Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 40, Pages 7815-8094, October 5, 2012 Page: 7,978
7533-7814 p. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ),
in consultation with the Water Conservation Advisory Council
(WCAC), develop a uniform, consistent methodology and guid-
ance for calculating and reporting water use and conservation
to be used by municipalities and other water utilities in devel-
oping water conservation plans and preparing reports required
under the TWC. TWC 16.402 and 16.403 require that the
methodology and guidance include a method of calculating
total water use, a method of calculating total water use in
gallons per capita per day (GPCD), a method of classifying
water users within sectors, a method of calculating water use
in the residential sector that includes both single-family and
multifamily residences in GPCD, a method of calculating water
use in the non-population dependent sectors, and guidelines on
the use of service populations in developing a per-capita-based
method of calculation. The methodology and guidance applies
to all entities required to submit water conservation plans to the
TWDB or the TCEQ. Additionally, the TWDB, in consultation
with the TCEQ and WCAC, shall develop a data collection and
reporting program for municipalities and other water utilities with
more than 3,300 connections.
SB 181 added TWC 16.404, and SB 660 amended TWC
16.402 and 11.1271, to require the TWDB and TCEQ to
adopt rules requiring the use of the methodology and guidance.
The rules must require entities to report the most detailed level
of water use possible, but cannot require entities to report at a
higher level of detail than their current billing systems allow.
This proposed rulemaking will implement the amendments made
by SB 181 and Section 21 of SB 660.
SECTION BY SECTION DISCUSSION OF THE PROPOSED
AMENDMENT
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15 regarding Required Wa-
ter Conservation Plan, to implement the requirements of TWC
16.402, 16.403, and 16.404.
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15(b) by deleting the May
1, 2005 start date for five-year and ten-year targets for water sav-
ings. The May 1, 2005 date was originally added to implement
HB 2660 and HB 2663, passed by the 78th Legislature in 2003.
Because it is more than five years since this date and the rule
requires a new or revised water conservation plan that has been
in effect for less than five years, this date is no longer needed.
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15(b)(1)(A) by adding the
requirement that the utility profile in a water conservation plan
must include data developed "in accordance with the method-
ology and guidance for calculating water use and conservation
developed and maintained by the executive administrator in
coordination with the commission under Texas Water Code
16.403" in order to comply with the requirement in TWC
16.402 and 16.404 that the Board adopt rules requiring the
use of the methodology and guidance. The methodology and
guidance is currently being developed by the TWDB and TCEQ
in consultation with the WCAC and will not be finalized until the
end of 2012. In addition, this amendment adds the requirement
that the utility profile required in a water conservation plan
include the classification of water sales and uses at the most
detailed level of water use data currently available, in order to
comply with the requirements of TWC 16.402(f) and 16.404
that the rules require an entity to report the most detailed level
of municipal water use data currently available to the entity, but
not to report data that is more detailed than the entity's billing
system is capable of producing. This amendment also requiresthat the utility profile include the most detailed level of water
use data currently available for the sectors identified in TWC
16.403.
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15(b)(1)(B) to specify that
the goals for municipal use be in total GPCD and residential
GPCD, in order to assure that the water use data in the utility pro-
file is consistent with the goals for municipal use. The proposed
amendments also define "municipal use" as "the use of potable
water or sewage effluent for residential, commercial, industrial,
agricultural, institutional, and wholesale uses by an individual or
entity that supplies water to the public for human consumption."
This amendment clarifies the use of the term "municipal use" in
TWC 11.1271(c), which requires goals for "municipal use" in
GPCD. The amendment is consistent with the TCEQ's defini-
tion of "municipal use" in 30 TAC 288.1 as that term is used in
30 TAC 288.2(a)(1)(C) and is consistent with the requirement
in Texas Water Code 16.403(b)(2) and (4) that water use by a
municipality or other water utility be reported in both total GPCD
and residential GPCD.
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15(c) to add a comma for
grammatical correctness.
The TWDB proposes to amend 363.15(g)(1) to delete the refer-
ence to "May 1, 2010" as the deadline for the filing of the first re-
port on an entity's progress in implementing each of the minimum
requirements in the water conservation plan, since this date has
already passed, and instead requires the report annually every
May 1st.
FISCAL NOTE: COSTS TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERN-
MENTS
Ms. Melanie Callahan, Chief Financial Officer, has determined
that there will be no significant fiscal implications for state or lo-
cal governments as a result of the proposed rulemaking. For
the first five years these rules are in effect, there is no expected
additional cost to state or local governments resulting from their
administration. These rules are not expected to result in reduc-
tions in costs to either state or local governments. These rules
are not expected to have any impact on state or local revenues.
The rules do not require any significant increase in expenditures
for state or local governments as a result of administering these
rules. Additionally, there are no foreseeable implications relat-
ing to state or local governments' costs or revenue resulting from
these rules. These rules affect only those entities that apply for
financial assistance from the TWDB. In addition, the proposed
rules require municipalities and other utilities to report the most
detailed level of data currently available to them and do not re-
quire these entities to upgrade their billing systems.
PUBLIC BENEFITS AND COSTS
Ms. Callahan also has determined that for each year of the first
five years the proposed rulemaking is in effect, the public will
benefit from the rulemaking as it will allow public water suppli-
ers to better identify potential areas for water conservation meth-
ods, to allow for better comparisons of water usage among the
various sectors that are served by public water suppliers, and
to comply with state law. There will be no significant economic
cost to persons required to comply with these rules. These rules
affect only those entities that are apply for financial assistance
from the TWDB.
LOCAL EMPLOYMENT ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
The TWDB has determined that a local employment impact
statement is not required because the proposed rulemaking37 TexReg 7978 October 5, 2012 Texas Register
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Texas. Secretary of State. Texas Register, Volume 37, Number 40, Pages 7815-8094, October 5, 2012, periodical, October 5, 2012; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth288982/m1/164/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.