BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3807 |
By: Zerwas |
Natural Resources |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties note that the Fort Bend Subsidence District was created several years ago to control and prevent subsidence within the district by reducing groundwater withdrawals and that such goal is achieved through a regulatory plan that requires converting groundwater supplies to alternative water supplies. Such parties contend that the district's statutes need to be updated to recognize aggregate permits, make administrative changes, provide for the appointment of an investment officer, and define certain terms. C.S.H.B. 3807 seeks to address these issues.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3807 amends the Special District Local Laws Code to revise, update, and clarify provisions relating to the Fort Bend Subsidence District. The bill establishes that the provisions relating to the district prevail over any other law in conflict or inconsistent with those provisions. The bill requires the district secretary to ensure that all district records and books are properly kept and to attest to the chair's signature on all documents. The bill authorizes the district's board of directors to authorize another director, the general manager, or any employee or contractor to execute documents on the district's behalf and to certify the authenticity of any district record. The bill requires the board to hold regular meetings at a time set by the board, rather than requiring the board to hold one regular meeting each month at a time set by the board. The bill specifies that the exemption from the state's open meetings law for a meeting of a committee of the board at which less than a quorum is present applies only if less than a quorum of the board is present.
C.S.H.B. 3807 removes the requirement that the board's annual hearing to determine the effects during the preceding calendar year of groundwater withdrawal on subsidence in the district be held before March 31. The bill requires the district to deliver or mail notice of a hearing other than a permit application hearing to each regional water supplier in the district by a certain deadline and revises the requirement regarding the posting at a county courthouse of a notice of a hearing. The bill defines "regional water supplier" to mean a political subdivision of this state that has the authority to conserve, store, transport, treat, distribute, sell, and deliver water to any person and an approved groundwater reduction plan.
C.S.H.B. 3807 authorizes the board to contract with a person to act as investment officer of the district and sets out training requirements for such officer. The bill requires an investment officer for the district who holds that office on the bill's effective date to attend specified training not later than the first anniversary of the bill's effective date unless that person has already taken the training in the 12 months preceding that effective date.
C.S.H.B. 3807 authorizes the board to issue permits to drill new wells and authorizes the board by rule to provide exemptions from the permit requirements. The bill requires the district to grant a permit to drill and operate a new well inside a platted subdivision if water service from a retail public utility is not available to the lot where the well is to be located. The bill clarifies that a well owner commits a violation if the well owner does not obtain a required district permit before drilling, equipping, or completing the well, substantially altering the size of the well or a well pump, or operating the well. The bill defines "well owner" as a person who has an ownership interest in a well, operates a well, owns land on which a well is located, or owns the water withdrawn or to be withdrawn from a well.
C.S.H.B. 3807 requires the board to issue a permit to an applicant if the board finds on sufficient evidence that, in addition to other criteria, there is no other adequate and available substitute or supplemental source of alternative water supplies at prices competitive with the prices charged by suppliers in the district, rather than if there is no other adequate and available substitute or supplemental source of surface water at such prices.
C.S.H.B. 3807 requires a well owner's annual report to the board to include the total amount of groundwater withdrawn from the well during the preceding calendar year, rather than during the preceding 12-month period, and the total amount of groundwater withdrawn from the well during each month of the preceding calendar year, rather than during each month of the preceding 12-month period. The bill requires a well owner whose well is aggregated with other wells permitted and managed by a regional water supplier to file the annual report with the regional water supplier instead of the district. The bill requires a regional water supplier to submit to the board the annual report for all wells owned, managed, or permitted by that supplier not later than March 31 of each year. The bill defines "agricultural crop," "florist item," "nursery grower," "nursery product," and "water conservation."
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2013.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3807 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and highlighted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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