Environmental Flows Rulemaking
Environmental Flows Draft Rule Proposal
Draft rule proposal documents for the Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission, and Aransas Rivers and Mission, Copano, Aransas, and San Antonio Bays, and the Colorado and Lavaca Rivers and Matagorda and Lavaca Bays were filed with the Office of the Chief Clerk on March 9, 2012. They will be considered for proposal by the Commission on March 28, 2012.
The draft proposal documents can be downloaded at the TCEQ Pending Rule Proposal Page http://www.tceq.texas.gov/rules/pendprop.html.
The Water Availability Models used in development of the draft rule proposal are available for download at the links below.
Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission, and Aransas Rivers and Mission, Copano, Aransas, and San Antonio Bays:
WAM filesAt the March 28, 2012, agenda, the Commissioners directed the Water Availability Division staff to post for consideration and comment the stakeholder recommendations from the Colorado/Lavaca and Guadalupe/San Antonio Bay Basin and Bay Area Stakeholder Committees.
The Commission will receive comments both on the stakeholder recommendations and the proposed environmental flows rule. Written comments may be submitted to: Charlotte Horn, MC-205, Office of Legal Services, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, P.O. Box 13087, Austin, Texas, 78711-3087, or faxed to (512) 239-4808.
Electronic comments may be submitted to: eComments system. File size restrictions may apply to comments being submitted via the eComments system.
All comments should reference Rule Project Number 2011-059-298-OW.
The comment period closes May 14, 2012.
Brief Summary and Explanation of Proposed Rules
Agenda Power Point Presentation (.ppt)
Copies of the proposed rulemaking can be obtained here.
Copies of the stakeholder recommendations can be found at: Guadalupe/San Antonio BBASC and Colorado/Lavaca BBASC.
For further information, please contact Ron Ellis, Water Rights Permitting and Availability Section, at (512) 239-1282.
Notice of Rule Stakeholder Meeting Concerning Environmental Flow Standards
House Bill (HB) 3 and Senate Bill (SB) 3, 80th Legislature, 2007, require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to adopt by rule appropriate environmental flow standards for each river basin and bay system in the state. The adoption schedule, as amended, requires environmental flow standards for the river and bay systems consisting of the Colorado and Lavaca Rivers and Matagorda and Lavaca Bays, and the Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission, and Aransas Rivers and Mission, Copano, Aransas, and San Antonio Bays to be adopted by September 1, 2012.
To comply with HB 3/SB 3, TCEQ staff is proposing the creation of new Subchapters D and E in 30 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 298, Environmental Flows, for the Colorado and Lavaca Rivers and Matagorda and Lavaca Bays and for the Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission, and Aransas Rivers and Mission, Copano, Aransas, and San Antonio Bays.
TCEQ hosted a rule stakeholder meeting to obtain input from the public on the rulemaking required by HB 3/SB 3. The rule stakeholder meeting was held on Thursday, November 3, 2011, at 2:00 p.m., at TCEQ’s Offices at 12100 Park 35 Circle, Building E, Room 201, Austin, Texas. Please note that this was an opportunity to provide informal comments to staff prior to the formal rulemaking process. Responses will not be prepared for the comments received at this meeting. A formal public rule hearing and comment period is planned for March and April 2012.
Staff continues to work on implementation of the new environmental flow standards. If you are interested in having specific issues considered, please submit your written comments to Ron Ellis at ron.ellis@tceq.texas.gov.
Environmental flow standards for the river and bay systems consisting of the Sabine and Neches Rivers and Sabine Lake Bay, and the Trinity and San Jacinto Rivers and Galveston Bay were adopted by the Commission on April 20, 2011.
The commission by rule shall:
(1) adopt appropriate environmental flow standards for each river basin and bay system in this state that are adequate to support a sound ecological environment, to the maximum extent reasonable considering other public interests and other relevant factors;
(2) establish an amount of unappropriated water, if available, to be set aside to satisfy the environmental flow standards to the maximum extent reasonable when considering human water needs; and
(3) establish procedures for implementing an adjustment of the conditions included in a permit or an amended water right as provided by Sections 11.147(e-1) and (e-2).
Environmental flow standards adopted by the Commission must consist of a schedule of flow quantities, reflecting seasonal and yearly fluctuations that may vary geographically by specific location in a river basin and bay system.
The adoption schedule, as amended, requires environmental flow standards for the river and bay systems consisting of the Guadalupe, San Antonio, Mission, and Aransas Rivers and Mission, Copano, Aransas, and San Antonio Bays, and the Colorado and Lavaca Rivers and Matagorda and Lavaca Bays to be adopted by September 1, 2012. The rule process for the development of environmental flow standards for these two river basin and bay systems will begin on September 1, 2011, after receipt of environmental flow recommendation reports from the Basin and Bay Area Stakeholder Comittees (BBASC) and Basin and Bay Expert Science Teams (BBEST).
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