82R7474 JJT-D

By: Gutierrez H.B. No. 1487

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a study comparing the effects on retail water and sewer utility service rates of acquiring by certain means additional water for Bexar County retail water and sewer utility service consumers.

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

SECTION 1. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall conduct a study to determine the comparative projected effects on the rates paid by retail water and sewer utility service consumers in Bexar County for water utility services in Bexar County if 40,000 acre-feet per year of additional water supplies were made available to those consumers by:

(1) desalinization of groundwater from sources inside the county;

(2) transportation by pipelines of surface water from a source or sources located east of that county; and

(3) transportation by pipelines of surface water from a source or sources located west of that county.

SECTION 2. In conducting the study, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall consider all likely costs to a Bexar County retail water and sewer utility services provider of making the specified amount of water available by each of the means described by Section 1 of this Act, including costs related to acquiring necessary permits, capital or maintenance costs for infrastructure, state and federal taxes, and costs of acquiring and transporting the water for consumers' use.

SECTION 3. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall consult with the Texas Water Development Board to the extent that board may provide useful information, expertise, or resources to further the study. The Texas Water Development Board shall undertake to assist the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding any request for assistance with the study, to the extent the assistance is within the board's authority.

SECTION 4. Not later than December 1, 2012, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall:

(1) publish the results of the study required by this Act on the commission's publicly available Internet website; and

(2) deliver the results of the study required by this Act to:

(A) the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each committee of each house of the legislature that has jurisdiction over water resources or water utilities; and

(B) the Commissioners Court of Bexar County.

SECTION 5. 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, 2011.