TITLE: Relating to the issuance by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of permits to authorize the diversion of state water from the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for desalination and use for industrial purposes.

SUMMARY: Relating to the issuance by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of permits to authorize the diversion of state water from the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for desalination and use for industrial purposes.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the issuance by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of permits to authorize the diversion of state water from the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for desalination and use for industrial purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 11.1405, Water Code, is amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (g-1) to read as follows: (g) The commission:(1) shall [may] include any provision in a permit issued under this section that the commission considers necessary to comply with the environmental flow standards established under Section 11.1471;(2) may limit a point of diversion to an area located outside of a sensitive habitat based on the environmental flow analyses and recommended environmental flow regimes developed by the applicable basin and bay expert science team under Section 11.02362; and (3) may deny a permit for a diversion of state water under this section if the point of diversion is in close proximity to a sensitive habitat such as an oyster reef or seagrass bed.(g-1) The commission by rule shall establish standards to minimize impingement and entrainment caused by a permitted diversion of state water from a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico. SECTION 2. Not later than December 1, 2026, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt or amend rules necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act. SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an application for a permit for the diversion of state water that is submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. An application for a permit that was submitted to the commission before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the application was submitted, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.