Certain state agencies must keep public files of groundwater contamination cases, and the committee must publish an annual groundwater monitoring and contamination report and adopt contamination-defining rules.
Sec. 26.406. GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION INFORMATION AND REPORTS; RULES. (a) Each state agency having responsibilities related to the protection of groundwater shall maintain a public file of all documented cases of groundwater contamination that are reasonably suspected of having been caused by activities regulated by the agency. (b) For purposes of this section, the agencies identified as having responsibilities related to protection of groundwater include the commission, the Department of Agriculture, the Railroad Commission of Texas, and the State Soil and Water Conservation Board. (c) In conjunction with the commission, the committee shall publish not later than June 1 of each year a joint groundwater monitoring and contamination report covering the activities and findings of the committee made during the previous calendar year. The report must: (1) describe the current status of groundwater monitoring programs conducted by or required by each agency at regulated facilities or in connection with regulated activities; (2) contain a description of each case of groundwater contamination documented during the previous calendar year and of each case of groundwater contamination documented during previous periods for which enforcement action was incomplete at the time of issuance of the preceding report; and (3) indicate the status of enforcement action for each case of groundwater contamination that is included in the report. (d) The committee shall adopt rules defining the conditions that constitute groundwater contamination for purposes of inclusion of cases in the public files and the joint report required by this section. Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 768, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 11.296, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by: Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 325 (S.B. 2124), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.