S.B. No. 1061

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 reviewing an application to amend a restoration table value.

(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 areas 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 area [zone] located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each production area 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 area 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 area [zone] located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required by commission rule; and

(4) not later than the 30th day after the date the commission determines the application to be administratively complete, the commission mails notice of receipt of the application to:

(A) the owners of the surface of:

(i) the tract of land on which the existing or proposed production area is or will be located; and

(ii) the tracts of land adjacent to the land described by Subparagraph (i);

(B) the owners of mineral rights underlying:

(i) the tract of land on which the existing or proposed production area is or will be located; and

(ii) the tracts of land adjacent to the land described by Subparagraph (i); and

(C) any groundwater conservation district established in the county in which the existing or proposed production area is or will be located.

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 Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are repealed.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.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the Senate on March 20, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the House, with amendment, on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 130, Nays 0, two present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

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Date

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Governor