| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production |
|
|
area authorizations. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 27.0513, Water Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as |
|
|
follows: |
|
|
(c-1) The commission shall prioritize the conservation of |
|
|
regional groundwater water supplies when establishing the methods |
|
|
under Subsection (c) for determining the restoration table values |
|
|
for a portion of an aquifer that the United States Environmental |
|
|
Protection Agency prohibits from being used as an underground |
|
|
source of drinking water. |
|
|
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and |
|
|
27.018, an application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
|
|
authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and |
|
|
restoration activities in production zones within the boundary |
|
|
established in the permit is an uncontested matter not subject to a |
|
|
contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001, |
|
|
Government Code, if: |
|
|
(1) the authorization is for a production zone located |
|
|
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each |
|
|
production zone addressed in the application, a range table of |
|
|
groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater |
|
|
restoration by the commission; |
|
|
(2) the application includes, for each production zone |
|
|
addressed in the application, groundwater quality restoration |
|
|
values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established |
|
|
in Subdivision (1); and |
|
|
(3) the authorization is for a production zone located |
|
|
within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater |
|
|
baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required |
|
|
by commission rule. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are |
|
|
repealed. |
|
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
|
|
authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on |
|
|
Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
An application for an authorization or an amendment to an |
|
|
authorization that was submitted to the commission before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the |
|
|
time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law |
|
|
is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |