SB2885

Aquifer storage and recovery means putting water into a geologic formation for later recovery and beneficial use. The new provision allows authorization by rule, individual permit or general permit, notwithstanding Water Code section 27.153(b)(1), which directs the agency to consider compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. SB2885 does not itself specify treatment limits or approve any particular project. Final law; 2015 law establishing the surrounding storage-and-recovery framework, section 3.

The exception names only subsection (b)(1). SB2885 does not erase the other statutory considerations, including recoverability, effects on existing wells and harmful changes to native groundwater, or the surrounding testing and reporting provisions. Nor does a Texas statute repeal federal law. The enacted framework still needs agency standards and an applicable authorization; this briefing does not verify current rules, permits or a project’s water quality. Final law; Existing framework, sections 27.153–27.156.

The introduced bill would have described qualifying reclaimed water as meeting federal Safe Drinking Water Act standards. The Senate substitute instead used the express exception to subsection (b)(1) and agency-adopted treatment standards. That substituted wording remained unchanged through the engrossed bill, House report and final act. No floor amendments are listed. Another 2025 enactment, SB863, contains the same new subsection; SB2885 does not create a second, different treatment test. Introduced bill; Senate substitute; All versions; Amendment index; SB863, section 2; 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.

Water utilities and other project operators may gain another way to store reclaimed water for later use. That could assist long-term supply planning, but savings, usable water volumes and effects on nearby groundwater depend on treatment, geology and project conditions. The law does not guarantee cheaper water or that all injected water can be recovered. Final law; Substitute fiscal note.

The fiscal note estimates $1,153,162 in costs to the dedicated Water Resource Management Account for fiscal 2026–2027: $593,581 in 2026 and $559,581 in 2027, with four additional full-time-equivalent positions. It projects $559,581 annually in fiscal 2028–2030. Its zero general-revenue-related impact is not a zero total-state-cost estimate. The agency expected more permit applications but supplied no estimate of how many. Local-government fiscal effects were indeterminate, and the act itself makes no appropriation. The introduced and substitute notes use the same cost estimates while describing different treatment-standard language. Introduced fiscal note; Substitute fiscal note.