Every month during the 89th Regular Session of the Texas Legislature, I will prepare an update on water-related legislation. The key water committees are the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee in the Senate and the House Natural Resources Committee in the House of Representatives. The Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee is chaired by Senator Charles Perry (R) of Lubbock who commented at his first hearing that “We are on the edge of the most transformative water session that the legislature has had in a long, long time.” The committee’s standing meeting schedule is every Monday at 8am in hearing room E1.012 of the Capitol Extension. Representative Cody Harris (R) of Palestine is the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. The committee’s standing meeting schedule is every Wednesday at 8am in hearing room E2.036 of the Capitol Extension.
How many water-related bills are there on the legislature’s plate?
March 14th was the deadline for filing new bills and joint resolutions other than local bills, emergency appropriations, and emergency matters submitted by the governor. A total of 8,898 bills and joint resolutions were filed by the deadline exceeding the total for the 88th Regular Session by 745 bills and joint resolutions. However, don’t let the filing deadline fool you, there will still be ways to introduce some additional bills after March 14th.
Bills to Watch
April is the month where I will begin updating you on the progress (if any) regarding key water-related bills. These key bills and joint resolutions this session include Senate Bill 7 and House Joint Resolution 7. Senate Bill 7 would fund the development of new water supplies and repairs to our aging water infrastructure. House Joint Resolution 7 is a constitutional amendment that would approve devoting $1billion from state sales and use taxes to the Texas Water Fund for up to ten years. If Senate Bill 7 and House Joint Resolution 7 are approved the voters will be given the opportunity to approve the necessary changes to the constitution in November. Senate Bill 7 received unanimous approval in the Senate on April 2nd and has been sent to the House for consideration.
Below is a list of some of the key water-related bills that have made some progress. I wish to thank Perry Fowler, Jeremy Mazur and Vanessa Puig-Williams for their input on identifying the key water bills to watch at this point in the session.
| Bill | Sponsor | Companion | Status | Description | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HB JR7 | Harris | Enabling legislation is HB 16 | Passed by House Natural Resources and sent to House Calendars | Proposing a constitutional amendment to dedicate a portion of the revenue derived from state sales and use taxes to the Texas water fund. | Proposes a $1 billion per year sales tax revenue dedication to the Texas Water Fund. |
| HB 16 | Harris et al | Enabling legislation for HJR 7 | Left pending in House Natural Resources | Relating to the oversight and financing of certain water infrastructure matters under the jurisdiction of the Texas Water Development Board. | Expands the types of water infrastructure projects eligible to receive funding from the Texas Water Fund, establishes legislative oversight of TWDB's use of the Texas Water Fund, and creates performance metrics to track state achievement towards addressing long-term water infrastructure challenges. |
| HB 29 | Gerdes | SB 1190 by Perry, Identical | HB 2605 by Gerdes, Duplicate | Passed by House Natural Resources and sent to House Calendars | Relating to water losses reported by certain municipally owned utilities to the Texas Water Development Board; authorizing administrative penalties. | Requires that cities of 150,000 or more with water losses above the threshold set by TWDB rule validate their water loss audit and submit a water loss mitigation plan to TWDB within one year. Cities of 150,000 or more that exceed the threshold for three consecutive years shall complete a more detailed audit validation and update their water loss mitigation plans. Adopted water loss mitigation plans must be incorporated into water conservation plans. Annual water conservation reports shall report progress towards implementing the mitigation plan. Authorizes TCEQ to assess a $25,000 administrative penalty for violating water loss audit validation and mitigation plan requirements. |
| HB 500 | Bonnen | House Calendar Committee has adopted rules for amendments on the House floor | Relating to making supplemental appropriations and reductions in appropriations and giving direction and adjustment authority regarding appropriations. | ||
| HB 1400 | Harris | SB 718 by Kolkhorst, Identical | Passed to Engrossment in the House | Relating to creation of the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by the Texas Water Development Board. | Creates the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by TWDB. Provides that the fund consists of appropriations, TWDB transfers, interest, gifts, grants, donations, or other dedicated fees or revenues by the legislature. Requires that the fund provide grants for GCD programs and projects, including local research, data, modeling, and innovative programs and projects. These programs and projects should improve understanding of local groundwater conditions, develop or improve models for planning, improve groundwater use efficiency and increase conservation, increase groundwater recharge, or protect groundwater quality. Requires that TWDB ensure that 35% of fund funds are applied to programs or projects by GCDs with populations of 100,000 or less and with annual revenues of less than $250,000. Authorizes TWDB to require that GCDs provide matching funds or in-kind services equal to 25% of grant. |
| HB 1407 | Guillen | No | Passed by House Natural Resources | Relating to public utility agencies; providing authority to issue bonds; providing authority to impose assessments. | Expands and modifies the powers of a public utility authority to broaden its application for regional water and wastewater systems. |
| HB 1633 | Gerdes | SB 624 by Kolkhorst, Identical | Passed by House Natural Resources and sent to House Calendars | Relating to the criteria considered by groundwater conservation districts before granting or denying a permit or permit amendment. | Current law exempts certain wells from a requirement to obtain a permit from a groundwater conservation district, including wells for domestic use or certain small-scale agricultural operations. Due to an increase in the export of regional water, small-scale farmers and ranchers in Bastrop and Lee Counties have been forced to pay out of pocket to dig their wells to rapidly increasing depths. H.B. 1633 seeks to address this issue by requiring groundwater conservation districts to consider the effects that permitting decisions may have on wells that are registered with the district when making such a decision. |
| HB 2608 | Zwiener | Left pending in House Natural Resources | Relating to the consideration by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of alternative waste collection, treatment, and disposal options before issuing permits to discharge certain waste. | Prohibits TCEQ from issuing a wastewater discharge permit to an applicant unless the applicant demonstrates that it is uneconomical for another permit holder to process the wastewater or that the applicant will treat the waste to a higher water quality standard. | |
| HB 2815 | Gerdes | SB 1261 by Perry, Identical | Left pending in House Natural Resources | Relating to the financing of water supply projects included in the state water plan; authorizing the issuance of obligations. | The bill would amend the Government Code to allow political subdivisions to issue obligations for water supply projects included in the state water plan for which the cumulative costs are at least $750,000,000. Obligations could be secured through water supply contracts, project revenues, or other financial sources. Voter approval would be required if ad valorem taxes were pledged. |
| HB 5325 | Issac | SB 1855 by Perry, Identical | Referred to House Natural Resources | Relating to requirements that certain plats for the subdivision of land include evidence of groundwater supply. | Requires municipal authorities to disapprove plat applications where the applicant fails to prove that there is inadequate supplies of groundwater available for the subdivision. |
| SJR 66 | Perry et al | Enabling legislation is SB 7 | Referred to Senate Finance | Proposing a constitutional amendment dedicating a portion of the revenue derived from state sales and use taxes and insurance premium taxes to the Texas water fund. | Proposes $1 billion per year state revenue dedication towards state water infrastructure funds, with the requirement that 80% of revenues be allocated towards new water supply projects. |
| SB 7 | Perry et al | Enabling legislation for SJR 66 | Approved by Senate and referred to House Natural Resources | Relating to the oversight and financing of certain water infrastructure matters under the jurisdiction of the Texas Water Development Board. | Establishes legislative oversight of TWDB's use of dedicated revenues for water supply projects, and performance measures to track state achievement towards addressing long-term water infrastructure challenges. |
| SB 565 | Perry | HB 2568 by Harris Davila, Identical | Approved by Senate and referred to House Natural Resources | Relating to a compliance agreement for the suspension of an enforcement action against a regional water supply, sewer, wastewater treatment, or solid waste disposal service for certain violations. | Expands existing "safe harbor" protections to allow a retail public utility to absorb a distressed water or wastewater service run by a city, county, regional service area, or unincorporated service area provided that the retail public utility enters into a compliance agreement with TCEQ to cure the violations within the entity or area being absorbed into the regional service. |
| SB 624 | Kolkhorst | HB 1633 by Gerdes, Identical | Referred to Senate Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs | Relating to the criteria considered by groundwater conservation districts before granting or denying a permit or permit amendment. | Groundwater conservation districts must consider whether new groundwater permits or the renewal of existing permits unreasonably affect registered exempt wells. |
| SB 718 | Kolkhorst, Johnson | HB 1400 by Harris, Identical | Referred to Senate Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs | Relating to creation of the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by the Texas Water Development Board. | Creates the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by TWDB. Provides that the fund consists of appropriations, TWDB transfers, interest, gifts, grants, donations, or other dedicated fees or revenues by the legislature. Requires that the fund provide grants for GCD programs and projects, including local research, data, modeling, and innovative programs and projects. These programs and projects should improve understanding of local groundwater conditions, develop or improve models for planning, improve groundwater use efficiency and increase conservation, increase groundwater recharge, or protect groundwater quality. Requires that TWDB ensure that 35% of fund funds are applied to programs or projects by GCDs with populations of 100,000 or less and with annual revenues of less than $250,000. Authorizes TWDB to require that GCDs provide matching funds or in-kind services equal to 25% of grant. |
| SB 1145 | Birdwell, Sparks | HB 2584 by Landgraf, Identical | Passed by House and referred to Senate Energy Resources | Relating to the authority of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to issue permits for the land application of water produced from certain mining and oil and gas extraction operations. | Authorizes TCEQ to issue permits for the land application of produced water generated from hydrocarbon operations that has been treated for beneficial use. Requires that TCEQ adopt standards for land application that prevent water pollution. |
| SB 1967 | Perry | HB 3915 by Martinez, Identical | HB 4460 by Canales, Identical | Passed by Senate Water, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs and placed on intent calendar | Relating to the projects eligible for financial assistance from the flood infrastructure fund. | Authorizes TWDB to use the Flood Infrastructure Fund to finance flood containment projects that could also serve as water supplies. |