HBA-EDN H.B. 3145 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3145
By: Hartnett
Natural Resources
3/26/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a groundwater right holder has a statutory right to
reuse that water after it has been discharged.  The Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission is allowed to issue bed and banks permits for the
downstream reuse of discharges based on surface water.  However, surface
water that is used and then discharged back into the stream is once again
designated as state water and is available for appropriation or use by
others unless there is a specific provision in the permit that provides
otherwise. Common law applies this same principle to developed water, which
can be either groundwater or surface water brought in from outside a basin.
House Bill 3145 preserves the right of entities with developed water rights
whose water is treated by the Trinity River Authority to reuse water after
it has been discharged.   

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

House Bill 3145 amends the Local Government Code to except sewage derived
from water that originates from outside of the Trinity River Basin from the
provision that the Trinity River Authority becomes the owner of sewage
accepted by it for transportation and treatment and is solely responsible
for the proper treatment and disposal of the sewage and the effluent.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.