89R23 JAM-F     By: Guillen H.B. No. 279       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   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(d), Water Code, is amended to   read as follows:          (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 zones 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 zone located   within the boundary of a permit that incorporates, for each   production zone 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 zone   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 zone located   within the boundary of a permit that incorporates groundwater   baseline characteristics of the wells for the application required   by commission rule.          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  Sections 27.0513(f) and (g), Water Code, are   repealed.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.