| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
| |
|
|
relating to the delegation of matters to the executive director of |
|
|
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 5.122(a), Water Code, is amended to read |
|
|
as follows: |
|
|
(a) The commission by rule or order may delegate to the |
|
|
executive director the commission's authority to act on an |
|
|
application or other request to issue, renew, reopen, transfer, |
|
|
amend, extend, withdraw, revoke, terminate, or modify a permit, |
|
|
license, certificate, registration, or other authorization or |
|
|
approval if: |
|
|
(1) required notice of the application or request for |
|
|
the authorization or approval has been given; |
|
|
(2) the holder of or applicant for the authorization |
|
|
or approval agrees in writing to the action to be taken by the |
|
|
executive director; and |
|
|
(3) the application or request: |
|
|
(A) is uncontested and does not require an |
|
|
evidentiary hearing; [or] |
|
|
(B) has become uncontested before parties are |
|
|
named because each person who requested a contested case hearing |
|
|
within the time allowed by law has: |
|
|
(i) withdrawn the request for a contested |
|
|
case hearing without condition; |
|
|
(ii) withdrawn the request for a contested |
|
|
case hearing conditioned only on the withdrawal of all other |
|
|
hearing requests; or |
|
|
(iii) agreed in writing to allow the |
|
|
executive director to make a final decision on the matter; or |
|
|
(C) has become uncontested because all parties |
|
|
have agreed in writing to the action to be taken by the executive |
|
|
director. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 5.351, Water Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Subsection (c) to read as follows: |
|
|
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), a person affected by a |
|
|
ruling, order, or decision on a matter delegated to the executive |
|
|
director under Section 5.122 or other law may, after exhausting any |
|
|
administrative remedies, file a petition to review, set aside, |
|
|
modify, or suspend the ruling, order, or decision not later than the |
|
|
30th day after: |
|
|
(1) the effective date of the ruling, order, or |
|
|
decision; or |
|
|
(2) if the executive director's ruling, order, or |
|
|
decision is appealed to the commission as authorized by Section |
|
|
5.122(b) or other law, the earlier of: |
|
|
(A) the date the commission denies the appeal; or |
|
|
(B) the date the appeal is overruled by operation |
|
|
of law in accordance with commission rules. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
a final decision made by the executive director of the Texas |
|
|
Commission on Environmental Quality under Section 5.122, Water |
|
|
Code, as amended by this Act, on or after the effective date of this |
|
|
Act. A final decision made by the executive director before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the |
|
|
time the final decision was made, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * |