By: Orr, Burns (Senate Sponsor - Alvarado) H.B. No. 4820

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2023; May 11, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the eligibility requirements for grants under programs of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

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

SECTION 1. Section 5.124(f), Water Code, is amended to read as follows:

(f) A grant may be made by direct award only if:

(1) the executive director determines that:

(A) selection of recipients by the solicitation of proposals or applications is not feasible; and

(B) awarding the grant directly is in the best interest of the state;

(2) eligibility for the grant is limited to:

(A) an agency or political subdivision of this state or of another state;

(B) a state institution of higher learning of this state or of another state, including any part or service of the institution; [or]

(C) an agency of the United States; or

(D) a nonprofit organization and the grant is awarded for the purpose of funding projects implementing a comprehensive conservation and management plan under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1251 et seq.) for a national estuary located in this state; or

(3) the grant is awarded to a person established or authorized to develop or implement a comprehensive conservation and management plan under Section 320, Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. Section 1330), for a national estuary in this state.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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