Bill Text: TX HB4122 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to the transference of certain territory from one groundwater conservation district to another.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-05-16 - Committee report printed and distributed [HB4122 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB4122-Comm_Sub.html
By: Kacal, Guerra (Senate Sponsor - Hinojosa) | H.B. No. 4122 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 9, 2017; | ||
May 9, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on | ||
Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; May 16, 2017, reported | ||
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 1; May 16, 2017, sent | ||
to printer.) |
|
||
|
||
relating to the transference of certain territory from one | ||
groundwater conservation district to another. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended by adding | ||
Subchapter J-1 to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER J-1. TRANSFER OF CERTAIN TERRITORY | ||
Sec. 36.341. PETITION TO TRANSFER. The owner of a | ||
contiguous parcel of land that is greater than 1,000 acres in area | ||
and is included in the territory of two or more groundwater | ||
conservation districts by a petition presented to the districts may | ||
request that the districts transfer portions of their territories | ||
as necessary for the entire parcel to be included in the territory | ||
of a single district only if: | ||
(1) the districts in which the parcel of land is | ||
located have regulatory authority over the same aquifer or | ||
subdivision of an aquifer that underlies the parcel of land; | ||
(2) the district to which the owner of the land | ||
petitions the parcel of land to be transferred contains the portion | ||
of the parcel of land with the greatest amount of taxable value of | ||
property compared to each other portion of the parcel of land that | ||
is located in another district; | ||
(3) none of the land included in the parcel has been | ||
transferred under this subchapter by a previous petition; and | ||
(4) all of the districts in which the parcel is located | ||
agree to the transfer. | ||
Sec. 36.342. REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITION. (a) A petition | ||
submitted under this subchapter must accurately describe the | ||
boundaries of the parcel. The petitioner must provide a copy of the | ||
petition to each district in which the land described by Section | ||
36.341 is located. | ||
(b) The petition must state the taxable value of the portion | ||
of the parcel of land in each district. | ||
Sec. 36.343. HEARING. (a) Each district, on receiving a | ||
petition under this subchapter, shall hold a hearing on the matter | ||
of the transfer requested in the petition. | ||
(b) The board of each district by order shall set a time and | ||
place to hold a hearing on the petition to include or exclude the | ||
parcel in the district. The hearing may be held not earlier than | ||
the 31st day after the date on which the board issues the order. | ||
(c) The secretary of the board shall give notice of the | ||
hearing. The notice must contain the time and place for the hearing | ||
and a description of the parcel proposed to be annexed into or | ||
excluded from the district. | ||
(d) The secretary shall: | ||
(1) post copies of the notice in three public places in | ||
the district and one public place in the parcel proposed to be | ||
annexed into or excluded from the district for at least 15 days | ||
before the date of the hearing; and | ||
(2) not later than the 16th day before the date on | ||
which the hearing will be held, publish the notice once in a | ||
newspaper of general circulation in the county. | ||
(e) If after the hearing the board finds that annexation of | ||
the parcel into the district or exclusion of the parcel from the | ||
district would be feasible and would benefit the district, the | ||
board may approve the annexation or exclusion by a resolution | ||
entered in its minutes. The board is not required to include or | ||
exclude all of the parcel described in the petition if the board | ||
finds that a change is necessary or desirable. | ||
(f) If the board of each district approves the transfer on | ||
the same terms, the districts may enter into an agreement to | ||
effectuate the transfer of territory as the boards agree and within | ||
a reasonable period of time. If a district from which territory is | ||
to be excluded under this section has outstanding debt or | ||
obligations, that district and the district to which the territory | ||
is to be added shall include in the agreement terms that ensure that | ||
the debts of the originating district are not impaired by the | ||
transfer of the territory. | ||
Sec. 36.344. NOTIFICATION OF COMMISSION. Each district | ||
that adds or removes territory under this subchapter shall notify | ||
the commission of the change in territory. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect January 1, 2018. | ||
* * * * * |