uranium permits skip hearings only with zone-by-zone cleanup values

The text as introduced · 325 words

89R23 JAM-F

By: Guillen
H.B. No. 279

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production

area authorizations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 27.0513(d), Water Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and

27.018, an application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and

restoration activities in production zones within the boundary

established in the permit is an uncontested matter not subject to a

contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001,

Government Code, if:

(1) the authorization is for a production zone located

within the boundary of a permit that incorporates , for each

production zone addressed in the application, a range table of

groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater

restoration by the commission;

(2) the application includes , for each production zone

addressed in the application, groundwater quality restoration

values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established

in Subdivision (1); and

(3) the authorization is for a production zone located

within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater

baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required

by commission rule.

SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are

repealed.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on

Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.

An application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that was submitted to the commission before the

effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the

time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law

is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.