Relating to the review of the duties of a groundwater conservation district by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
ModeratePlan for compliance
Low Cost
Effective:2025-06-20
Enforcing Agencies
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) • Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate).
Compliance Deadline: Immediate. The new procedures apply to any petition for inquiry filed with the TCEQ on or after June 20, 2025. Petitions filed prior to this date remain under the former law.
Agency Rulemaking: While the statute is self-executing, expect TCEQ to update internal procedural guidance regarding the appointment of "disinterested" recording secretaries and the specific format for expense reimbursement requests.
Immediate Action Plan
Audit Active Disputes: Determine if any planned petitions were filed before June 20, 2025. If not, revise your litigation timeline to account for the new Review Panel procedures.
Update Docketing Systems: Configure legal calendar alerts to capture the new 7-day notice window for TCEQ/Review Panel hearings.
Prepare for Delays: If filing a petition, build a 120-day buffer into your project development timeline to account for the TWDB technical review loop.
Segregate Communications: If involved in a panel, instruct staff to communicate strictly through the official recording secretary to maintain a clear PIA trail, but assume all such communication is public.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Legal & Consulting Agreements: If your organization is the petitioner, review engagement letters with outside counsel to account for a potentially longer engagement period (up to 120 additional days).
Conflict Waivers: If an employee or officer of your company is appointed to a Review Panel, execute specific conflict waivers and separate engagement letters for any outside counsel advising them personally, ensuring your proprietary data remains protected.
Hiring/Training
Legal Team Training: In-house counsel and compliance officers must update their docketing protocols. The notice window for public meetings/hearings is now 7 days (previously subject to standard Open Meetings Act lead times).
Panel Service: Staff members appointed to panels must be trained that while they are exempt from Open Meetings Act quorum rules, their communications with the recording secretary are public records.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Expense Verification: Panel members must submit a "verified statement" with physical receipts to the TCEQ Executive Director to receive reimbursement. Standard per diems do not apply; this is a reimbursement-only model.
Public Information Act (PIA): Treat all submissions to the Review Panel as immediately discoverable. The recording secretary’s records are explicitly subject to Chapter 552 (Public Information Act).
Fees & Costs
Litigation Budgeting: There are no new filing fees. However, businesses must budget for increased legal fees associated with the 120-day automatic extension if the panel requests technical assistance from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB).
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
The "Technical Assistance" Delay: The law allows the Review Panel to request technical assistance from the TWDB, which triggers a 120-day deadline extension. The statute does not define a materiality threshold for this request. Warning: Anticipate that GCDs under review will pressure panels to make minor technical requests specifically to trigger this four-month delay.
"Disinterested Person" Standard: The recording secretary must be a "disinterested person." The statute lacks a definition for this term. Until TCEQ clarifies via rulemaking or precedent, this appointment is a primary target for procedural challenges if the secretary has any tangential link to the parties involved.
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The House Committee on Natural Resources interim report to the 88th Texas Legislature recommended making clarifications and improvements to petitions and processes for inquiries of groundwater conservation districts before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). H.B. 2080 seeks to address issues that have been identified by groundwater stakeholders that have participated in that process by addressing the TCEQ groundwater conservation district review process.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 2080 amends the Water Code to replace the authorization for the recording secretary of a review panel that is appointed with respect to a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) inquiry into a groundwater conservation district stemming from the petition of an affected person to be an employee of the TCEQ with a requirement for that secretary to be such an employee. The bill establishes that such a review panel is an advisory body to the TCEQ and not a governmental body under state open meetings law or state public information law. The bill requires the TCEQ to reimburse a member appointed to the review panel for actual expenses incurred while engaging in activities on the review panel's behalf. The bill requires a member, in order to be eligible for reimbursement, to file with the TCEQ executive director a verified statement, including any relevant receipts, describing the expenses incurred. The bill establishes that a member appointed to the review panel is not entitled to a fee of office or other compensation for serving on the review panel. The bill requires the recording secretary's records and documents of the review panel's proceedings to be provided to the executive director and establishes that those records and documents are public information under state public information law.
H.B. 2080 requires the executive director, not later than the seventh day before the date of a public meeting or public hearing of the review panel, to provide notice of any such meeting or hearing the review panel is directed to conduct by doing the following:
·posting notice on the TCEQ website; and
·delivering notice by regular mail to the following:
othe district that is the subject of the petition;
othe petitioner; and
othe county clerk of each county in the district that is the subject of the petition.
H.B. 2080 authorizes the TCEQ or the review panel to submit a written request to the executive administrator of the Texas Water Development Board for assistance on a technical issue related to the petition and requires the executive administrator to provide the technical assistance not later than the 120th day after the date the request is received. The bill extends the following deadlines by 120 days if a request for technical assistance is submitted to the executive administrator during the related review phase:
·the deadline for the TCEQ to review a petition and either dismiss it or select a review panel;
·the deadline for the review panel to review a petition and any evidence relevant to the petition and consider and adopt a report to be submitted to the TCEQ; or
·the deadline for the executive director or the TCEQ to take action to implement any or all of the panel's recommendations.
H.B. 2080 requires the TCEQ's office of public interest counsel, on request from a member of the review panel, to provide legal advice and assistance to the review panel but prohibits the office from participating as a party in an inquiry and establishes that the office has no duty or responsibility to represent the public interest or otherwise in an inquiry except as provided as such.
H.B. 2080 applies to a petition requesting an inquiry regarding the duties of a groundwater conservation district filed with the TCEQ on or after the bill's effective date. A petition filed with the TCEQ before the bill's effective date is governed by the law in effect on the date the petition was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2025.
Honorable Cody Harris, Chair, House Committee on Natural Resources
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2080 by Gerdes (Relating to the review of the duties of a groundwater conservation district by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
It is assumed that any costs associated with the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
313 Department of Information Resources, 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
LBB Staff:
JMc, TUf, AJL
Related Legislation
Explore more bills from this author and on related topics
Effective immediately, HB2080 restructures the administrative review process for challenging Groundwater Conservation District (GCD) performance, formalizing the "Review Panel" structure and creating a statutory mechanism to extend dispute resolution timelines by four months. This law directly impacts agribusiness, industrial water users, and developers currently filing or contemplating petitions against a GCD for failure to enforce management plans. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate).
Q
Who authored HB2080?
HB2080 was authored by Texas Representative Stan Gerdes during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB2080 signed into law?
HB2080 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB2080?
HB2080 is enforced by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Texas Water Development Board (TWDB).
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB2080?
The compliance urgency for HB2080 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB2080?
The cost impact of HB2080 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB2080 address?
HB2080 addresses topics including special districts & authorities, special districts & authorities--groundwater conserve dist., special districts & authorities--water & utility, water and water--conservation.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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