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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to priority groundwater management areas. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 35.007(a), Water Code, is amended to |
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read as follows: |
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(a) The executive director and the executive administrator |
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shall meet periodically to identify, based on information gathered |
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by the commission and the Texas Water Development Board, those |
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areas of the state that are experiencing or that are expected to |
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experience, within the immediately following 50-year [25-year] |
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period, critical groundwater problems, including shortages of |
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surface water or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from |
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groundwater withdrawal, and contamination of groundwater supplies. |
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Not later than September 1, 2005, the commission, with assistance |
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and cooperation from the Texas Water Development Board, shall |
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complete the initial designation of priority groundwater |
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management areas across all major and minor aquifers of the state |
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for all areas that meet the criteria for that designation. The |
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studies may be prioritized considering information from the |
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regional planning process, information from the Texas Water |
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Development Board groundwater management areas and from |
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groundwater conservation districts, and any other information |
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available. After the initial designation of priority groundwater |
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management areas, the commission and the Texas Water Development |
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Board shall annually review the need for additional designations as |
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provided by this subsection. |
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SECTION 2. Section 35.008, Water Code, is amended by adding |
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Subsection (j) to read as follows: |
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(j) The commission may adopt rules regarding: |
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(1) the creation of a district over all or part of a |
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priority groundwater management area that was designated as a |
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critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code, as that chapter existed |
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before September 1, 1997, or under other prior law; and |
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(2) the addition of all or part of the land in a |
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priority groundwater management area described by Subdivision (1) |
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to an existing district. |
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SECTION 3. All governmental acts and proceedings, including |
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the adoption of rules, of the Texas Commission on Environmental |
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Quality relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation |
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district over all or part of a priority groundwater management area |
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that was designated as a critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code, |
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as that chapter existed before September 1, 1997, or under other |
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prior law, are validated in all respects as of the dates on which |
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they occurred. |
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SECTION 4. Section 35.007(a), Water Code, as amended by |
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this Act, applies only to a designation of a priority groundwater |
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management area made by the Texas Commission on Environmental |
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Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A designation |
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made before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
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effect when the designation was made, and that law is continued in |
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effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |