HB 3728
AN ACT relating to the adoption by the Texas Commission on Environmental
89th Regular Session
Jan 14, 2025 - Jun 2, 2025 • Session ended
Awaiting Committee Assignment
Bill filed, pending referral to House committee
Committee
Not yet assigned
Fiscal Note
Not available
What This Bill Does
Requires the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to develop numeric salinity gradients and narrative criteria for bays and estuaries based on site-specific studies, aimed at protecting aquatic life. By September 1, 2026, the Commission must publish a comprehensive report analyzing long-term studies on estuarine salinity, examining how factors like wastewater loading, desalination, and environmental changes impact salinity levels and wildlife. The new water quality standards will be implemented in the first rule revision after the bill's effective date of September 1, 2025.
Subject Areas
Bill Text
relating to the adoption by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of salinity requirements for bays and estuaries. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended by adding Section 26.0231 to read as follows: Sec. 26.0231. SALINITY OF BAYS AND ESTUARIES. The commission shall incorporate in standards set under Section 26.023: (1) numeric salinity gradients for bays and estuaries where site-specific salinity studies exist; and (2) narrative salinity criteria for bays and estuaries listing specific species within bays and estuaries to support attainable estuarine dependent aquatic life. SECTION 2. (a) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall ensure that water quality standards set by the commission under Section 26.023, Water Code, comply with Section 26.0231, Water Code, as added by this Act, in the first revision of the commission's relevant rules that occurs after the effective (b) Not later than September 1, 2026, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality shall publish on its Internet website a report on the results of long-term studies conducted between 2003 and 2025 by the commission and other state agencies of estuarine salinity gradients. The report must assess, based on available information from stakeholders and the studies, the effects of additional wastewater loading, desalination, and changes in hydrological conditions and rainfall on estuarine salinity gradients and estuarine dependent wildlife. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Bill History
Bill filed: AN ACT relating to the adoption by the Texas Commission on Environmental
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