Bill Text: TX HB1825 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to permit application and amendment hearings conducted by groundwater conservation districts and the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-28 - Laid on the table subject to call [HB1825 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB1825-Comm_Sub.html
82R15804 SLB-F | |||
By: Price | H.B. No. 1825 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1825: | |||
By: Larson | C.S.H.B. No. 1825 |
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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. Sections 36.406(a) and (b), Water Code, are | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) A hearing must be conducted by: | ||
(1) a quorum of the board; [ |
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(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 | ||
[ |
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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. |