By: Canales (Senate Sponsor - Johnson) H.B. No. 4373
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 2023;
  May 15, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
  Commerce; May 19, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  
  Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 19, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
 
  COMMITTEE VOTE
 
 
         YeaNayAbsentPNV
         SchwertnerX
         KingX
         BirdwellX
         CampbellX
         CreightonX
         JohnsonX
         KolkhorstX
         MenéndezX
         MiddletonX
         NicholsX
         ZaffiriniX
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the procedure by which a regional water planning group
  is required to make the regional water plan prepared by the group
  available for public inspection.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 16.053(h), Water Code, is amended by
  amending Subdivision (3) and adding Subdivision (13) to read as
  follows:
               (3)  After the regional water plan is initially
  prepared, the regional water planning group shall, after notice,
  hold at least one public hearing at some central location readily
  accessible to the public within the regional water planning
  area.  The group shall make [copies of] the plan available for
  public inspection at least one month before the hearing by posting
  the plan on the group's publicly accessible Internet website and
  may make the plan available for review at other locations
  [providing a copy of the plan in the county courthouse and at least
  one public library of each county having land in the
  region].  Notice for the hearing must [shall] include the address
  of the Internet website on which the plan will be posted [a listing
  of these] and any other location where the plan is available for
  review.
               (13)  Each regional water planning group shall maintain
  a publicly accessible Internet website. Each regional water
  planning group shall consider and accommodate residents of the
  regional water planning area who may need assistance accessing the
  regional water plan prepared by the regional water planning group
  because of a lack of access to Internet services.
         SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a regional water plan required to be made available for public
  inspection on or after the effective date of this Act.  A regional
  water plan required to be made available for public inspection
  before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
  effect at the time the plan is required to be made available, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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