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89(R) SB 2568 - House Committee Report version - Bill Text
By: Zaffirini
S.B. No. 2568
(Gerdes)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an exemption from the requirement to obtain a permit
from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for certain dams
or reservoirs operated and maintained for the purposes of erosion,
floodwater, and sediment control.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.121, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.121. PERMIT REQUIRED. Except as provided in
Sections 11.1405, 11.142, 11.1421, 11.1422,
11.1423,
and 18.003, no
person may appropriate any state water or begin construction of any
work designed for the storage, taking, or diversion of water
without first obtaining a permit from the commission to make the
appropriation.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 11.1423 to read as follows:
Sec.
11.1423.
PERMIT EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN DAMS OR
RESERVOIRS FOR EROSION, FLOODWATER, AND SEDIMENT CONTROL. (a) In
this section, "qualified local sponsor" means a district or
authority created under Section 52(b)(1) or (2), Article III, or
Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, that has entered into
an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service pursuant to the Watershed
Protection and Flood Prevention Act (16 U.S.C. Section 1001) to
serve as a local sponsor to operate and maintain a dam or reservoir
for purposes of erosion, floodwater, and sediment control.
(b)
Without obtaining a permit, a qualified local sponsor
may:
(1)
construct or maintain on property owned or
controlled by the qualified local sponsor a dam or reservoir with
normal storage of not more than 200 acre-feet of water for the
purposes of erosion, floodwater, and sediment control; and
(2)
divert water from the dam or reservoir as needed in
order to repair, maintain, or rehabilitate the impoundment and
associated works of improvement so as to maintain the operational
integrity and purpose of the dam or reservoir.
(c)
The termination of an agreement between a qualified
local sponsor and the United States Department of Agriculture's
Natural Resources Conservation Service does not affect the
exemption described by Subsection (b), provided that the dam or
reservoir continues to be owned or controlled by the qualified
local sponsor for the purposes of erosion, floodwater, and sediment
control.
SECTION 3. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
shall adopt rules to implement Section 11.1423, Water Code, as
added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2026.
SECTION 4. 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, 2025.