|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by |
|
groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of |
|
Administrative Hearings. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 36.406, Water |
|
Code, are amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) A hearing must be conducted by: |
|
(1) a quorum of the board; [or] |
|
(2) an individual to whom the board has delegated in |
|
writing the responsibility to preside as a hearings examiner over |
|
the hearing or matters related to the hearing; or |
|
(3) the State Office of Administrative Hearings under |
|
Section 36.416. |
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or Section 36.416, |
|
the board president or the hearings examiner shall serve as the |
|
presiding officer at the hearing. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 36.416, Water Code, is amended to read as |
|
follows: |
|
Sec. 36.416. HEARINGS CONDUCTED BY STATE OFFICE OF |
|
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS; RULES. (a) If a district contracts with |
|
the State Office of Administrative Hearings to conduct a hearing, |
|
the hearing shall be conducted as provided by Subchapters C, D, and |
|
F, Chapter 2001, Government Code. The district may adopt rules for |
|
a hearing conducted under this section that are consistent with the |
|
procedural rules of the State Office of Administrative Hearings. |
|
(b) If requested by the applicant or other party to a |
|
contested case, a district shall contract with the State Office of |
|
Administrative Hearings to conduct the hearing. If the district |
|
does not prescribe a deadline by rule, the applicant or other party |
|
must request the hearing before the State Office of Administrative |
|
Hearings not later than the 14th day before the date the evidentiary |
|
hearing is scheduled to begin. The hearing must be held in Travis |
|
County or at a location described by Section 36.403(c). The |
|
district shall choose the location. |
|
(c) The party requesting the hearing before the State Office |
|
of Administrative Hearings shall pay all costs associated with the |
|
contract for the hearing and shall deposit with the district an |
|
amount sufficient to pay the contract amount before the hearing |
|
begins. At the conclusion of the hearing, the district shall refund |
|
any excess money to the paying party. All other costs may be |
|
assessed as authorized by this chapter or district rules. |
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter M, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended |
|
by adding Section 36.4165 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 36.4165. FINAL DECISION; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS. In |
|
a proceeding for a permit application or amendment in which a |
|
district has contracted with the State Office of Administrative |
|
Hearings for a contested case hearing, the board has the authority |
|
to make a final decision on consideration of a proposal for decision |
|
issued by an administrative law judge consistent with Section |
|
2001.058, Government Code. |
|
SECTION 4. The heading to Section 36.418, Water Code, is |
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 36.418. RULES; CONTESTED CASE HEARINGS; APPLICABILITY |
|
OF ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT. |
|
SECTION 5. Section 36.418, Water Code, is amended by |
|
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as |
|
follows: |
|
(b) Except as provided by this section and Sections |
|
[Section] 36.416 and 36.4165, Chapter 2001, Government Code, does |
|
not apply to a hearing under this subchapter. |
|
(c) The district shall adopt rules to: |
|
(1) establish a procedure for preliminary and |
|
evidentiary hearings; |
|
(2) allow the presiding officer, at a preliminary |
|
hearing by the district and before a referral of the case to the |
|
State Office of Administrative Hearings, to determine a party's |
|
right to participate in a hearing according to Section |
|
36.415(b)(2); and |
|
(3) set a deadline for a party to file a request to |
|
refer a contested case to the State Office of Administrative |
|
Hearings under Section 36.416. |
|
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
to a permit or permit amendment application determined to be |
|
administratively complete on or after the effective date of this |
|
Act. A permit or permit amendment application determined to be |
|
administratively complete before the effective date of this Act is |
|
governed by the law in effect at the time the application was |
|
determined to be administratively complete, and the former law is |
|
continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
SECTION 7. 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. 693 passed the Senate on |
|
April 7, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. |
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
|
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 693 passed the House on |
|
April 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, three |
|
present not voting. |
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
|
|
|
Approved: |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Governor |