BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 4112 |
By: Burns |
Natural Resources |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties note that recent legislation amended the statute relating to the groundwater ownership and rights established by common law and provided a more detailed description of the groundwater ownership and rights that the legislature believed the courts had established for landowners. The parties note, however, that in a recent court case a court established a private property right that is not referenced in the statute, and the parties contend that the statute must be amended to recognize any common law right the courts establish for groundwater. C.S.H.B. 4112 seeks to address this issue.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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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. 4112 amends the Water Code to establish that the groundwater ownership and rights recognized by the legislature entitle a landowner, including a landowner's lessees, heirs, or assigns, to have any right recognized under common law and not just the right to drill for and produce the groundwater below the surface of real property without causing waste or malicious drainage of other property or negligently causing subsidence.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 4112 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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