SB1061

Regular Session

Relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production area authorizations.

ModeratePlan for compliance

Low Cost

Effective:2025-09-01

Enforcing Agencies

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: September 1, 2025.
Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025. Any application submitted on or after this date must meet the new notice and technical standards to qualify for the "uncontested matter" exemption. Applications submitted prior to this date are grandfathered under former law.
Agency Rulemaking: TCEQ is not explicitly mandated to adopt rules by a specific date, but expect updated application forms and guidance regarding the new requirement to "prioritize regional groundwater conservation." A regulatory gray zone exists until TCEQ defines how applicants must demonstrate this prioritization.

Immediate Action Plan

Audit Pending Applications: If you have a controversial PAA application that cannot meet the strict restoration value caps, submit it before September 1, 2025, to remain under current procedural rules.
Initiate Title Work: Direct land departments to begin identifying adjacent mineral owners for all prospective production areas immediately; this is the primary bottleneck for the new process.
Update Technical Narratives: Revise application templates to explicitly address how the proposed authorization prioritizes regional groundwater conservation to satisfy the new statutory mandate.
Engage GCDs: Establish early contact with local Groundwater Conservation Districts to mitigate potential friction, as they will now receive formal notice of your applications.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Landman/Title Vendor MSAs: Update Master Service Agreements immediately. The Scope of Work must be expanded to require the identification of mineral rights owners on all adjacent tracts, not just the subject property.
Indemnification Clauses: Review liability clauses with title vendors; the risk of permit remand due to a missed adjacent mineral owner is now a critical failure point.

Hiring/Training

Technical Staff Alignment: Engineering and geological teams must be trained that to qualify for the "uncontested" track, proposed restoration values must fall at or below the upper limit of the established range table.
Regulatory Affairs: Staff must be trained to treat Groundwater Conservation Districts (GCDs) as primary stakeholders, as they are now statutory notice recipients.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

Expanded Mailing Lists: You must generate and maintain verified mailing lists that include:
1. Surface owners (tract + adjacent).
2. Mineral owners (tract + adjacent).
3. The local Groundwater Conservation District.
Baseline Data: Applications must incorporate groundwater baseline characteristics exactly as required by commission rules; deviations will disqualify the application from the uncontested track.

Fees & Costs

Title Abstracting Budgets: Anticipate increased costs for pre-application due diligence. Identifying severed mineral interests on adjacent properties is time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

"Prioritize Conservation": The statute mandates TCEQ "prioritize the conservation of regional groundwater water supplies" when reviewing amendments but does not define the metric for this prioritization. TCEQ Staff may utilize this vague standard to deny technically sound amendments.
Definition of "Adjacent": The law does not specify if "adjacent" includes tracts separated by easements, roads, or rights-of-way. Guidance: Adopt a conservative approach—if a road separates the tracts, notice the mineral owners across the road to prevent procedural challenges.

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Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsEnvironment Environment--hazardous, Toxic & Nuclear Waste Environment--water Mines & Mineral Resources Permits Environmental Quality, Texas Commission On Water Water--conservation

Official Analysis

View HRO Analysis View All Bill Documents

BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 1061
89R23 JAM-F	By: Parker
	Natural Resources
	3/10/2025
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Current regulations governing uranium mining permits in Texas, located in Water Code Section 27.0513, are convoluted and repetitive. Mining areas within previously approved boundaries are required to go through the approval process again for even limited changes. S.B. 1061 seeks to address this issue and simplify uranium mining regulation by repealing repetitive provisions and making certain applications for amendments to mining authorizations an uncontested matter.

S.B. 1061 amends Section 27.0513(d) of the Water Code to specify that applications for authorizations or amendments to authorizations allowing mining and restoration activities in production zones are considered uncontested matters. These are not subject to contested case hearings or the hearing requirements of Chapter 2001, Government Code, provided certain conditions are met.

S.B. 1061 makes sure authorization must pertain to a production zone within a permitted boundary that includes a range table of groundwater quality restoration values, and the application must specify restoration values for each production zone that do not exceed the upper limit of this established range.

S.B. 1061 also repeals Sections 27.0513(f) and 27.0513(g) of the Texas Water Code.

As proposed, S.B. 1061 amends current law relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production area authorizations.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 27.0513(d), Water Code, as follows:

(d) Provides that, notwithstanding Sections 5.551 (Permitting Procedures; Applicability), 5.556 (Request for Reconsideration or Contested Case Hearing), 27.011 (Permit From Commission), and 27.018 (Hearing on Permit Application), 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 (Administrative Procedure), 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 Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ);

(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)� makes no changes to this subdivision.

SECTION 2. Repealers: Sections 27.0513(f) (relating to the first application for a certain uranium mining issued authorization for a production zone located within a certain area) and (g) (relating to providing that a first authorization that has previously been issued for a production zone located within the boundary of a permit is effective for purposes of this subsection and a subsequent authorization for a production zone in the same permit boundary is not subject to an opportunity for a contested case hearing, with exceptions), Water Code.

SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 2025.

Senate Authors

Sen. Tan ParkerRepublican · Primary Author

House Sponsor

Rep. Ryan GuillenRepublican · Primary Sponsor

Bill Text(with markup)

S.B. No. 1061

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

	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.

LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 89TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION


March 10, 2025

TO:	Honorable Brian Birdwell, Chair, Senate Committee on Natural Resources

FROM:	Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board

IN RE:	SB1061 by Parker (Relating to procedural requirements for uranium mining production area authorizations.), 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:

582 Commission on Environmental Quality

LBB Staff:

JMc, TUf, MW, AJL

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about SB1061

What does Texas SB1061 do?

SB1061 creates a streamlined "uncontested" pathway for uranium mining Production Area Authorizations (PAAs), allowing operators to bypass contested case hearings if they adhere to strict groundwater restoration values. However, to utilize this pathway, operators must comply with significantly expanded notice requirements, which now mandate notifying mineral estate owners of adjacent tracts and local Groundwater Conservation Districts. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025.

Who authored SB1061?

SB1061 was authored by Texas Senator Tan Parker during the Regular Session.

When was SB1061 signed into law?

SB1061 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.

Which agencies enforce SB1061?

SB1061 is enforced by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

How urgent is compliance with SB1061?

The compliance urgency for SB1061 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

What is the cost impact of SB1061?

The cost impact of SB1061 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

What topics does SB1061 address?

SB1061 addresses topics including environment, environment--hazardous, toxic & nuclear waste, environment--water, mines & mineral resources and permits.

Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025

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