bill requiring county notice before new MUD petitions

The text as introduced · 582 words

89R1010 SCP-F

By: Hall
S.B. No. 102

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the notice and petition for the creation of a municipal

utility district in certain counties.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 54.001(4) and (5), Water Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(4) "Commission" means the Texas [ Natural Resource

Conservation ] Commission on Environmental Quality .

(5) "Executive director" means the executive director

of the commission [ Texas Natural Resource Conservation

Commission ].

SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Water Code, is amended

by adding Section 54.0135 to read as follows:

Sec. 54.0135. PRE-PETITION NOTICE TO CERTAIN COUNTIES. (a)

This section applies only to a proposed district described by

Section 54.0161(a).

(b) Before a petition requesting creation of a proposed

district is filed with the commission under Section 54.014, notice

must be sent by certified mail to the commissioners court of each

county in which the proposed district is to be located. The notice

must:

(1) generally describe the boundaries of the land to

be included in the proposed district, including, if possible, by

metes and bounds or by lot and block number if there is a recorded

map or plat and survey of the area to be included in the district;

and

(2) inform the commissioners court of the right to:

(A) respond to the notice provided under this

section;

(B) review the petition requesting creation of

the proposed district; and

(C) submit a written opinion on the creation of

the proposed district under Section 54.0161.

(c) Notice under this section must be sent by certified mail

at least 30 days before the date a petition requesting creation of

the proposed district is filed with the commission under Section

54.014.

SECTION 3. Section 54.015, Water Code, is amended to read as

follows:

Sec. 54.015. CONTENTS OF PETITION. The petition shall:

(1) describe the boundaries of the proposed district

by metes and bounds or by lot and block number, if there is a

recorded map or plat and survey of the area;

(2) state the general nature of the work proposed to be

done, the necessity for the work, and the cost of the project as

then estimated by those filing the petition; [ and ]

(3) include a name of the district which shall be

generally descriptive of the locale of the district followed by the

words Municipal Utility District, or if a district is located

within one county, it may be designated "__________ County

Municipal Utility District No. ______." (Insert the name of the

county and proper consecutive number.) The proposed district shall

not have the same name as any other district in the same county ; and

(4) for a district described by Section 54.0161(a),

include a copy of the notice described by Section 54.0135 .

SECTION 4. Section 54.0135, Water Code, as added by this

Act, and Section 54.015, Water Code, as amended by this Act, apply

only to a petition requesting creation of a municipal utility

district that is filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental

Quality on or after the effective date of this Act. A petition

requesting creation of a municipal utility district that was filed

with the commission before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed,

and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.