remaining irrigation water rights for any purpose or use under
Subsection (c) of this section so as to be transferable.
SECTION ____. Subsection (a), Section 1.45, Chapter 626,
Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The authority may own, finance, design, construct,
[build or] operate, and maintain recharge dams and associated
facilities, structures, or works in the contributing or recharge
area of the aquifer if the recharge is made to increase the yield of
the aquifer, [and] the recharge project does not impair senior
water rights or vested riparian rights, and the recharge project is
not designed to recirculate water at Comal or San Marcos Springs.
SECTION ____. Subsections (b) and (d), Section 1.14,
Section 1.21, and Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 1.29,
Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993,
are repealed.
SECTION ____. (a) Before January 1, 2012, a suit may not be
instituted in a state court contesting:
(1) the validity or implementation of this Act; or
(2) the groundwater withdrawal amounts recognized in
Section 3 of this Act.
(b) If applicable, a party that files a suit in any court
shall be automatically removed from the steering committee
established under Section 1.26A, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd
Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, as added by this Act.
(c) A suit against the Edwards Aquifer Authority may not be
instituted or maintained by a person who owns, holds, or uses a
surface water right and claims injury or potential injury to that
right for any reason, including any actions taken by the Edwards
Aquifer Authority to implement or enforce Article 1, Chapter 626,
Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, as amended.
This section does not apply to suits brought pursuant to Section
1.45, Chapter 626, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session,
1993.
SECTION ____. The change in law made by this Act applies
only to a cause of action filed on or after the effective date of
this Act. A cause of action that is filed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION ____. 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, 2007.