S.B. No. 313
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to priority groundwater management areas.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 35.007, Water Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The executive director and the executive administrator
  shall meet periodically to identify, based on information gathered
  by the commission and the Texas Water Development Board, those
  areas of the state that are experiencing or that are expected to
  experience, within the immediately following 50-year [25-year]
  period, critical groundwater problems, including shortages of
  surface water or groundwater, land subsidence resulting from
  groundwater withdrawal, and contamination of groundwater supplies.
  Not later than September 1, 2005, the commission, with assistance
  and cooperation from the Texas Water Development Board, shall
  complete the initial designation of priority groundwater
  management areas across all major and minor aquifers of the state
  for all areas that meet the criteria for that designation. The
  studies may be prioritized considering information from the
  regional planning process, information from the Texas Water
  Development Board groundwater management areas and from
  groundwater conservation districts, and any other information
  available. After the initial designation of priority groundwater
  management areas, the commission and the Texas Water Development
  Board shall annually review the need for additional designations as
  provided by this subsection.
         SECTION 2.  Section 35.008, Water Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (j) to read as follows:
         (j)  The commission may adopt rules regarding:
               (1)  the creation of a district over all or part of a
  priority groundwater management area that was designated as a
  critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code, as that chapter existed
  before September 1, 1997, or under other prior law; and
               (2)  the addition of all or part of the land in a
  priority groundwater management area described by Subdivision (1)
  to an existing district.
         SECTION 3.  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 4.  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 for any purpose authorized by Section
  36.206 or 36.207. Initial production fees may not exceed
  production fees as set in Section 36.205(c), but may be increased by
  the board on a majority vote after the first anniversary of the
  commission order.  Production fees may be raised incrementally by
  40 percent and 10 percent every following year until the maximum
  production fees equal:
               (1)  $2 per acre-foot, payable annually, for water used
  for an agricultural purpose; or
               (2)  30 cents per 1,000 gallons, payable annually, for
  water used for any non-agricultural 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 5.  Section 36.0151, Water Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (c), (d), and (e) 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.
         SECTION 6.  Subsection (h), Section 36.0171, 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
  production [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 7.  (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 Subsection (i),
  Section 35.013, Water Code.
         SECTION 8.  All governmental acts and proceedings, including
  the adoption of rules, of the Texas Commission on Environmental
  Quality relating to the creation of a groundwater conservation
  district over all or part of a priority groundwater management area
  that was designated as a critical area under Chapter 35, Water Code,
  as that chapter existed before September 1, 1997, or under other
  prior law, are validated in all respects as of the dates on which
  they occurred.
         SECTION 9.  Subsection (a), Section 35.007, Water Code, as
  amended by this Act, applies only to a designation of a priority
  groundwater management area made by the Texas Commission on
  Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
  designation made before the effective date of this Act is governed
  by the law in effect when the designation was made, and that law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 10.  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.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 313 passed the Senate on
  March 22, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0;
  May 5, 2011, Senate refused to concur in House amendments and
  requested appointment of Conference Committee; May 17, 2011, House
  granted request of the Senate; May 28, 2011, Senate adopted
  Conference Committee Report by the following vote:  Yeas 31,
  Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 313 passed the House, with
  amendments, on April 20, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 145,
  Nays 0, one present not voting; May 17, 2011, House granted request
  of the Senate for appointment of Conference Committee;
  May 26, 2011, House adopted Conference Committee Report by the
  following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 0, two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
             Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor