82R1526 SLB-F

By: Price H.B. No. 1825

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 36.406(a) and (b), Water Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A hearing must be conducted by:

(1) a quorum of the board; [or]

(2) an individual to whom the board has delegated in writing the responsibility to preside as a hearings examiner over the hearing or matters related to the hearing; or

(3) the State Office of Administrative Hearings under Section 36.416.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 36.416, the board president or the hearings examiner shall serve as the presiding officer at the hearing.

SECTION 2. Section 36.416, Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 36.416. HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY STATE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; RULES. (a) If a district contracts with the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing, the hearing shall be conducted as provided by Subchapters C, D, and F, Chapter 2001, Government Code. The district shall adopt rules for a hearing conducted under this section that are consistent with the procedural rules of the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

(b) If requested by the applicant or other party to a contested case, a district shall contract with the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing. If the district does not prescribe a contract deadline by rule, the district shall contract with the office not later than the 14th day before the date the hearing is scheduled to begin. The hearing must be held in Travis County or at a location described by Section 36.403(c). The district shall choose the location.

(c) The party requesting the hearing shall pay all costs associated with the contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund any excess money to the paying party. All other costs may be assessed as authorized by this chapter or district rules.

SECTION 3. Subchapter M, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended by adding Section 36.4165 to read as follows:

Sec. 36.4165. FINAL DECISION; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS. Consistent with Section 2001.058, Government Code, the board has the authority to make a final decision on a permit application or amendment after a contested case hearing on consideration of a proposal for decision issued by an administrative law judge.

SECTION 4. The heading to Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 36.418. RULES; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS; APPLICABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT.

SECTION 5. Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(b) Except as provided by this section and Sections [Section] 36.416 and 36.4165, Chapter 2001, Government Code, does not apply to a hearing under this subchapter.

(c) The district shall adopt rules to:

(1) establish a procedure for a preliminary or other type of hearing;

(2) allow the presiding officer, at a preliminary hearing by the district and before a referral of the case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, to determine a party's right to participate in a hearing according to Section 36.415(b)(2); and

(3) set a deadline for a party to file a request to refer a contested case to the State Office of Administrative Hearings under Section 36.416.

SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a permit or permit amendment application determined to be administratively complete on or after the effective date of this Act. A permit or permit amendment application determined to be administratively complete before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the application was determined to be administratively complete, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 7. 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.