The committee adopted a substitute to Senate Bill 6 12 that would prevent some water and irrigation districts from charging developers pipeline-construction fees that exceed the districts' actual, documented costs.

Senator Hinoza, presenting the bill, said, “The purpose of this bill is to prevent certain water districts from charging excessive pipeline construction fees to developers in Hidalgo, Cameron, and Woodside Counties.” The bill would extend cost-based fee protections previously limited to retail public utilities to real estate developers who subdivide land or request more than two service connections on a single contiguous tract.

The committee substitute removes a provision in the original draft that would have given developers the statutory right to challenge construction requirements as unduly burdensome. As Hinoza explained, “Developers may not challenge construction requirement as unduly burdensome. However, the fee limitations still apply. This preserves irrigation district discretion or technical construction standards, while still preventing profit motivated fees.”

The substitute defines a developer for the protections proposed by the bill and prohibits districts from imposing pipeline construction fees on developers greater than the reasonable and documented costs the district incurs for legal, engineering, administrative review, construction oversight, required infrastructure relocations, conversions, or repairs.

The committee unanimously adopted the substitute and subsequently approved the bill recommendation by roll call. Senator Hancock moved adoption of the committee substitute and the motion passed on an 8-0 vote. The committee reported the substitute favorably to the full Senate and recommended it for the local, noncontested calendar.

The committee opened and closed public testimony on SB 6 12 with no speakers registered and no public comments recorded during the hearing.

Next steps: the committee reported the committee substitute favorably to the full Senate for further consideration.