89R13038 KRM-F     By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 5341       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the issuance by the Texas Commission on Environmental   Quality of permits to authorize the diversion of state water from   the Gulf of Mexico or a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico for   desalination and use for industrial purposes.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 11.1405, Water Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (g-1) to read as   follows:          (g)  The commission:                (1)  shall [may] include any provision in a permit   issued under this section that the commission considers necessary   to comply with the environmental flow standards established under   Section 11.1471;                (2)  may limit a point of diversion to an area located   outside of a sensitive habitat based on the environmental flow   analyses and recommended environmental flow regimes developed by   the applicable basin and bay expert science team under Section   11.02362; and                (3)  may deny a permit for a diversion of state water   under this section if the point of diversion is in close proximity   to a sensitive habitat such as an oyster reef or seagrass bed.          (g-1)  The commission by rule shall establish standards to   minimize impingement and entrainment caused by a permitted   diversion of state water from a bay or arm of the Gulf of Mexico.          SECTION 2.  Not later than December 1, 2026, the Texas   Commission on Environmental Quality shall adopt or amend rules   necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.          SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   an application for a permit for the diversion of state water that is   submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on or   after the effective date of this Act.  An application for a permit   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 was submitted, and the former law is continued in   effect for that purpose.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.