H.B. No. 1673
AN ACT
relating to the procedure for conversion and creation of a special
utility district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 65.020(a), Water Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) If the commission determines that a hearing is necessary
under Section 49.011, the commission shall conduct a hearing and
accept evidence on the sufficiency of the resolution and whether or
not the request for conversion for each purpose specified in the
resolution, as required by Section 65.015, is feasible and
practicable and is necessary and would be a benefit to all or any
part of the land proposed to be included in the district. The
commission may only consider a purpose for which the district is
being created that is specified in the resolution.
SECTION 2. Sections 65.021(a), (b), and (d), Water Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) If the commission finds that the resolution conforms to
the requirements of Section 65.015, [and that] the request for
conversion is feasible and practicable, and each purpose for which
the district is created is necessary and would be a benefit to the
land proposed to be included in the district, the commission shall
make these findings in an order and shall authorize the creation of
the district for the purpose or purposes specified in the
resolution, as required by Section 65.015, on approval at the
confirmation and directors' election called and held under this
subchapter.
(b) In determining if the request for conversion is feasible
and practicable and if each purpose for which the district is
created [it] is necessary and would be a benefit to the land
included in the district, the commission shall consider:
(1) the availability of comparable service from other
systems, including water districts, municipalities, and regional
authorities;
(2) the reasonableness of projected construction
costs, if any, tax rates, and water and sewer rates; and
(3) whether or not the district and its system and
subsequent development within the district will have an
unreasonable effect on the following:
(A) land elevation;
(B) subsidence;
(C) groundwater level within the region;
(D) recharge capability of a groundwater source;
(E) natural runoff rates and drainage; and
(F) water quality.
(d) If the commission finds that the resolution does not
conform to the requirements of Section 65.015 of this code, [or
that] the request for conversion is not feasible or[,] practicable,
or a purpose for which the district is created is not necessary[,]
or a benefit to the land in the district, the commission shall make
this finding in its order and shall deny the creation of the
district.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a resolution filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A resolution
filed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law in
effect on the date the resolution was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1673 was passed by the House on April
22, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1673 was passed by the Senate on May
25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor