By: Julie Nahrgang
The 89th Session of the Texas Legislature kicked off on January 14, 2025, bringing with it some pomp and circumstance befitting our Texas lawmakers. Representative Dustin Burrows was elected by his fellow House members as the newest speaker in a vote of 85-55. He edged out Rep. David Cook in what ended a bitter fight for the speaker race. As we march down the 140 days of the regular session, WEAT continues to track key milestones, trends, and key bills for the water sector.
One major milestone achieved for both the Speaker of House and Lieutenant Governor was committee assignments for the House and Senate respectively. It’s no surprise that Senate assignments arrived before the House and we see Chairman Perry once again as the Chair of the Senate Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee. The full SWAR Committee members are listed below:
SENATE WATER, AGRICULTURE, AND RURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Chair: Sen. Charles Perry
Vice Chair: Sen. Kelly Hancock
Members: Sen. Brian Birdwell
Sen. César Blanco
Sen. Roland Gutierrez
Sen. Adam Hinojosa
Sen. Nathan Johnson
Sen. Lois W. Kolkhorst
Sen. Kevin Sparks
With Chairman Tracy King not seeking reelection, there was a tremendous amount of speculation on who would be the House Natural Resources Committee Chair. Cody Harris was named Chair in mid February along with Vice Chair Armando Martinez.
HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Chair: Rep. Cody Harris
Vice Chair: Rep. Armando Martinez
Members: Rep. Trent Ashby
Rep. Jeff Barry
Rep. Cecil Bell
Rep. Brad Buckley
Rep. Caroline Fairly
Rep. Erin Elizabeth Gámez
Rep. Josey Garcia
Rep. Mary E. González
Rep. Ramon Romero, Jr.
Rep. Denise Villalobos
Rep. Erin Zwiener
The House Environmental Regulation Committee is once again led by Chairman Brooks Landgraf. The composition of the committee is listed below.
HOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION COMMITTEE
Chair: Rep. Brooks Landgraf
Vice Chair: Rep. Claudia Ordaz
Members: Rep. Rafael Anchía
Rep. Keith Bell
Rep. Ben Bumgarner
Rep. Penny Morales Shaw
Rep. Tom Oliverson
Rep. Ron Reynolds
Rep. Steve Toth
It should be no secret to anyone that water is once again a key issue this session. Governor Abbott announced a Texas-Size investment in water as number 7 on his top 25 emergency items. Texas will enjoy another healthy surplus of $24 billion left over from the last biennium. And Representative Stan Kitzman has agreed to Chair the Water Caucus, which has picked up at least 70 members at the time of writing this. We saw historic funding pass with the Texas Water Fund in Senate Bill 28 in the last session, which wasn’t nearly enough. Senator Perry made it clear during the interim and prefling that he would once again push for a host of water funding bills. We are looking out for a package of bills that would provide some cleanup to the TWF. And many signs point to moving the Flood Infrastructure Fund (FIF) under the Texas Water Fund. Chairman Perry has also signaled an appetite for a one-time infusion into the TWF as well as a dedicated funding source. He has also talked extensively on the need to move water across the state, which may look like the formation of an entity to help build and control a water grid. All of this, however, is in flux and speculation until we see bills filed.
I noted in the previous issue of Texas WET that Representative Kirwin filed HB 1674 - Relating to the production, sale, and use of certain agricultural products containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); creating a criminal offense. Since the previous issue of Texas WET, Senator Sparks has filed an identical companion bill in the Senate, SB 886.
HB 1674/SB 886 would heavily impact our water utilities and special districts. Our analysis notes that this bill changes the definition of commercial fertilizer and rolls any biosolid, compost, wastewater residuals, industrial or sewage septage, sewage sludge, lagoon residuals, or other material intended for use as a fertilizer, soil, amendment, topsoil replacement, or other similar agricultural purpose that contains or was produced from sewage sludge into a commercial fertilizer regulatory regime. Currently, the only biosolids that are classified as a fertilizer, or biosolids fertilizer, are those assumed under the jurisdiction of the Office of the State Chemist. Therefore, this bill would bring in the Office of the State Chemist into the biosolids program currently run out of the TCEQ. This bill would also require testing to be conducted for 17 PFAS compounds on all of the biosolids and residuals listed above and hold the biosolids until test results are completed. Note that these requirements as well as penalties apply to septage held in septic tanks. If any of the PFAS compounds were detected in concentrations above the limits listed in the bill, the biosolids would be classified as a Hazardous Material and required to be deposed of in 1 of 6 hazardous material landfills or incinerators in Texas. However, incineration does not destroy PFAS. So, if PFAS is the concern, then the disposal options across Texas are limited to 3. This bill would take effect September 1, 2025.
We know that PFAS has been in manufactured goods since the 1970s. We also know that it is still being manufactured today. PFAS is in the environment and in our food containers, clothes, furniture, make-up, and much more. As EPA marches down the PFAS Roadmap and gathers the necessary data on PFAS in collection systems, effluent, and biosolids, we eagerly await the stakeholder process that will provide guidance, including scientifically informed limits, on PFAS in biosolids.
The WEAT PFAS taskforce put together a white-paper to help educate Texans on what PFAS and biosolids are. See the white-paper at www.weat.org/pfas.
In addition to HB 1674/SB 886 and the yet-to-be-filed Texas water investment bill, WEAT is tracking a number of other bills of interest. Please see the tracking list below:
•HB 309 (Loe-Wilson)/HB 1189 (Troxclair)/HB 1294 (Patterson)/SB Middleton Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying and certain other activities.
•HB 571 (Cain)/HB 671 (Shaheen) Relating to the use by a political subdivision of public funds for lobbying and certain other activities.
•HB 755 (Spiller) Relating to certain requirements applicable to certain public entities that engage in lobbying.
•HB 811 (Spiller) Relating to applicability of lobbyist registration requirements to a person who provide legal services to a political subdivision. (Refiled)
•HB 2388 (Kirwin) Relating to the definition of governmental body for the purposes of the public information law.
•HB 156 (Raymond) Relating to a study by the TCEQ regarding the protection of certain water facilities from catastrophes.
•HB 157 (Raymond) Relating to the production by the TCEQ on an annual report on public drinking water systems. (Refiled)
•HB 310 (Guillen) Relating to the use of money transferred from the Texas Water Fund.
•HB 365 (Gonzalez) Relating to the authority of the TWDB to provide financial assistance from the economically distressed areas account that is not required to be repaid.
•HB 422 (Gonzalez) Relating to limitations on the issuance of bonds by the TWDB for the development of certain projects in economically distressed areas.
•HB 482 (Lopez) Relating to the provision by the TCEQ to the pertinent state representative and state senator of notice of certain administrative actions of the commission. (Similar to Vetoed Bill in 88th)
•HB 1237 (Guillen) Relating to the renewal by the TCEQ of certain expired occupational licenses and registrations.
•HB 1344 (Troxclair) Relating to prioritization of requests for financial assistance from certain funds administered by the TWDB.
•HB 1353 (Guillen) Relating to international cooperation agreements between certain state agencies and the United Mexican States and funding for the infrastructure investment in this state.
•HB 1501 (Tinderholt) Relating to the study of the feasibility of using seawater desalination process in Texas.
•HB 1400 (Harris)/ SB 718 (Kolkhorst) Relating to the creation of the groundwater science, research, and innovation fund to be administered by the TWDB.
•HB 1523 (Gerdes) Relating to the prohibition on the authorization by the TCEQ of the use of a Class V injection well for certain aquifer storage and recovery projects.
•SB 191 (Menendez) Relating to the adoption of a healthy and safe school water plan by public schools. (Similar to previously filed bill)
•SB 448 (Hinojosa) Relating to certain cost sharing requirements for a desalination facility operating under a public private partnership.
•SB 526 (Eckhardt) Relating to the use of green stormwater infrastructure in new state buildings.
•SB 553 (Flores) Relating to the design-build method for certain government construction projects.
•SB 480 (Perry) Relating to the authority of a local government to enter into an interlocal contract with certain entities to participate in water research or planning.
•HB 1050 (Dora`zio) Relating to the award of attorney’s fees in certain suits involving a groundwater conservation district. (Refiled)
•HB 1633 (Gerdes)/SB 624 (Kolkhorst) Relating to certain criteria considered by groundwater conservation districts before granting or denying a permit or permit amendment.
•HB 1689 (Gerdes) Relating to the use of certain groundwater export fees collected by a groundwater conservation district.
•HB 1690 (Gerdes) Relating to an application for a permit for the transfer of groundwater out of a groundwater conservation district.
•HB 2034 (Gerdes) Relating to an application for a permit for the transfer of groundwater out of a groundwater conservation district.
•HB 2077 (Gerdes) Relating to persons eligible to appeal the desired future conditions adopted by a groundwater conservation district.
•HB 2078 (Gerdes) Relating to the joint planning of desired future conditions in groundwater management areas.
•HB 2080 (Gerdes) Relating to the review of duties of a groundwater conservation district the TCEQ.
•HB 2109 (VanDeaver) Relating to the removal of a proposed reservoir project from the State Water Plan.
•HB 2114 (VanDeaver) Relating the engineering feasibility and construction of a reservoir.
•SB 1145 (Birdwell)/HB 2584 (Landgraf) Relating to the authority of the TCEQ to issue permits for the land application of water produced from certain mining and oil and gas extraction operations.
•HB 1145 (Morales Shaw) Relating to a study regarding the use of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals in hydraulic. fracturing. (Refiled)
•HB 2605 (Gerdes) Relating to water losses reported by certain municipally owned Utilities to the TWDB, authorizing administrative penalties.
•HB 2608 (Zwiener) Relating to the consideration by the TCEQ of alternative waste collection, treatment, and disposal options before issuing permits to discharge certain waste.
For a complete list of WEAT’s high priority items, go here. Take care, be well, and we’re looking forward to seeing y’all at Texas Water 2025!