SB1302

The introduced bill would have barred reauthorization under a general permit for five years after the denial or suspension. The Senate substitute replaced that fixed waiting period with active executive-director authorization and an express ban on automatic authorization. The five-year ban did not become law. The final act supplies no replacement fixed waiting period or guaranteed approval deadline. Introduced proposal; Senate substitute; Final law.

The Senate-passed, House committee and enrolled substantive texts match the substitute. The official amendment index lists no separate amendments. The substitute also removed the introduced bill’s additional sentence preserving former law for earlier orders, while retaining the express rule that the new provisions apply only to orders on or after September 1, 2025. Senate-passed text; House committee text; Text-version index; Amendment index; Final law, section 2.

Existing law can allow general-permit coverage through a notice of intent, sometimes immediately or after a specified period, and in some circumstances without such a notice. SB1302 adds a specific restriction after the qualifying denial or suspension; it does not abolish general permits or rewrite all ordinary application procedures. Existing authority to require an individual permit also remains. Existing procedures, subsections (e)–(h); Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Affected dischargers must obtain an active decision before resuming discharge under the general permit. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gains a clear statutory barrier to automatic re-entry for this group, potentially supporting oversight of poor compliance histories. The act does not establish measured water-quality gains, identify particular affected businesses, set new discharge limits or automatically grant an individual permit instead. Final law; General-permit framework.

The March 16 introduced and March 17 substitute fiscal notes anticipate no significant state or local-government fiscal impact, assuming state costs can be absorbed within existing resources. Neither quantifies private dischargers’ delay or compliance costs. The act makes no appropriation; the fiscal assumption is not a promise of zero cost to every affected operator. Introduced fiscal note; Substitute fiscal note.