| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to desired future conditions for groundwater that are |
|
|
declared unreasonable. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 36.1071, Water Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (b-1) and (b-2) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) The management plan, or any amendments to the plan, |
|
|
shall: |
|
|
(1) be developed using the district's best available |
|
|
data and forwarded to the regional water planning group for use in |
|
|
their planning process; and |
|
|
(2) include the: |
|
|
(A) most recently approved desired future |
|
|
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; and |
|
|
(B) amount of modeled available groundwater |
|
|
corresponding to the most recently approved desired future |
|
|
conditions. |
|
|
(b-1) A district shall amend a management plan before the |
|
|
second anniversary of the adoption of desired future conditions |
|
|
included under Subsection (b). |
|
|
(b-2) If a petition challenging the reasonableness of a |
|
|
desired future condition is filed under Section 36.1083(b), the |
|
|
executive administrator shall consider the management plan |
|
|
administratively complete if the district includes: |
|
|
(1) the most recently approved desired future |
|
|
conditions adopted under Section 36.108; |
|
|
(2) the amount of modeled available groundwater |
|
|
corresponding to the desired future conditions; |
|
|
(3) a statement of the status of the petition |
|
|
challenging the reasonableness of a desired future condition; and |
|
|
(4) the information required by Subsections (a) and |
|
|
(e). |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 36.1083(a)(1), Water Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(1) "Affected person" means: |
|
|
(A) an owner of land in a district in the same |
|
|
management area in which a petition is filed; |
|
|
(B) a district; |
|
|
(C) a regional water planning group that has |
|
|
approved a regional water plan that includes a water management |
|
|
strategy applicable to the district that adopted the desired future |
|
|
conditions; |
|
|
(D) a person who holds or is applying for a permit |
|
|
from a district in the same management area in which a petition is |
|
|
filed; |
|
|
(E) a person who has groundwater rights in a |
|
|
district in the same management area in which a petition is filed; |
|
|
or |
|
|
(F) any other person defined as affected by |
|
|
commission rule [has the meaning assigned by Section 36.1082]. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
a petition filed under Section 36.1083, Water Code, as amended by |
|
|
this Act, on or after the effective date of this Act. A petition |
|
|
filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law |
|
|
in effect on the date the hearing was conducted, and the former law |
|
|
is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021. |