Opinion ID: 1376983
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Governmental Review

Text: This first factor weighs heavily against the delegation. This is significant because, as we have said, this factor is relatively important in analyzing delegations to private interested parties. Section 26.179 vests the TNRCC with only limited review over the landowners' water quality protection plans and their effectiveness in protecting water quality. Further, neither the TNRCC nor any other governmental agency has the power to review the landowners' decisions about which municipal regulations will be enforceable on their property. First, we agree with the Landowners and the dissent that under section 26.179, landowners remain subject to pre-existing state water quality regulations, future state water quality regulations necessary to comply with federal standards, and the TNRCC's powers to enforce those regulations. Zones implementing water quality plans that meet section 26.179's requirements are presumed to satisfy all other state and local requirements for water quality protection. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(k). Nevertheless, section 26.179 requires that development in the zones comply with all state laws and TNRCC rules regulating water quality which are in effect on the zone designation date. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(k)(1). These may include existing permitting, licensing, and spill response programs designed to prevent pollution from storage, transportation, and disposal of waste, hazardous substances, and wastewater. See 21 Tex. Reg. 11601 (1996). Specifically, TNRCC regulations related to the Edwards Aquifer, on-site wastewater treatment, water well drilling, sewerage systems, underground and aboveground storage tanks, effluent limitations, and watershed protection may apply to the zones. See 21 Tex. Reg. 11601-02 (1996). Further, subsection 26.179(m) provides that the TNRCC may require and enforce additional water quality protection measures to comply with mandatory federal water quality requirements. See Tex. Water Code § 26.179(m). But section 26.179 curbs the TNRCC's review and enforcement powers over section 26.179's requirements and the landowners' discretion in meeting them in several important ways. Section 26.179 requires the TNRCC to review water quality plans and their effectiveness in achieving section 26.179's objectives of maintaining background levels of water quality or retaining 1.5 inches of rainfall. Landowners owning 500 to 1,000 acres must secure pre-approval of their zone designations from the TNRCC before their zone designations are recorded in the county deed records and become effective. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(d). Zone designations include a water quality plan for the zone, a description of proposed water quality facilities and infrastructure, and a general description of proposed land uses for the zone. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(e). Although the statute is not explicit about the scope of the TNRCC's review, the TNRCC has reasonably interpreted the pre-approval provision to require that the TNRCC approve water quality plans and amendments before they become effective in zones of 500 to 1,000 acres. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(d), (e), (g); see also 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 216.3(a). Therefore, the TNRCC cannot disapprove a zone designation for any other reason other than the failure of the zone's water quality plan to meet section 26.179's requirements. Landowners with 1,000 acres or more need not seek TNRCC approval until after their water quality plans or amendments are already in effect. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g). Section 26.179(g) provides that, for these larger zones, water quality plans need not be submitted to the TNRCC until after they are recorded in county deed records. See Tex. Water Code § 26.179(g). Subsection (g) further provides that water quality plans and amendments to plans are effective immediately upon recordation and apply during TNRCC review and even during an appeal of a TNRCC denial of the plan or amendment. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g). Thus, landowners owning 1,000 acres or more can begin to develop land and implement water quality plans even before the TNRCC begins its review. See 21 Tex. Reg. 11607 (1996) ([C]onstruction is allowed by provisions of the statute ... upon proper designation of the zone and submittal of the water quality plan for the zone to the executive director for review.). This is contrary to the rule in similar regulatory schemes. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.027(c) (A person may not commence construction of a [water] treatment facility until the commission has issued a permit.); TEX. WATER CODE § 11.121 (Except as provided in ... this code, no person may ... begin construction of any work designed for the storage, taking, or diversion of water without first obtaining a permit from the commission.); 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 213.2 ([T]he owner of an existing or proposed site, such as a residential or commercial development, ... who proposes new or additional regulated activities under this chapter, must file for and receive [TNRCC] executive director approval of all appropriate applications prior to commencement of construction of new or additional regulated activities); 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 213.4(a)(1) (No person may commence the construction of any regulated activity until an Edwards Aquifer protection plan or modifications to the plan ... has been reviewed and approved by the [TNRCC] executive director.). The TNRCC must approve a plan or amendment to a plan unless the TNRCC finds that implementing it will not reasonably maintain background levels of water quality or capture and retain the first 1.5 inches of rainfall. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g). The statute is silent about the effect of a TNRCC denial of a plan or amendment. The TNRCC, however, has reasonably interpreted the statute to provide that a denied water quality plan is no longer effective unless the landowner appeals the denial. See 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE §§ 216.3(e)(6), 216.4(1). The statute allows a landowner to appeal the TNRCC's denial of a plan or amendment to the courts, and, contrary to the general rule for judicial review of agency decisions, the denied plan or amendment is effective and applies to the zone during the appellate process. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g); cf. § 26.177(d) (the TNRCC's ruling on city water pollution abatement regulation remains in effect for all purposes during appeal of the ruling). Although the statute does not expressly limit this particular provision's application to landowners with 1,000 acres or more, we interpret this provision to apply only to these larger landowners and not to landowners with 500 to 1,000 acres. This is because the latter group's plans and amendments are not effective until the TNRCC approves them and therefore cannot apply to development in the zone during the appeal of a TNRCC denial. Also atypical of review procedures, for both small and large zones, the TNRCC has the burden of proof on appeal. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g); cf. City of San Antonio v. Texas Water Comm'n, 407 S.W.2d 752, 758 (Tex.1966) (the party appealing the TNRCC's order has the burden to show that the evidence does not reasonably support the order). Once the TNRCC approves a plan, the statute requires landowners purporting to maintain background levels of water quality to monitor water quality. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). But monitoring is not required until after each phase of development is completed, and then, monitoring is only required for three years. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). Further, there is no requirement that development occur in phases. Therefore, monitoring might not be required until a zone is completely developed, which could take years. During the three-year monitoring period, the landowner must summarize the monitoring results, describe the best management practices being used in the zone, and annually submit them to the TNRCC in a technical report for review. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). If the reports reveal that background levels were not maintained during the previous year, the landowner must modify the water quality plan but only for future development phases in the zone and only to the extent reasonably feasible and practical. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b)(1). The statute requires modification of operational and maintenance practices in existing phases, but again, only to the extent reasonably feasible and practical. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b)(2). The TNRCC reviews the landowners' modifications and determines whether they modify plans and practices to the extent required under the statute, that is, to the extent reasonably feasible and practical. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g) (providing that the TNRCC reviews all amendments to water quality plans). But as is true for TNRCC review of initial water quality plans, for landowners owning 1,000 acres or more, modifications and amendments to plans are effective immediately upon recordation and remain effective during TNRCC review and an appeal of a TNRCC denial. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g). Further, for zones of all sizes, the TNRCC has the burden of proof on appeal of a denial of a modification. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(g). Therefore, regardless of the modifications actually necessary to achieve section 26.179's objectives, any modification is required only to the extent it is reasonably feasible and practical. Further, plan modifications are only required for future phases of development in the zone. It follows that if the landowner does not develop in phases, the landowner need not modify even a grossly insufficient water quality plan, because there are no future phases for which the statute requires plan modification. See 21 Tex. Reg. 11611 (1996). Further, because monitoring is required only after development is complete, or after a phase of development, if any, is complete, extensive modifications of existing operational and maintenance practices, even if needed to achieve section 26.179's water quality objectives, may not be reasonably feasible and practical, and consequently not required. And, as development continues in zones of 1,000 acres or more during TNRCC review of modifications, necessary modifications likely become less feasible and practical. The TNRCC has even less enforcement power in zones purporting to retain the first 1.5 inches of rainfall from developed areas. The statute states that, for these zones, [w]ater quality monitoring shall not be required. TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). Moreover, all of the statute's language about monitoring and submitting annual reports falls under the first paragraph in subsection 26.179(b), which expressly refers to zones maintaining background water quality levels. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). Nevertheless, the TNRCC has promulgated rules requiring zones retaining rainfall to maintain certain records and submit them, along with an assessment of the water quality plan's success in meeting the TNRCC's water quality requirements. See 30 TEX. ADMIN. CODE § 216.8(a)(2), (a)(3), (b). To the extent the TNRCC's rules require monitoring of water quality in these zones, they are contrary to the statute's plain language prohibiting the TNRCC from requiring such monitoring. Indeed, the Landowners' comments to proposed TNRCC rules note that the TNRCC's reporting requirements for zones retaining rainfall were excessive and unnecessary. 21 Tex. Reg. 11613 (1996). Although we defer to administrative interpretations of legislation, we do so only when they are reasonable interpretations. See TEX. GOV'T CODE § 311.023(6); Public Util. Comm'n, 883 S.W.2d at 196. Contrary to the TNRCC's interpretation, the statute's plain language prohibits the TNRCC from monitoring or requiring monitoring of water quality in these zones. See TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(b). Not surprisingly, all but one of the zones filed with the TNRCC elected to retain the first 1.5 inches of rainfall from developed areas instead of maintaining background levels of water quality. See 21 Tex. Reg. 11605 (1996). Finally, the TNRCC has very limited power over the decision to designate a zone. The TNRCC does have pre-approval power over zone designations of 500 to 1,000 acres. But the statute does not allow the TNRCC to de-designate any zone for noncompliance with section 26.179 or other applicable regulations. Similarly, in Boll Weevil, although the Commissioner of Agriculture could dissolve the foundation once the Commissioner determined the foundation had fulfilled its eradication purpose or had become inoperative or abandoned, the Commissioner had no power to dissolve the foundation for noncompliance with applicable statutory requirements. See Boll Weevil, 952 S.W.2d at 473. This fact weighed heavily against the delegation. See Boll Weevil, 952 S.W.2d at 473. Here, the TNRCC has no authority whatsoever to dissolve or de-designate a zone for noncompliance with section 26.179 or other water quality protection laws and regulations. This fact similarly weighs against the delegation here. We conclude that, while the landowners' powers under section 26.179 are subject to some TNRCC review, the review is not meaningful as the first factor requires. Instead, the statute allows a landowner with 1,000 acres or more to develop before TNRCC approval and during the appeal of a TNRCC denial. Further, it allows landowners of zones of all sizes to lock into an insufficient water quality protection plan by developing under the plan before any monitoring for the plan's effectiveness in protecting water quality is required. And, as development continues in larger zones during TNRCC review and the appellate process, necessary modifications become less and less feasible and practical, and are therefore less likely to be required. While the landowners' water quality plans are subject to some TNRCC review, the landowners' authority to decide which municipal regulations can be enforced on their property is not subject to any TNRCC review. By designating a zone, a landowner exempts himself from the enforcement of municipal ordinances relating to land use, nuisance abatement, pollution control, water quality, subdivision requirements, and any other municipal environmental regulation that is inconsistent with the land use plan and the water quality plan or which in any way limit, modify, or impair the ability to implement and operate the water quality plan and the land use plan within the zone as filed. TEX. WATER CODE § 26.179(i). While section 26.179 does provide some TNRCC oversight of water quality protection plans, it does not give the TNRCC or any other governmental agency the authority to review the landowners' power to exempt themselves from the enforcement of their choice of city regulations and powers. Of course, courts could eventually decide disputes about whether certain municipal ordinances are inconsistent with water quality and land use plans. But, as discussed earlier, the landowner makes the initial decision about which municipal regulations can be enforced on its property without any governmental oversight. Because the landowners' powers under section 26.179 are not subject to meaningful governmental review, the first factor weighs heavily against the delegation.