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89(R) SB 1061 - Enrolled version - Bill Text
S.B. No. 1061
AN ACT
relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production
area authorizations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 27.0513, Water Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(c-1)
The commission shall prioritize the conservation of
regional groundwater water supplies when reviewing an application
to amend a restoration table value.
(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and
27.018, an application for an authorization
or an amendment to an
authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and
restoration activities in production areas within the boundary
established in the permit
is an uncontested matter not subject to a
contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001,
Government Code, if:
(1) the authorization is for a production
area
[
zone
]
located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates
, for each
production area addressed in the application,
a range table of
groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater
restoration by the commission;
(2) the application includes
, for each production area
addressed in the application,
groundwater quality restoration
values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established
in Subdivision (1); [
and
]
(3) the authorization is for a production
area
[
zone
]
located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates
groundwater baseline characteristics of the wells for the
application required by commission rule
; and
(4)
not later than the 30th day after the date the
commission determines the application to be administratively
complete, the commission mails notice of receipt of the application
to:
(A) the owners of the surface of:
(i)
the tract of land on which the existing
or proposed production area is or will be located; and
(ii)
the tracts of land adjacent to the land
described by Subparagraph (i);
(B) the owners of mineral rights underlying:
(i)
the tract of land on which the existing
or proposed production area is or will be located; and
(ii)
the tracts of land adjacent to the land
described by Subparagraph (i); and
(C)
any groundwater conservation district
established in the county in which the existing or proposed
production area is or will be located
.
SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an
authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.
An application for an authorization or an amendment to an
authorization that was submitted to the commission before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
______________________________
______________________________
President of the Senate
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the Senate on
March 20, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2025, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 130,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor