The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) proposes amendments to 30 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §§230.1 - 230.11. The purpose of this rule proposal is to implement the provisions of Senate Bill (SB) 2440, passed during the 88th Texas Legislature's Regular Session in 2023. Local Government Code (LGC), §212.0101 and §232.0032 establish requirements for groundwater availability certification in the municipal and county plat application and approval process for proposed subdivisions when the groundwater beneath the land serves as the primary source of water supply. SB 2440 amended §212.0101(a) and §232.0032(a) to make groundwater availability certification a mandatory component of the plat application and approval process. SB 2440 also established specific circumstances under which a municipal or county authority may waive the certification requirement by adding §212.0101(a)(1) and (a)(2) and §232.0032(a)(1) and (a)(2). SB 2440 became effective on January 1, 2024, and requires that existing TCEQ rules are continued in effect for plat applications filed before January 1, 2024.
The charge to TCEQ under LGC, §212.0101(b) and (c) and §232.0032(b) and (c) is limited to adopting rules that establish the form and content of a groundwater availability certification and require transmittal of specific information to the Texas Water Development Board and the applicable groundwater conservation district. Currently, 30 TAC §230.1 and §§230.3 - 230.11 include references to applicability and have embedded forms. Since applicability is addressed by LGC, §212.0101(a), (a)(1) and (a)(2) and §232.0032(a), (a)(1) and (a)(2) and does not require further definition, TCEQ proposes to replace applicability provisions with general provisions that identify the purpose of the rule. The commission specifically seeks comments on whether to include a definition for "credible evidence," as it relates to the waiver requirements defined by Local Government Code §§212.0101(a-1)(1) and 232.0032(a-1)(1), and what that definition would be. Since the current rules specify transmittal requirements and groundwater availability certification contents, TCEQ also proposes to remove the embedded forms and replace those with references to TCEQ forms so that the format of the forms can be updated as technology changes.