HBA-KDB H.B. 3024 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3024 By: Chisum Natural Resources 7/19/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (district) was prohibited from engaging in the sale or distribution of surface or groundwater for any purpose. In addition, the district was not authorized to impose a fee on water transported out of the district. However, if such a fee were imposed, the revenues could be used to conduct detailed hydrological and predictive modeling studies and analyses. House Bill 3024 removes the provision that prohibits the district from engaging in the sale or distribution of surface or underground water for any purpose and authorizes the district to impose a reasonable fee on water transported out of the district. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 3024 amends law to remove the provision that prohibits the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District (district) from engaging in the sale or distribution of surface or underground water for any purpose. The bill authorizes the district to impose a reasonable fee on water transported out of the district, not to exceed the amount negotiated between the district and the transporter of the water or an amount equal to either the district's maximum tax rate per $100 of valuation for each 1,000 gallons of water transported out of the district or $0.025 per thousand gallons of water if the district assesses a tax rate of less than $0.025 per hundred dollars of valuation. The bill provides that a conservation and reclamation district that provides water to five or more municipalities outside the district and holds a permit granted before March 1, 2001, is not required pay such a fee but is required to pay the district an amount equal to 60 percent of the district's annually set tax rate per $100 valuation for each 1,000 gallons of water the conservation and reclamation district delivers to a municipality located entirely outside the district beginning on the effective date of the Act. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.