HBA-SEP C.S.H.B. 3037 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3037
By: Walker
Natural Resources
4/4/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law provides only minimum guidelines regarding the ability of
groundwater conservation districts (district) to regulate the spacing and
production of wells.  As a result, districts must do their best to
interpret what latitude they have in regard to regulating wells and
enforcing those regulations.  C.S.H.B. 3037 provides more explicit
guidelines.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3037 amends the Water Code to authorize a groundwater conservation
district (district), by rule, to regulate: 

_regulate the spacing of water wells by requiring a well, with
consideration of production capacity, pump size, or other characteristics
related to the construction or operation of the well, to be spaced a
certain distance from property lines or adjacent wells or adopting other
spacing requirements; and 

_regulate the production of groundwater by limiting total annual
production, the amount of water produced based on acreage or tract size,
the amount of water which can be produced from a maximum number of acres
assigned by the district to an authorized well site, the maximum amount of
water which can be produced from a number of acres assigned by a district
on an acre-foot-per-acre or gallons-per-minute basis for an authorized well
site, or other production limits. 

Any spacing or production requirements adopted by a district do not apply
to a dewatering or monitoring well drilled for mining purposes under a
permit issued by the Railroad Commission of Texas.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001. 

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 3037 modifies the original to provide that any spacing or
production requirements adopted by a district do not apply to a dewatering
or monitoring well drilled for mining purposes under a permit issued by the
Railroad Commission of Texas.