TITLE: Relating to the authority of a state agency to contest the issuance of a permit or license by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

SUMMARY: Relating to the authority of a state agency to contest the issuance of a permit or license by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the authority of a state agency to contest the issuance of a permit or license by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 5.115(b), Water Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) At the time an application for a permit or license under this code is filed with the executive director and is administratively complete, the commission shall give notice of the application to any person who may be affected by the granting of the permit or license. [A state agency that receives notice under this subsection may submit comments to the commission in response to the notice but may not contest the issuance of a permit or license by the commission. For the purposes of this subsection, "state agency" does not include a river authority.] SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an application for the issuance, amendment, extension, or renewal of a permit or license that is received by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. An application that is received before that date is governed by the law in effect at the time the application is received, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.