S.B. No. 864
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the procedure for obtaining a right to use state water
  if the applicant proposes an alternative source of water that is not
  state water.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 11.132(c) and (d), Water Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  In the notice, the commission shall:
               (1)  state the name and address of the applicant;
               (2)  state the date the application was filed;
               (3)  state the purpose and extent of the proposed
  appropriation of water;
               (4)  identify the source of supply and the place where
  the water is to be stored or taken or diverted from the source of
  supply;
               (5)  identify any proposed alternative source of water,
  other than state water, identified by the applicant;
               (6)  specify the time and location where the commission
  will consider the application; and
               (7) [(6)]  give any additional information the
  commission considers necessary.
         (d)  The commission may act on the application without
  holding a public hearing if:
               (1)  not less than 30 days before the date of action on
  the application by the commission, the applicant has published the
  commission's notice of the application at least once in a newspaper
  regularly published or circulated within the section of the state
  where the source of water is located;
               (2)  not less than 30 days before the date of action on
  the application by the commission, the commission mails a copy of
  the notice by first-class mail, postage prepaid, to:
                     (A)  each claimant or appropriator of water from
  the source of water supply, the record of whose claim or
  appropriation has been filed with the commission; [and]
                     (B)  each groundwater conservation district with
  jurisdiction over the proposed groundwater production, if the
  applicant proposes to use groundwater from a well located within a
  groundwater conservation district as an alternative source of
  water; and
                     (C)  all navigation districts within the river
  basin concerned; and
               (3)  within 30 days after the date of the newspaper
  publication of the commission's notice, a public hearing has not
  been requested in writing by a commissioner, the executive
  director, or an affected person who objects to the application.
         SECTION 2.  Section 11.135(b), Water Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (b)  The permit shall be in writing and attested by the seal
  of the commission, and it shall contain substantially the following
  information:
               (1)  the name of the person to whom the permit is
  issued;
               (2)  the date the permit is issued;
               (3)  the date the original application was filed;
               (4)  the use or purpose for which the appropriation is
  to be made;
               (5)  the amount or volume of water authorized to be
  appropriated for each purpose; if use of the appropriated water is
  authorized for multiple purposes, the permit shall contain a
  special condition limiting the total amount of water that may
  actually be diverted for all of the purposes to the amount of water
  appropriated;
               (6)  a general description of the source of supply from
  which the appropriation is proposed to be made, including any
  alternative source of water that is not state water;
               (7)  the time within which construction or work must
  begin and the time within which it must be completed; and
               (8)  any other information the commission prescribes.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 11.143(e) and (f), Water Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (e)  In the notice, the commission shall:
               (1)  state the name and post-office address of the
  applicant;
               (2)  state the date the application was filed;
               (3)  state the purpose and extent of the proposed
  appropriation of water;
               (4)  identify the source of supply, including any
  proposed alternative source of water, other than state water,
  identified by the applicant, and the place where the water is
  stored; and
               (5)  specify the time and place of the hearing.
         (f)  The notice shall be published only once, at least 20
  days before the date stated in the notice for the hearing on the
  application, in a newspaper having general circulation in the
  county where the dam or reservoir is located. At least 15 days
  before the date set for the hearing, the commission shall transmit a
  copy of the notice by first-class mail to each person whose claim or
  appropriation has been filed with the commission and whose
  diversion point is downstream from that described in the
  application.  If the notice identifies groundwater from a well
  located in a groundwater conservation district as a proposed
  alternative source of water, the notice shall be:
               (1)  sent to the groundwater conservation district in
  which the well is located; and
               (2)  published, at least 20 days before the date stated
  in the notice for the hearing, in a newspaper having general
  circulation in each county in which the groundwater district is
  located.
         SECTION 4.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  an application for a new or amended water right received by the
  Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective
  date of this Act. An application received before the effective date
  of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
  application was received, and the former law is continued in effect
  for that purpose.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 864 passed the Senate on
  April 3, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 864 passed the House on
  May 19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, two
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor