Sec. 8878.103. FEES, USER FEES, RATES, AND CHARGES. (a) The authority may establish fees, user fees, rates, and charges and classifications of payers of fees and rates as necessary to enable the authority to fulfill the authority's purposes and regulatory functions provided by this chapter. The authority may impose fees, user fees, rates, and charges on any person within the authority.

(b) The authority may charge the owner of a well located within the authority's boundaries a fee or user fee according to the amount of water pumped from the well. If ownership of a well changes, both the prior and subsequent well owners are liable to the authority, jointly and severally, for all fees and user fees imposed by the authority under this subsection, and any related penalties and interest, for water pumped from that well before the change in well ownership. Notwithstanding Subsection (d), the authority may impose a charge under this subsection on a well or class of wells located in Fort Bend County that, on or after February 1, 2013:

(1) ceases to be subject to a groundwater reduction requirement imposed by the Fort Bend Subsidence District or applicable subsidence district; or

(2) is no longer subject to the regulatory provisions, permitting requirements, or jurisdiction of the Fort Bend Subsidence District or applicable subsidence district.

(c) The board shall make reasonable efforts to send districts and municipalities written notice of the date, time, and location of the meeting at which the board intends to adopt a proposed charge under Subsection (b) and the amount of the proposed charge. The board's failure to comply with this subsection does not invalidate a charge adopted by the board under Subsection (b).

(d) For wells located in Fort Bend County, the board shall exempt from the charge under Subsection (b) classes of wells that are not subject to any groundwater reduction requirement imposed by the Fort Bend Subsidence District or applicable subsidence district. If any of those classes of wells become subject to a groundwater reduction requirement imposed by the applicable subsidence district, the authority may impose the charge under Subsection (b) on those classes. The board by rule may exempt any other classes of wells from the charge under Subsection (b). The board may not apply the charge under Subsection (b) to a well:

(1) with a casing diameter of less than five inches that serves only a single-family dwelling; or

(2) regulated under Chapter 27, Water Code.

(e) For purposes of Subsection (d), a well is subject to a groundwater reduction requirement if the applicable subsidence district has adopted or adopts a requirement or rule that groundwater withdrawals from the well, or from the well and other wells collectively, be reduced, including a groundwater reduction that is not required until a future date.

(f) The authority may establish fees, user fees, rates, and charges that are sufficient to:

(1) achieve water conservation;

(2) prevent waste of water;

(3) serve as a disincentive to pumping groundwater;

(4) develop, implement, or enforce a groundwater reduction plan;

(5) accomplish the purposes of this chapter, including making available alternative water supplies;

(6) enable the authority to meet operation and maintenance expenses;

(7) pay the principal of and interest on notes, bonds, and other obligations issued in connection with the exercise of the authority's general powers and duties; and

(8) satisfy all rate covenants relating to the issuance of notes, bonds, and other obligations.

(g) The authority may charge rates established by the authority for water purchased from the authority.

(h) The authority may impose fees, user fees, or charges for the importation of water into the authority's boundaries from a source located outside the authority's boundaries.

(i) The authority may impose a reasonable export fee or surcharge for groundwater transferred out of the authority, in an amount not to exceed 150 percent of the surface water fee charged by the North Fort Bend Water Authority.

Added by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 829 (S.B. 1870), Sec. 1, eff. June 14, 2013.