Bill Text: TX SB998 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation district in a priority groundwater management area.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-08 - Referred to Natural Resources [SB998 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-SB998-Introduced.html

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82R8678 SLB-F
By: Seliger S.B. No. 998

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation district in
a priority groundwater management area.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 35.012, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 35.013, within [Within]
two years, but no sooner than 120 days, from the date on which the
commission issues an order under Section 35.008 designating a
priority groundwater management area, for those areas that are not
within a district, the commission shall[:
[(1)] create one or more new districts under Section
36.0151[;
[(2) recommend that the areas, or a portion of the
areas, be added to an existing district under Section 35.013; or
[(3) take any combination of the actions under
Subdivisions (1) and (2)].
(b-1) For purposes of this section, the commission may
consider territory in two separately designated priority
groundwater management areas to be in the same designated priority
groundwater management area if:
(1) the two areas share a common boundary and one or
more common aquifers; and
(2) the commission determines that a district composed
of territory in the two areas will result in more effective or
efficient groundwater management than other options available to
the commission.
SECTION 2. Section 35.013, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), and (h) and adding
Subsections (b-1) and (g-1) to read as follows:
(b) The commission shall submit a copy of the order to the
board of the district to which it is recommending the priority
groundwater management area be added. Not later than the 120th day
after the date of receiving the copy, the [The] board shall vote on
the addition of the priority groundwater management area to the
district and shall advise the commission of the outcome.
(b-1) If the district described by Subsection (b) has not
approved an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order
issued under Section 35.008 and the board of the district votes to
accept the addition of the priority groundwater management area to
the district, the board shall enter an order adding the territory in
the district.
(c) If the district described by Subsection (b) has approved
an ad valorem tax on the date of the commission's order issued under
Section 35.008 and the board votes to accept the addition of the
priority groundwater management area to the district, the board:
(1) shall enter an order adding the territory in the
district;
(2) may request the Texas AgriLife [Agricultural]
Extension Service, the commission, and the Texas Water Development
Board, with the cooperation and assistance of the Department of
Agriculture and other state agencies, to administer an educational
program to inform the residents of the status of the area's water
resources, the addition of territory to the district, and
[management] options for financing management of the groundwater
resources of the [including possible annexation into a] district;
(3) [(2)] shall call an election to be held not later
than the 270th day after the date of the board's vote under
Subsection (b) within the priority groundwater management area, or
portion of the priority groundwater management area, as delineated
by the commission to determine if the added area will assume a
proportional share of the debts or taxes of the district [priority
groundwater management area will be added to the district]; and
(4) [(3)] shall designate election precincts and
polling places for the elections in the order calling an election
under this subsection.
(e) The ballots for the election shall be printed to provide
for voting for or against the proposition: "The [inclusion of
_________________________ (briefly describe priority groundwater
management area) in the ______________ District." If the district
has outstanding debts or taxes, the proposition shall include the
following language: "and] assumption by the ______ (briefly
describe the territory added under Subsection (c)(1)) [described
area] of a proportional share of the debts or taxes of the ______
District instead of the assessment of fees in the described area to
fund the groundwater management activities of the district."
(f) Immediately after the election, the presiding judge of
each polling place shall deliver the returns of the election to the
board, and the board shall canvass the returns for the election
within the priority groundwater management area and declare the
results. If a majority of the voters in the priority groundwater
management area voting on the proposition vote in favor of the
proposition, the board shall declare that the priority groundwater
management area assumes a proportional share of the debts or taxes
of [is added to] the district. If a majority of the voters in the
priority groundwater management area voting on the proposition do
not vote in favor of the proposition [against adding the priority
groundwater management area to the district], the board shall adopt
rules to implement Subsection (g-1) [declare that the priority
groundwater management area is not added to the district]. The
board shall file a copy of the election results with the commission.
(g) The [If the voters approve adding the priority
groundwater management area to the district, the] board of the
district to which the priority groundwater management area is added
shall provide reasonable representation on that board compatible
with the district's existing scheme of representation. Not later
than the 30th day after the date on which the board declares that
the priority groundwater management area is added to the district,
the board of the existing district shall appoint a person or persons
to represent the area until the next regularly scheduled election
or appointment of directors.
(g-1) If the voters do not approve the assumption of a
proportional share of the debts or taxes of a district under
Subsection (e), the board shall assess production fees in the added
territory based on the amount of water authorized by permit to be
withdrawn from a well or the amount actually withdrawn. A district
may use revenue generated by the fees for any district purpose.
Production fees may not exceed:
(1) $2 per acre-foot payable annually for water used
for agricultural use; or
(2) 30 cents per 1,000 gallons payable annually for
water used for any other purpose.
(h) Not later than the first anniversary of the date on
which [If] the proposition is defeated, or [if] the board of the
existing district votes not to accept the addition of the area to
the district, [then] the commission shall, except as provided under
Subsection (i):
(1)[,] create under Section 36.0151 one or more
districts covering the priority groundwater management area; or
(2) recommend the area be added to another existing
district as provided by this section [not later than the first
anniversary of the date on which the proposition is defeated or the
board votes not to accept the area].
SECTION 3. Section 36.0151, Water Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), (e), and
(f) to read as follows:
(a) If the commission is required to create a district under
Section 35.012(b), it shall, without an evidentiary hearing, issue
an order creating the district and shall provide in its order that
temporary directors be appointed under Section 36.0161 [36.016] and
that an election be called by the temporary directors to authorize
the district to assess taxes and to elect permanent directors.
(c) The commission may amend the territory in an order
issued under Section 35.008 or this section to adjust for areas
that, in the time between when the order was issued under Section
35.008 and the order is issued under this section, have:
(1) been added to an existing district or created as a
separate district; or
(2) not been added to an existing district or created
as a separate district.
(d) In making a modification under Subsection (c), the
commission may recommend:
(1) creation of a new district in the area; or
(2) that the area be added to a different district.
(e) Except as provided by Section 35.013(h), a change in the
order under Subsection (c) does not affect a deadline under Section
35.012 or 35.013.
(f) The commission may not create a groundwater
conservation district under this section in territory that exists
in a single county in which total surface water use is more than 50
times the total groundwater production and that is located in a
priority groundwater management area. To the extent of a conflict
between this section and Section 35.012, this section controls.
SECTION 4. Section 36.0171(h), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) If the majority of the votes cast at the election are
against the levy of a maintenance tax, the district shall set permit
fees in accordance with Section 35.013(g-1) to pay for the
district's regulation of groundwater in the district, including
fees based on the amount of water to be withdrawn from a well.
SECTION 5. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply to
any territory in a priority groundwater management area that is not
included in a groundwater conservation district on the effective
date of this Act.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2012, the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality shall create a district or add territory
to an existing district for any territory for which the commission
has issued an order recommending creation of a district or addition
of territory to an existing district under Section 35.008, Water
Code, before the effective date of this Act, unless the commission
determines that the territory is not suitable under Section
35.013(i), Water Code.
SECTION 6. 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, 2011.