80R8900 JPL-F

By: Van Arsdale H.B. No. 2929

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the application of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's water quality protection area pilot program to portions of the Spring Creek watershed.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 26.551, Water Code, is amended by adding Subdivision (10-a) to read as follows:

(10-a) "Spring Creek water quality protection area" means the portion of Spring Creek within Harris County from Interstate Highway 45 downstream to its confluence with the west fork of the San Jacinto River.

SECTION 2. Section 26.552(b), Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) Until [For the period of September 1, 2005, to] September 1, 2027 [2025], the commission shall apply this subchapter only as a pilot program in:

(1) the Spring Creek water quality protection area; and

(2) the John Graves Scenic Riverway.

SECTION 3. Sections 26.553(a), (b), (c), and (d), Water Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The commission shall require a responsible party to obtain an individual permit for any discharges from a quarry located in a water quality protection area that is located:

(1) within a 100-year floodplain of any water body; [or]

(2) within one mile of any water body other than Spring Creek; or

(3) within one-half mile of Spring Creek.

(b) The commission shall require a responsible party to obtain a general permit under Section 26.040 for any quarry that is located in a water quality protection area and located a distance of more than:

(1) one mile from any water body other than Spring Creek; or

(2) one-half mile from Spring Creek.

(c) Subject to Subsection (d), the commission shall prohibit the construction or operation of any new quarry, or the expansion of an existing quarry, located:

(1) within 1,500 feet of a water body other than Spring Creek located in a water quality protection area for which a person files an application for a permit or permit amendment after September 1, 2005; or

(2) within 200 feet of the portion of Spring Creek located in the Spring Creek water quality protection area for which a person files an application for a permit or permit amendment after September 1, 2007.

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c)(1) [(c)], the commission may issue or amend a permit to authorize the construction or operation of a quarry located between 200 and 1,500 feet of a water body on finding that:

(1) the responsible party can satisfy performance criteria established by commission rule and incorporated into the permit to address:

(A) slope gradients that minimize the potential for erosion, slides, sloughing of quarry walls, overburden piles, and banks into the water body and related water quality considerations;

(B) whether operations could result in significant damage to important historic and cultural values and ecological systems;

(C) whether operations could affect renewable resource lands, including aquifers and aquifer recharge areas, in which the operations could result in a substantial loss or reduction of long-range productivity of a water supply or of food or fiber products; and

(D) whether operations could affect natural hazard land, including areas subject to frequent flooding and areas of unstable geology, in which the operations could substantially endanger life and property;

(2) the responsible party has provided a plan for the control of surface water drainage and water accumulation to prevent:

(A) erosion, siltation, or runoff; and

(B) damage to:

(i) fish, wildlife, or fish or wildlife habitat; or

(ii) public or private property;

(3) the responsible party has provided a plan for reclamation of the quarry that is consistent with best management standards and practices adopted by the commission for quarry reclamation, which may include backfilling, soil stabilization and compacting, grading, erosion control measures, and appropriate revegetation; and

(4) the responsible party has provided evidence that, to the extent possible, quarrying will be conducted using the best available technology to:

(A) minimize disturbance and adverse effects of the quarry operation on fish, wildlife, and related environmental resources; and

(B) enhance fish, wildlife, and related environmental resources where practicable.

SECTION 4. Section 26.555, Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 26.555. INSPECTIONS OF AND SAMPLING OF WATER IN PILOT PROGRAM AREAS [JOHN GRAVES SCENIC RIVERWAY]. (a) To detect potential violations of this subchapter:

(1) in the John Graves Scenic Riverway, the commission, the Brazos River Authority, and the Parks and Wildlife Department shall coordinate efforts to conduct each calendar year:

(A) [(1)] visual inspections of the riverway; and

(B) [(2)] testing of water samples drawn from the Brazos River and its tributaries in the riverway; and

(2) the commission, the San Jacinto River Authority, and the Parks and Wildlife Department shall coordinate efforts to conduct each calendar year:

(A) visual inspections of the Spring Creek water quality protection area; and

(B) testing and analysis of water samples drawn from the portion of Spring Creek in the Spring Creek water quality protection area.

(b) The visual inspections and the drawing of water samples must be conducted at least once in a winter month and at least once in a summer month. The visual inspections must be conducted both from the surface of the riverway or the water quality protection area [John Graves Scenic Riverway] and from an aircraft flying over the riverway or the water quality protection area.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.