83R16676 SMH-F

By: Fraser S.B. No. 1894

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the procedure for review by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and related entities of environmental flow standards and environmental flow set-asides for river basin and bay systems and related matters.

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

SECTION 1. Section 11.02362(p), Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

(p) In recognition of the importance of adaptive management, after submitting its recommendations regarding environmental flow standards and strategies to meet the environmental flow standards to the commission, each basin and bay area stakeholders committee, with the assistance of the pertinent basin and bay expert science team, shall prepare and submit for approval by the advisory group a work plan. The work plan must:

(1) [establish a periodic review of the basin and bay environmental flow analyses and environmental flow regime recommendations, environmental flow standards, and strategies, to occur at least once every 10 years;

[(2)] prescribe specific monitoring, studies, and activities; and

(2) [(3)] establish a schedule for continuing the validation or refinement of the basin and bay environmental flow analyses and environmental flow regime recommendations, the environmental flow standards adopted by the commission, and the strategies to achieve those standards.

SECTION 2. Section 11.1471, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(f) An environmental flow standard or environmental flow set-aside adopted under Subsection (a) may be altered by the commission in a rulemaking process undertaken in accordance with a schedule established by the commission. The [In establishing a schedule, the commission shall consider the applicable work plan approved by the advisory group under Section 11.02362(p). The commission's schedule may not provide for the rulemaking process to occur more frequently than once every 10 years unless the work plan provides for a periodic review under Section 11.02362(p) to occur more frequently than once every 10 years. In that event, the] commission shall [may] provide for the rulemaking process to be undertaken for each river basin and bay system for which environmental flow standards have been adopted not more frequently than every 10 years beginning January 1, 2022, unless the commission determines that the process should be undertaken before that date [in conjunction with the periodic review if the commission determines that schedule to be appropriate]. A rulemaking process undertaken under this subsection must provide for the participation of stakeholders having interests in the particular river basin and bay system for which the process is undertaken.

(g) The commission shall evaluate the status of the work plans submitted by the basin and bay area stakeholders committees and approved by the advisory group under Section 11.02362(p) in accordance with a schedule established by the commission. The commission's schedule must provide for the first evaluation of work plan status for each river basin and bay system for which environmental flow standards have been adopted to be performed not later than January 1, 2017, and for subsequent evaluations to be performed every five years thereafter.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.