81R9743 SMH-F
 
  By: Rose H.B. No. 1818
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to rainwater harvesting and other water conservation
  initiatives.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 447.004, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsections (c-3) and (g) to
  read as follows:
         (c-1)  The procedural standards adopted under this section
  must require that:
               (1)  on-site reclaimed system technologies, including
  rainwater harvesting, condensate collection, or cooling tower blow
  down, or a combination of those system technologies, for nonpotable
  indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into the design
  and construction of:
                     (A) [(1)]  each new state building with a roof
  measuring at least 10,000 square feet; and
                     (B) [(2)]  any other new state building for which
  the incorporation of such systems is feasible;
               (2)  rainwater harvesting system technology for
  nonpotable indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into
  the design and construction of each new state building with a roof
  measuring at least 10,000 square feet that is located in an area of
  this state in which the average annual rainfall is at least 28
  inches; and
               (3)  at least 25 percent of the roof area of a building
  described by Subdivision (2) be used for rainwater collection.
         (c-3)  Notwithstanding Subsection (c-2), the procedural
  standards required by Subsections (c-1)(2) and (3) apply to a
  building described by Subsection (c-1)(2) unless the state agency
  or institution of higher education constructing the building also
  provides the state energy conservation office evidence that the
  amount of rainwater that will be harvested from one or more existing
  buildings at the same location is equivalent to the amount of
  rainwater that could have been harvested from the new building had
  rainwater harvesting system technology been incorporated into its
  design and construction.
         (g)  The Texas Facilities Commission shall ensure that a
  state agency or institution of higher education constructing a
  building that is subject to the procedural standards required by
  Subsection (c-1) complies with the standards.
         SECTION 2.  Chapter 430, Local Government Code, is amended
  by adding Section 430.004 to read as follows:
         Sec. 430.004.  RAINWATER HARVESTING. (a) Each municipality
  and county is encouraged to promote rainwater harvesting at
  residential, commercial, and industrial facilities through
  incentives such as the provision at a discount of rain barrels or
  rebates for water storage tanks.
         (b)  Each municipality or county that has adopted impervious
  cover or density restrictions shall consider the use in a
  development of harvested rainwater as an on-site water supply
  source in determining whether to grant the development a credit
  against or exemption from the restrictions.
         (c)  The Texas Water Development Board shall hold a training
  seminar on rainwater harvesting for the members of the permitting
  staffs of municipalities and counties at least quarterly. Each
  member of the permitting staff of each county and municipality
  located wholly or partly in an area designated by the Texas
  Commission on Environmental Quality as a priority groundwater
  management area under Section 35.008, Water Code, and each member
  of the permitting staff of each county and municipality with a
  population of more than 100,000 must attend the seminar at least
  once. Members of the permitting staffs of counties and
  municipalities not located wholly or partly in an area designated
  by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as a priority
  groundwater management area under Section 35.008, Water Code, and
  members of the permitting staffs of counties and municipalities
  with a population of 100,000 or less are encouraged to attend the
  seminar.
         (d)  A municipality or county may not deny a building permit
  solely because the facility will implement rainwater harvesting.
         SECTION 3.  Section 202.007(d), Property Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  This section does not:
               (1)  restrict a property owners' association from
  regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and
  materials, for or the location of a composting device[, rain
  barrel, rain harvesting device, or any other appurtenance] if the
  restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the
  device [or appurtenance] on the property owner's property where
  there is reasonably sufficient area to install the device [or
  appurtenance];
               (2)  require a property owners' association to permit a
  device [or appurtenance] described by Subdivision (1) to be
  installed in or on property:
                     (A)  owned by the property owners' association;
                     (B)  owned in common by the members of the
  property owners' association; or
                     (C)  in an area other than the fenced yard or patio
  of a property owner;
               (3)  prohibit a property owners' association from
  regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems,
  including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic
  purposes;
               (4)  prohibit a property owners' association from
  regulating the installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti; or
               (5)  restrict a property owners' association from
  regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or
  requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design
  that promotes water conservation.
         SECTION 4.  Section 11.32, Tax Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 11.32.  CERTAIN WATER CONSERVATION INITIATIVES. (a) In
  this section:
               (1)  "Brush control" means the selective control,
  removal, or reduction from watershed rangelands of plants that use
  a large amount of water, including mesquite, salt cedar, and ashe
  juniper.
               (2)  "Desalination" means the removal of salts from
  nonpotable or brackish surface water or groundwater so that the
  water is usable freshwater or high-quality drinking water.
               (3)  "Rainwater harvesting" means the capture and
  storage of rainwater for subsequent use.
         (b)  A person is entitled to an exemption [The governing body
  of a taxing unit by official action of the governing body adopted in
  the manner required by law for official actions may exempt] from
  taxation of the portion of the appraised [part or all of the
  assessed] value of the person's property attributable to the
  implementation on the property of rainwater harvesting or other
  [which approved] water conservation initiatives, desalination
  projects, or brush control initiatives [have been implemented. For
  purposes of this section, approved water conservation,
  desalination, and brush control initiatives shall be designated
  pursuant to an ordinance or other law adopted by the governing
  unit].
         (c)  The comptroller by rule shall adopt standards for
  determining whether property qualifies for an exemption under this
  section. The comptroller is entitled to request and receive
  assistance from another state agency in developing the standards.
  The standards may require that:
               (1)  a rainwater harvesting or desalination project
  have a specified minimum capacity; or
               (2)  brush control be conducted on an area of a
  specified minimum size.
         (d)  In determining whether property qualifies for an
  exemption under this section, the chief appraiser and the appraisal
  review board shall apply the standards adopted under Subsection
  (c).
         SECTION 5.  Section 1.003, Water Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 1.003.  PUBLIC POLICY.  It is the public policy of the
  state to provide for the conservation and development of the
  state's natural resources, including:
               (1)  the control, storage, preservation, and
  distribution of the state's storm and floodwaters and the waters of
  its rivers and streams for irrigation, power, and other useful
  purposes;
               (2)  the reclamation and irrigation of the state's
  arid, semiarid, and other land needing irrigation;
               (3)  the reclamation and drainage of the state's
  overflowed land and other land needing drainage;
               (4)  the conservation and development of its forest,
  water, and hydroelectric power;
               (5)  the navigation of the state's inland and coastal
  waters;
               (6)  the maintenance of a proper ecological environment
  of the bays and estuaries of Texas and the health of related living
  marine resources; [and]
               (7)  the voluntary stewardship of public and private
  lands to benefit waters of the state; and
               (8)  the promotion of rainwater harvesting at public
  and private facilities in this state, including residential,
  commercial, and industrial buildings.
         SECTION 6.  If the 81st Legislature makes an appropriation
  to the Texas Water Development Board to provide matching grants to
  political subdivisions of this state for rainwater harvesting
  demonstration projects, the board shall, not later than December 1,
  2010, provide a report to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of
  the house of representatives regarding the projects for which the
  board has provided grants, including:
               (1)  a description of each project; and
               (2)  the amount of the grant provided for each project.
         SECTION 7.  Section 11.32, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
  applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed for a tax year beginning on
  or after January 1, 2010.
         SECTION 8.  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
  section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
         (b)  Section 4 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2010, but
  only if the constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature
  by general law to exempt from ad valorem taxes the portion of the
  assessed value of property attributable to the implementation on
  the property of a water conservation initiative, desalination
  project, or brush control initiative is approved by the voters. If
  that amendment is not approved by the voters, Section 4 of this Act
  has no effect.