By: Julie Nahrgang
Summer will soon give way to the other late summer early fall benchmarks, this time of year in Texas means that hurricane season will be unleashing it’s final torrents, summertime droughts may see a bit of a reprieve, Texas Water abstract intake is closing soon, and WEFTEC is right around the corner. And every other year during even years, summer sliding into fall means that the interim session is winding down and pre-filing for the upcoming Texas Legislative Session will soon begin.
As you read this, the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee will have already held their scheduled hearing on September 3 at the Capitol. Topics to be discussed include water system reliability as well as the implementation of key legislation in the 88th Legislative Session. Water bills to monitor in the interim and added to the agenda include:
• Senate Bill 28, relating to financial assistance provided and programs administered by the Texas Water Development Board;
• Senate Bill 1289, relating to the disposal of reclaimed wastewater;
SB 28 was the headliner water story of the 88th and Senator Perry’s key water legislation that has been deemed both as a generational investment in Texas water and just a drop in the bucket of what is needed for water infrastructure rehab and repair funding. As a recap, SB 28 created the Texas Water Fund, which is the newly created umbrella fund that received a one-time infusion of $1Billion from the Texas’ Economic Stabilization Fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund. The TWDB then distributes money into eight other funds under the TWF. Those eight funds are:
•New Water Supply Fund (new fund created by SB 28)
•SWIFT
•State Revolving Funds
•Rural Water Assistance Fund
•DFund
•State Participation Fund
•Water Awareness Fund
(new fund created by SB 28)
•Water Assistance Fund
There were several requirements and priorities outlined in the bill. These include that no less than 25% of the $1 billion go into the New Water Supply Fund. Water infrastructure for rural communities and municipalities with a population under 150,000 is prioritized. And this does indeed mean water infrastructure only as wastewater was explicitly excluded from the bill. Projects with completed permitting, water conservation strategies, water loss mitigation, and water awareness campaigns are all also explicit prioritizations in the bill.
There is a strong focus on “New Water,” which the bill goes on to define as marine and brackish groundwater desalination, aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), use of produced water outside of the oil/gas industry, and transportation of new water through the above methods. These projects, and the addition of 10+ million acre feet of new water, are part of what defines Senator Perry’s bold outlook on Texas’ water supply future and bringing our state water availability to meet and exceed our future projected needs. These new water projects, and the one-time infusion and/or continued funding of new water projects, will likely continue to play a strong role in proposed water legislation in the upcoming session. Senator Charles Perry has noted that the 89th will also be a water session in Texas, which is great news as Senator Perry plays a leading role and authority on water issues in the legislature. He mused in KIITV interview in Corpus Christi in late August that “… We started the conversation last session and it needs to be about funding water similar to what we do with roads and bridges.”
Invited testimony for SB 28 will be provided by a number of representatives from water organizations in Texas. We expect to hear from TWCA, TXWIN, TRWA, TWSP, TWDB, and the Sierra Club. We know that one key piece of data and information to be presented will include outcomes and inferences from the Texas Water Capital Needs Survey conducted by TXWIN with support from Collaborative Water Resolution LLC. When those results are made available, we will send them to WEAT members as many members participated in the survey. My thinking is that the survey may illustrate or less directly point to the need for more funding on the clean water side. Funding for wastewater projects was largely left out of SB 28 and the funds receiving funding under the TWF umbrella. Nor is there a state clean water plan similar to the state water plan or state flood plan. The DFund provides for some wastewater funding as does the Clean Water SRF. But by and large, SB 28, with its focus on water supply, largely neglects to address the here and now needs for wastewater infrastructure and rehab and repair funding. As an organization, we’re committed to advocate for clean water funding in the upcoming session.
SB 1289, the onsite reuse bill, will make an agenda appearance. Several experts from National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Defense Fund as well as Shay Roalson from Austin Water and representatives from the TCEQ will speak to water reuse practices, opportunities for expansion, and the TCEQ rulewriting and timeline for adoption of the legislative mandates contained within.
The Senate Finance committee is set to meet on September 5 and discuss the implementation of SB 28 as well as budget needs, or legislative appropriations requests (LAR) made by the TCEQ and TWDB. WEAT will be fully supportive of the TCEQ and TWDB LARs. It’s critical that they have the staff with the salaries necessary to provide their critical functions for Texas’ water resources. We look forward to receiving and distributing the key water agency LARs to our members.
Important dates to remember for the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature include:
•November 5 – Election Day
•November 11 – 1st day of pre-filing
•November 12 – WEAT/TACWA Water Environment Horizon Conference (NOT a key date in the session but a key date for WEAT/TACWA and water industry professionals!)
•January 14 – 1st day of 89th Legislative Session
•March 14 – Bill Filing Deadline
•June 2 – Sine Die – Final Day
•June 22 – Veto Deadline
The Water Environment Horizon Conference will take place on November 12 at the Long Center for Performing Arts in Austin, Texas. It is meant to provide water industry professionals a timely outlook on water policy issues and a sneak peak at the upcoming 89th Texas Legislative Session. Keynote and headlining speakers include; Representative Erin Zwiener, TWDB Chair, Brooke Paup, TCEQ Commissioner Catarina Gonzalez, Corpus Christi Water Director Drew Molly, and Austin Water Director Shay Roalson. Additional Senators and Representatives will be included to the agenda as schedules firm up. We look forward to what is always a timely and fascinating take on the state of our state’s water policy. Sign up on the WEAT website at https://www.weat.org/events/horizon-conference.
One key issue and the topic de jour for some time now is PFAS. EPA is closing in on their anticipated late fall publication of the biosolids risk assessment, which will cover PFAS in biosolids. This risk assessment will not be rule or guidance, but influent and effluent monitoring, guidance, and ultimately rules around PFAS are on their way. The risk assessment is the first conducted by EPA since 1993. We recently held a meeting with TCEQ staff and know that the agency is closely monitoring the EPA with regard to PFAS. Since there has been a whirlwind of media and public conversations around PFAS leaving our utilities largely absent from the commentary, WEAT has created a PFAS and Biosolids task force that should have a white paper developed this fall. The PFAS white paper seeks to inform and educate Texas lawmakers and the ratepaying public around several key discussion points regarding PFAS; where the science is with PFAS, where our agencies are with rulewriting, and the economics of biosolids land application, incineration, and disposal.
In addition to the PFAS white paper, the next issue will feature outcomes of the key hearings in September as well as the House Natural Resources committee hearing, date TBD. We will also take a deep dive into a request for rulewriting that WEAT and TAWWA are tag-teaming, which we hope will provide greater public confidence in water operators and provide our operators with critical training. And finally, we hope to have a recap of WEAT’s fall conferences and outcomes at WEFTEC!
Take care, be well, and continue contributing to the enterprise – cleaning our precious water resources and safeguarding human and environmental health.