By SeamanH.B. No. 2640
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the permitting of commercial mariculture facilities for shrimp and exotic species of
aquatic life in coastal counties, relating to the authority of coastal counties over certain
mariculture activities, relating to a study to guide future regulation of certain mariculture
activities in Texas and granting rulemaking authority.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended to add a new Section 26.0272 to read as
follows:
Sec. 26.0272. STUDY OF IMPACTS OF DISCHARGES FROM CERTAIN
MARICULTURE FACILITIES. (a) Until completion of the study described in Subsection (b) of
this section, the commission shall not
(1) grant any application for a permit, amendment, renewal, or other authorization
that is currently pending before the agency or that is filed with the agency after the effective date
of this section for the discharge of any water or waste waters from any existing or proposed
mariculture facility for the commercial production of shrimp or any exotic species if the facility
is located in any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or bordering on the tidewater limits of
the Gulf unless the permit, amendment or other authorization provides that it expires on
September 1, 1999 and that it can only be renewed if meets the standards and requirements of the
commission based on the study described in Subsection (b) of this section, or
(2) promulgate any rule authorizing discharges or establishing requirements for
discharges from such a facility.
(b) The commission shall, by December 1, 1998, conduct, in coordination with the Parks and
Wildlife Department, the Animal Health Commission and appropriate educational entities, a
study of
(1) the need for discharges and ways to minimize discharges from mariculture
facilities for the commercial production of shrimp or any exotic species, and
(2) the potential impacts of such discharges on the aquatic life of Texas bays and
estuaries receiving such discharges.
The study shall include the examination of the potential impacts of any release or pollutants,
including viruses and exotic species. The Parks and Wildlife Department shall have lead
responsibility for choosing any consultants for the study and for any evaluation of the impacts of
the release of viruses or exotic species.
(c) The commission shall coordinate with the Parks and Wildlife Department and appropriate
educational entities to conduct, by December 1, 1998, a study of the impacts of the diversions of
state water by mariculture facilities for the commercial production of shrimp or any exotic
species on the aquatic life of Texas bays and estuaries.
(d) The commission shall by rule establish an annual fee for the use of state waters by
mariculture facilities engaged in the commercial production of shrimp or any exotic species. The
fee shall be collected for the period of January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1998 and be based on
the actual or estimated amount of water taken from Texas bays and estuaries during this period.
The fee shall be set by the commission in an amount sufficient to recover the estimated costs of
the studies required in Subsections (b) and (c) of this section and any costs associated with the
assessment and collection of the fee.
(e) Upon completion of the studies required under this section, the commission shall publish
the results of the study and shall submit copies of the study to the Governor, Lt. Governor and
Speaker of the House.
(f) In this section the term "mariculture" has the meaning assigned in Section 11.1421 of this
code.
(g) All permits issued by the commission before the effective date of this law for a discharge
of any water or waste waters from any existing or proposed mariculture facility for the
commercial production of shrimp or any exotic species located in a county bordering on the Gulf
of Mexico or bordering on the tidewater limits of the Gulf shall expire on September 1, 1999 and
can only be renewed if it meets the standards and requirements of the commission based on the
study described in Subsection (b) of this section.
SECTION 2. Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended by adding a new Section 26.0286 to read
as follows:
Sec. 26.0286. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN MARICULTURE
FACILITIES ALONG THE TEXAS COAST. (a) This section applies to new and existing
mariculture facilities designed for the commercial production of any type of shrimp or exotic
species of aquatic life in any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or on the tidewater limits
of the Gulf.
(b) The commission by rule shall require that any facility described in Subsection (a) of this
section shall obtain an individual permit for any discharge prior to construction of the facility
and that an application for such a permit must include the following:
(1) a certification that a copy of the application has been filed by the applicant with
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the commissioners court for the county in which
the facility is or is proposed to be located prior to or concurrently with the filing of the
application with the commission;
(2) a copy of a resolution from the county and city, if the facility is or will be
located within the corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a city, in which the facility is
located indicating the position of that local government on the permitting of the facility or, if the
applicant is unable to get such a resolution, the sworn documentation that the applicant made
reasonable attempts to obtain such a resolution(s) including the description of the attempts made.
(3) an environmental report describing in detail
(A) the site selection process for the facility, including alternative locations
considered and the basis for selecting the requested location;
(B) the design and operating plans for the facility, including plans for
disease control, waste water management and prevention of the creation of nuisance conditions;
(C) the existing environmental conditions at the proposed site, including
conditions in waters of the state from which any diversion of water is planned or into which a
discharge is proposed; and
(D) any potential impacts of water intake, waste discharges, dredging and
any other significant activity related to the construction and operation of the facility on sensitive
aquatic habitats in the areas of the proposed site and alternative sites that were evaluated.
All or a part of the requirements of this subsection for an environmental report may be waived by
the commission for applications filed after January 1, 2002, if, by rule, the commission provides
for waiver and making a formal finding, based on a factual record that, as a result of the
development of adequate experience and expertise, the commission is able to adequately
evaluate sites proposed for such facilities without all or a part of the environmental reports.
(4) A description of the best management practices that the applicant proposes for
use in minimizing potential impacts to the environment from activities including water intake
and entrainment, pond management at the facility for water and bottom sediments, routine water
exchange, management of water during harvests, feeding regimes to minimize waste, and
stocking densities.
(c) The commission shall give priority in its application review process to any application for
a facility described in Subsection (a) above if
(1) the governmental body of the county and city, if any, in which the facility is
located has passed a resolution supporting the location and operations of the facility; or
(2) the facility has limited its request for authorization to the production of native
species of aquatic life, and will stock with only commercially raised animals.
(d) The commission may grant a discharge permit to a facility described in Subsection (a)
above only if it finds:
(1) the discharge will not cause a violation of any water quality standard or other
appropriate requirements imposed pursuant to this chapter;
(2) the operator of the facility will use appropriate best management practices
adequate to minimize adverse effects to the environment;
(3) the applicant has made reasonable efforts to locate the facility in a manner that
minimizes adverse impacts on sensitive aquatic habitats;
(4) the operator will post a bond or provide other appropriate financial assurance to
the benefit of the commission, if the permit authorizes the production of any exotic species. The
amount of the financial assurance shall be sufficient to provide the resources needed by the
commission to quarantine the facility, disinfect the facility of any viruses, dispose of any wastes
and return the land to a condition suitable for its prior uses, in case of abandonment of the
facility by the operator; and
(5) the permit provides
(A) a prohibition on any discharge of water from a facility if any disease is
suspected or confirmed in any exotic species being raised or if the executive director or the
executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department notifies the operator in writing
that there is good cause to suspect the existence of disease at the facility. The prohibition must
remain in effect until the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issues a
written order that discharges can begin;
(B) a requirement that any unit in the facility in which disease has been
identified must be put in a condition of quarantine with no movement of water or animals to or
from the unit until a written approval for the movement of water or species to or from the unit is
issued by the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; and
(C) notwithstanding Section 481.143(a) of the Government Code, that the
operator will comply with the best management practices applicable to facilities subject to this
section as determined by the commission, including amendments to those best management
practices adopted by the commission during the pendency of the permit.
(D) that the facility must have and implement a disease monitoring and
response plan that includes:
(i) a periodic disease monitoring program;
(ii) immediate reporting of any indication of disease
or detection of disease to the executive director and the executive director of the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department;
(iii) for any pond in which disease is suspected or
confirmed, provisions for the use of netting or other similar steps to minimize the removal of
diseased organisms by birds and other animals; and
(iv) the immediate quarantine of any area in which
disease is suspected or confirmed to assure that there is no release of water or animals from the
area until authorized by the executive director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
(e) In this section, the term "mariculture" has the meaning assigned to it in Section 11.1421
of this code.
(f) Construction of new facility or expansion of an existing facility for the commercial
production of shrimp or any exotic species in any county bordering on the Gulf of Mexico or
bordering on the tidewater limits of the Gulf is prohibited until the permit required under this
chapter has been issued.
SECTION 3. Chapter 66, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to add a new Section 66.0071
to read as follows:
Sec. 66.0071. LIMITATIONS ON ISSUANCE OF CERTAIN LICENSES FOR EXOTIC
SPECIES. No license or other authorizations may be issued or renewed for the possession of any
exotic species of shrimp for purposes of commercial production in any county bordering on the
Gulf of Mexico or on the tidewater limits of the Gulf unless the applicant for the license, renewal
or other authorization proves to the department through a letter from the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission stating that facility to be used for commercial production
(a) has all required discharge permits or other authorizations from the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission for the discharge of waste waters from the production
facility or
(b) does not need a discharge permit or other authorization since the production facility is
adequately designed to operate without any discharge of waste waters.
SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the crowded condition of the calendars in
both houses create an emergency and an imperative public necessity that the constitutional rule
requiring bills to be read on three several days in each house be suspended, and this rule is
hereby suspended, and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it
is so enacted.