By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1080

(In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2023; March 9, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture & Rural Affairs; March 21, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; March 21, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1080 By: Kolkhorst

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a mitigation program and fees for the Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 8849, Special District Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 8849.107 to read as follows:

Sec. 8849.107. MITIGATION PROGRAM. (a) The district by rule may establish a mitigation program to address excessive drawdown of an aquifer or subdivision of an aquifer in the district that results in:

(1) the potentiometric surface being below a desired future condition; or

(2) nonproductive wells.

(b) A mitigation program established under this section may:

(1) reduce groundwater production from the aquifer or subdivision of an aquifer that is the subject of the program; or

(2) provide reimbursement for the cost of repairing or replacing wells to access groundwater below the potentiometric surface of the aquifer or subdivision of an aquifer that is the subject of the program.

(c) The district may fund the mitigation program with production fees, export fees, or any other revenue available to the district.

SECTION 2. Section 8849.151, Special District Local Laws Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 8849.151. [PUMPING] FEES. (a) The district may assess production [regulatory pumping] fees under Section 36.205(c), Water Code, and export fees under Section 36.122, Water Code [for water produced in or exported from the district].

(b) The production [regulatory pumping] fees the district assesses for water for crop or livestock production or other agricultural uses may not exceed 20 percent of the rate applied to water for municipal uses.

(c) Production [Regulatory pumping] fees [based on the amount of water withdrawn from a well] may not exceed:

(1) $1 for each acre-foot for water used to irrigate agricultural crops; or

(2) 17 cents for each thousand gallons for water used for any other purpose.

[(d) Combined regulatory pumping fees for production and export of water may not exceed 17 cents for each thousand gallons for water used.]

SECTION 3. Mitigation payments and fees assessed before the effective date of this Act are ratified, confirmed, and validated in all respects.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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