H.B. No. 200

	AN ACT
	relating to the regulation of groundwater.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 36.0015, Water Code, is amended to read
	as follows:
	Sec. 36.0015.  PURPOSE. (a) In this section, "best
	available science" means conclusions that are logically and
	reasonably derived using statistical or quantitative data,
	techniques, analyses, and studies that are publicly available to
	reviewing scientists and can be employed to address a specific
	scientific question.
	(b)  In order to provide for the conservation, preservation,
	protection, recharging, and prevention of waste of groundwater, and
	of groundwater reservoirs or their subdivisions, and to control
	subsidence caused by withdrawal of water from those groundwater
	reservoirs or their subdivisions, consistent with the objectives of
	Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, groundwater
	conservation districts may be created as provided by this chapter.
	Groundwater conservation districts created as provided by this
	chapter are the state's preferred method of groundwater management
	in order to protect property rights, balance the conservation and
	development of groundwater to meet the needs of this state, and use
	the best available science in the conservation and development of
	groundwater through rules developed, adopted, and promulgated by a
	district in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
	SECTION 2.  Section 36.066, Water Code, is amended by
	amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
	follows:
	(g)  If the district prevails in any suit other than a suit in
	which it voluntarily intervenes, the district may seek and the
	court shall grant, in the interests of justice and as provided by
	Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for attorney's fees,
	costs for expert witnesses, and other costs incurred by the
	district before the court. The amount of the attorney's fees shall
	be fixed by the court.
	(h)  If the district prevails on some, but not all, of the
	issues in the suit, the court shall award attorney's fees and costs
	only for those issues on which the district prevails. The district
	has the burden of segregating the attorney's fees and costs in order
	for the court to make an award.
	SECTION 3.  Section 36.108(d-1), Water Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(d-1)  After considering and documenting the factors
	described by Subsection (d) and other relevant scientific and
	hydrogeological data, the [The] districts may establish different
	desired future conditions for:
	(1)  each aquifer, subdivision of an aquifer, or
	geologic strata located in whole or in part within the boundaries of
	the management area; or
	(2)  each geographic area overlying an aquifer in whole
	or in part or subdivision of an aquifer within the boundaries of the
	management area.
	SECTION 4.  Section 36.1083, Water Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (e) through
	(r) to read as follows:
	(a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Affected person" has the meaning assigned by
	Section 36.1082.
	(2)  "Development [, "development] board" means the
	Texas Water Development Board.
	(3)  "Office" means the State Office of Administrative
	Hearings.
	(b)  Not later than the 120th day after the date on which a
	district adopts a desired future condition under Section
	36.108(d-4), an affected [A] person [with a legally defined
	interest in the groundwater in the management area, a district in or
	adjacent to the management area, or a regional water planning group
	for a region in the management area] may file a petition with the
	district requiring that the district contract with the office to
	conduct a hearing [development board] appealing the reasonableness
	[approval] of the desired future condition [conditions of the
	groundwater resources established under this section].  The
	petition must provide evidence that the districts did not establish
	a reasonable desired future condition of the groundwater resources
	in the management area.
	(e)  Not later than the 10th day after receiving a petition
	described by Subsection (b), the district shall submit a copy of the
	petition to the development board. On receipt of the petition, the
	development board shall conduct:
	(1)  an administrative review to determine whether the
	desired future condition established by the district meets the
	criteria in Section 36.108(d); and
	(2)  a study containing scientific and technical
	analysis of the desired future condition, including consideration
	of:
	(A)  the hydrogeology of the aquifer;
	(B)  the explanatory report provided to the
	development board under Section 36.108(d-3);
	(C)  the factors described under Section
	36.108(d); and
	(D)  any relevant:
	(i)  groundwater availability models;
	(ii)  published studies;
	(iii)  estimates of total recoverable
	storage capacity;
	(iv)  average annual amounts of recharge,
	inflows, and discharge of groundwater; or
	(v)  information provided in the petition or
	available to the development board.
	(f)  The development board must complete and deliver to the
	office a study described by Subsection (e)(2) not later than the
	120th day after the date the development board receives a copy of
	the petition.
	(g)  For the purposes of a hearing conducted under Subsection
	(b):
	(1)  the office shall consider the study described by
	Subsection (e)(2) and the desired future conditions explanatory
	report submitted to the development board under Section 36.108(d-3)
	to be part of the administrative record; and
	(2)  the development board shall make available
	relevant staff as expert witnesses if requested by the office or a
	party to the hearing.
	(h)  Not later than the 60th day after receiving a petition
	under Subsection (b), the district shall:
	(1)  contract with the office to conduct the contested
	case hearing requested under Subsection (b); and
	(2)  submit to the office a copy of any petitions
	related to the hearing requested under Subsection (b) and received
	by the district.
	(i)  A hearing under Subsection (b) must be held:
	(1)  at a location described by Section 36.403(c); and
	(2)  in accordance with Chapter 2001, Government Code,
	and the rules of the office.
	(j)  During the period between the filing of the petition and
	the delivery of the study described by Subsection (e)(2), the
	district may seek the assistance of the Center for Public Policy
	Dispute Resolution, the development board, or another alternative
	dispute resolution system to mediate the issues raised in the
	petition. If the district and the petitioner cannot resolve the
	issues raised in the petition, the office will proceed with a
	hearing as described by this section.
	(k)  The district may adopt rules for notice and hearings
	conducted under this section that are consistent with the
	procedural rules of the office. In accordance with rules adopted by
	the district and the office, the district shall provide:
	(1)  general notice of the hearing; and
	(2)  individual notice of the hearing to:
	(A)  the petitioner;
	(B)  any person who has requested notice;
	(C)  each nonparty district and regional water
	planning group located in the same management area as a district
	named in the petition;
	(D)  the development board; and
	(E)  the commission.
	(l)  Before a hearing conducted under this section, the
	office shall hold a prehearing conference to determine preliminary
	matters, including:
	(1)  whether the petition should be dismissed for
	failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted;
	(2)  whether a person seeking to participate in the
	hearing is an affected person who is eligible to participate; and
	(3)  which affected persons shall be named as parties
	to the hearing.
	(m)  The petitioner shall pay the costs associated with the
	contract for the hearing under this section. The petitioner shall
	deposit with the district an amount sufficient to pay the contract
	amount before the hearing begins. After the hearing, the office may
	assess costs to one or more of the parties participating in the
	hearing and the district shall refund any excess money to the
	petitioner. The office shall consider the following in
	apportioning costs of the hearing:
	(1)  the party who requested the hearing;
	(2)  the party who prevailed in the hearing;
	(3)  the financial ability of the party to pay the
	costs;
	(4)  the extent to which the party participated in the
	hearing; and
	(5)  any other factor relevant to a just and reasonable
	assessment of costs.
	(n)  On receipt of the administrative law judge's findings of
	fact and conclusions of law in a proposal for decision, including a
	dismissal of a petition, the district shall issue a final order
	stating the district's decision on the contested matter and the
	district's findings of fact and conclusions of law. The district
	may change a finding of fact or conclusion of law made by the
	administrative law judge, or may vacate or modify an order issued by
	the administrative law judge, as provided by Section 2001.058(e),
	Government Code.
	(o)  If the district vacates or modifies the proposal for
	decision, the district shall issue a report describing in detail
	the district's reasons for disagreement with the administrative law
	judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law. The report shall
	provide the policy, scientific, and technical justifications for
	the district's decision.
	(p)  If the district in its final order finds that a desired
	future condition is unreasonable, not later than the 60th day after
	the date of the final order, the districts in the same management
	area as the district that received the petition shall reconvene in a
	joint planning meeting for the purpose of revising the desired
	future condition.  The districts in the management area shall
	follow the procedures in Section 36.108 to adopt new desired future
	conditions applicable to the district that received the petition.
	(q)  A final order by the district finding that a desired
	future condition is unreasonable does not invalidate the adoption
	of a desired future condition by a district that did not participate
	as a party in the hearing conducted under this section.
	(r)  The administrative law judge may consolidate hearings
	requested under this section that affect two or more districts. The
	administrative law judge shall prepare separate findings of fact
	and conclusions of law for each district included as a party in a
	multidistrict hearing.
	SECTION 5.  Subchapter D, Chapter 36, Water Code, is amended
	by adding Section 36.10835 to read as follows:
	Sec. 36.10835.  JUDICIAL APPEAL OF DESIRED FUTURE
	CONDITIONS. (a)  A final district order issued under Section
	36.1083 may be appealed to a district court with jurisdiction over
	any part of the territory of the district that issued the order.  An
	appeal under this subsection must be filed with the district court
	not later than the 45th day after the date the district issues the
	final order. The case shall be decided under the substantial
	evidence standard of review as provided by Section 2001.174,
	Government Code. If the court finds that a desired future condition
	is unreasonable, the court shall strike the desired future
	condition and order the districts in the same management area as the
	district that received the petition to reconvene not later than the
	60th day after the date of the court order in a joint planning
	meeting for the purpose of revising the desired future condition.
	The districts in the management area shall follow the procedures in
	Section 36.108 to adopt new desired future conditions applicable to
	the district that received the petition.
	(b)  A court's finding under this section does not apply to a
	desired future condition that is not a matter before the court.
	SECTION 6.  Sections 36.1083(c) and (d), Water Code, are
	repealed.
	SECTION 7.  Section 36.1083, Water Code, as amended by this
	Act, and Section 36.10835, Water Code, as added by this Act, apply
	only to a desired future condition adopted by a groundwater
	conservation district on or after the effective date of this Act. A
	desired future condition adopted before that date is governed by
	the law in effect on the date the desired future condition was
	adopted, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 200 was passed by the House on May 6,
	2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 141, Nays 5, 2 present, not
	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
	H.B. No. 200 on May 21, 2015, and requested the appointment of a
	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
	on H.B. No. 200 on May 28, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 141,
	Nays 1, 2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 200 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 18, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
	1; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
	200 on May 31, 2015, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor