Relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production area authorizations, the official text

S.B. No. 1061

AN ACT

relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production

area authorizations.

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

SECTION 1. Section 27.0513, Water Code, is amended by

adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as

follows:

(c-1) The commission shall prioritize the conservation of

regional groundwater water supplies when reviewing an application

to amend a restoration table value.

(d) Notwithstanding Sections 5.551, 5.556, 27.011, and

27.018, an application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that allows the permit holder to conduct mining and

restoration activities in production areas within the boundary

established in the permit is an uncontested matter not subject to a

contested case hearing or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001,

Government Code, if:

(1) the authorization is for a production area [zone]

located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each

production area addressed in the application, a range table of

groundwater quality restoration values used to measure groundwater

restoration by the commission;

(2) the application includes, for each production area

addressed in the application, groundwater quality restoration

values falling at or below the upper limit of the range established

in Subdivision (1); [and]

(3) the authorization is for a production area [zone]

located within the boundary of a permit that incorporates

groundwater baseline characteristics of the wells for the

application required by commission rule; and

(4) not later than the 30th day after the date the

commission determines the application to be administratively

complete, the commission mails notice of receipt of the application

to:

(A) the owners of the surface of:

(i) the tract of land on which the existing

or proposed production area is or will be located; and

(ii) the tracts of land adjacent to the land

described by Subparagraph (i);

(B) the owners of mineral rights underlying:

(i) the tract of land on which the existing

or proposed production area is or will be located; and

(ii) the tracts of land adjacent to the land

described by Subparagraph (i); and

(C) any groundwater conservation district

established in the county in which the existing or proposed

production area is or will be located.

SECTION 2. Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are

repealed.

SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to an application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that is submitted to the Texas Commission on

Environmental Quality on or after the effective date of this Act.

An application for an authorization or an amendment to an

authorization that was submitted to the commission before the

effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the

time the application or amendment was submitted, and the former law

is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the Senate on

March 20, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0; and that

the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2025, by the

following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1061 passed the House, with

amendment, on May 23, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 130,

Nays 0, two present not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor