83R5303 SGA-F

By: Rodriguez of Bexar H.B. No. 2769

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the process for appealing the desired future conditions adopted by a groundwater conservation district for an aquifer.

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

SECTION 1. Section 36.1083, Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 36.1083. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEAL OF DESIRED FUTURE CONDITIONS. (a) In this section:

(1) "Affected person" has the meaning assigned by Section 36.1082.

(2) "Development[, "development] board" means the Texas Water Development Board.

(3) "Office" means the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

(b) Not later than the 180th day after the date on which a district adopted a desired future condition under Section 36.108(d-4), an affected person may file a petition with the district requesting that the district contract with the office to conduct a hearing to appeal the desired future condition, including the reasonableness of the desired future condition [A person with a legally defined interest in the groundwater in the management area, a district in or adjacent to the management area, or a regional water planning group for a region in the management area may file a petition with the development board appealing the approval of the desired future conditions of the groundwater resources established under this section. The petition must provide evidence that the districts did not establish a reasonable desired future condition of the groundwater resources in the management area].

(c) Not later than the 45th day after receiving a petition under Subsection (b), the district shall:

(1) contract with the office;

(2) request a contested case hearing; and

(3) submit a copy of the petition to the office [The development board shall review the petition and any evidence relevant to the petition. The development board shall hold at least one hearing at a central location in the management area to take testimony on the petition. The development board may delegate responsibility for a hearing to the executive administrator or to a person designated by the executive administrator. If the development board finds that the conditions require revision, the development board shall submit a report to the districts that includes a list of findings and recommended revisions to the desired future conditions of the groundwater resources].

(d) The hearing must be held at a location described by Section 36.403(c). The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with Chapter 2001, Government Code, and rules of the office [The districts shall prepare a revised plan in accordance with development board recommendations and hold, after notice, at least one public hearing at a central location in the management area. After consideration of all public and development board comments, the districts shall revise the conditions and submit the conditions to the development board for review].

(e) The district may adopt rules for notice and hearings conducted under this section that are consistent with the procedural rules of the office. In the manner prescribed by district and office rules, the district shall provide general notice of the hearing and individual notice of the hearing to the petitioner, any other party in the hearing identified under Subsection (f)(3), each nonparty district and regional water planning group in the management area, the development board, and the commission. Only an affected person may participate as a party in the hearing.

(f) The office shall hold a prehearing conference to determine preliminary matters including:

(1) whether the petition should be dismissed for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted;

(2) whether a person is an affected person and eligible to participate as a party in the hearing; and

(3) naming parties to the hearing.

(g) The petitioner 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 petitioner.

(h) If the administrative law judge finds that a technical analysis is needed related to the hydrogeology of the area or matters within the development board's expertise, the judge may request a study from the development board. In conducting the technical analysis, the development board shall consider any relevant information provided in the petition, as well as any groundwater availability models, published studies, or other information the development board considers relevant. The study must be completed and delivered to the office not later than the 120th day after the date of the request for admission into the evidentiary record for consideration at the hearing. The development board shall make available the relevant staff as expert witnesses during the hearing if requested by any party or the administrative law judge.

(i) On receipt of the administrative law judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law in a proposal for decision, including a dismissal of a petition under Subsection (f), the district's board shall issue a final order stating the district's decision on the contested matter and the district's findings of fact and conclusions of law. The board may change a finding of fact or conclusion of law made by the administrative law judge, or may vacate or modify an order issued by the administrative law judge in the same manner as a state agency under Section 2001.058(e), Government Code. If the district in its final order finds that a desired future condition is unreasonable, the districts in the management area shall reconvene in a joint planning meeting not later than the 30th day after the date of the final order to revise the desired future condition.

(j) A district's final order finding that a desired future condition is unreasonable does not invalidate the desired future condition for a district not subject to the petition.

SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended by adding Section 36.10831 to read as follows:

Sec. 36.10831. COURT APPEAL OF DESIRED FUTURE CONDITION. A final district order under Section 36.1083 may be appealed to a court under the substantial evidence standard of review as provided by Section 2001.174, Government Code. The venue for an appeal is a district court in Travis County. If the court finds that a desired future condition is unreasonable, the court shall strike the desired future condition and order the districts in the management area to reconvene in a joint planning meeting not later than the 30th day after the date of the court's decision to revise the desired future condition.

SECTION 3. (a) A petition filed under Section 36.1083, Water Code, and pending on the effective date of this Act before the Texas Water Development Board to appeal the desired future condition adopted by a groundwater conservation district shall be handled by the Texas Water Development Board in compliance with Section 36.1083, Water Code, as that section existed before the effective date of this Act.

(b) Section 36.1083, Water Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a petition filed on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.