BILL ANALYSIS

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Groundwater is an important source of water throughout Texas but, under current law, there is no deadline for a groundwater conservation district to take final action following a contested case hearing on a permit application. As demands on groundwater continue to grow, the framework for groundwater permitting should ensure timely decisions and finality for all parties in the permitting process, while also providing for sufficient time for careful and thorough permitting decisions by groundwater conservation districts. The bill seeks to increase efficiency in the groundwater permitting process by setting a deadline for a district to make a final decision in a proceeding on a permit application or permit amendment.

H.B. 1971 amends current law relating to the procedures for acting on a permit or permit amendment application by a groundwater conservation district and the disqualification of board members of groundwater conservation districts.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 36.053, Water Code, as follows:

Sec. 36.053.� QUORUM. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text and creates an exception under Subsection (b).

(b) Provides that, for the purposes of making a final decision on a permit or permit amendment application by a board of directors of a groundwater conservation district (board) composed of 10 or more directors, a concurrence of a majority of the directors eligible to vote is sufficient for taking an action on the application.

SECTION 2. Amends Section 36.058, Water Code, as follows:

Sec. 36.058.� CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text.

(b) Prohibits a director, if a director is required to file an affidavit under Section 171.004(a) (relating to requiring an official with a substantial interest in a business entity or in real property to file, before a vote or decision on any matter involving the business entity or the real property, an affidavit stating the nature and extent of the interest and to abstain from further participation in the matter if certain criteria are met), Local Government Code, from:

(1) attending a closed meeting related to the matter for which the director is required to file the affidavit; and

(2) voting on a matter for which the director is required to file the affidavit unless a majority of the directors are also required to file an affidavit related to a similar interest on the same official action.

SECTION 3. Amends Section 36.409, Water Code, as follows:

Sec. 36.409.� CONTINUANCE. (a)-(b) Creates these subsections from existing text.

(c) Prohibits a continuance from exceeding the time limit for the issuance of a final decision under Section 36.4165 (Final Decision; Contested Case Hearings).

SECTION 4. Amends Section 36.411, Water Code, as follows:

Sec. 36.411. BOARD ACTION. (a) Creates this subsection from existing text.

(b) Requires the board to ensure a decision on a permit or permit amendment application is timely rendered in accordance with the provisions set forth in Chapter 36 (Groundwater Conservation Districts).

SECTION 5. Amends the heading to Section 36.412, Water Code, to read as follows:

Sec. 36.412. REQUEST FOR REHEARING OR FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW.

SECTION 6. Amends Section 36.412, Water Code, by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (a-1), (b-1), and (f), as follows:

(a)� Authorizes an applicant in a contested or uncontested hearing on an application or a party to a contested hearing to administratively appeal a decision of the board on a permit or permit amendment application by making a request in writing to the board, rather than by requesting written findings and conclusions not later than the 20th day after the date of the board's decision.

(a-1) Creates this subsection from existing text. Requires a party seeking to appeal a decision by the board to request written findings of fact and conclusions of law not later than the 20th day after the date of the board's decision unless the board issued findings of fact and conclusions of law as part of the final decision.

(b) Requires the board, on receipt of a timely written request under Subsection (a-1), to make written findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding a decision of the board on a permit or permit amendment application. Makes conforming changes.

(b-1) Creates this subsection from existing text and makes conforming changes.

(f) Requires the board to consolidate requests for rehearing filed by multiple parties to the contested case hearing, but provides that only one rehearing is authorized to be considered per matter.

SECTION 7. Amends Section 36.4165, Water Code, by adding Subsections (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g), as follows:

(c) Requires that a final decision issued by the board under this section be in writing and either adopt the proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law as proposed by the administrative law judge or include revised findings of fact and conclusions of law consistent with Subsection (b).

(d) Requires a board, notwithstanding any other law, to issue a final decision under this section not later than the 180th day after the date of receipt of the final proposal for decision from the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Authorizes the deadline to be extended if all parties agree to the extension.

(e) Requires the board, if a motion for rehearing is filed and granted by a board under Section 36.412, notwithstanding any other law, to make a final decision on the application not later than the 90th day after the date of the decision by the board that was subject to the motion for rehearing.

(f) Provides that a board is considered to have adopted a final proposal for decision of the administrative law judge as a final order on the 181st day after the date the administrative law judge issued the final proposal for decision if the board has not issued a final decision by:

(1) adopting the findings of fact and conclusions of law as proposed by the administrative law judge; or

(2) issuing revised findings of fact and conclusions of law as provided by Subsection (b).

(g) Provides that a proposal for decision adopted under Subsection (f) is final, immediately appealable, and not subject to a request for rehearing.

SECTION 8. Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 9. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2023.