| TO: | Honorable Allan Ritter, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources |
| FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB1386 by Seliger (Relating to priority groundwater management areas.), As Engrossed |
The bill would extend the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) critical groundwater problem evaluation period from 25 years to 50 years. The bill would clarify that the TCEQ has the authority to adopt rules for the creation of a groundwater conservation district (GCD) or the addition of a primary groundwater management area (PMGA) to an existing GCD for any PGMA that was designated as a critical area before September 1, 1997. The bill would provide that the 50-year evaluation period is relevant only to designation of a PGMA after the effective date of the Act, and that designation of a PGMA made before the effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date when the designation occurred.
Any costs to the TWDB and the TCEQ in implementing the provisions of the bill are not expected to be significant.
| Source Agencies: | 580 Water Development Board, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, SD, TL
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