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  89R13394 KRM-D     By: Morales Shaw H.B. No. 3728       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the adoption by the Texas Commission on Environmental   Quality of salinity requirements for bays and estuaries.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 26, Water Code, is amended   by adding Section 26.0231 to read as follows:           Sec.   26.0231.     SALINITY OF BAYS AND ESTUARIES. The   commission shall incorporate in standards set under Section 26.023:                 (1)     numeric salinity gradients for bays and estuaries   where site-specific salinity studies exist; and                 (2)     narrative salinity criteria for bays and estuaries   listing specific species within bays and estuaries to support   attainable estuarine dependent aquatic life.          SECTION 2.  (a)  The Texas Commission on Environmental   Quality shall ensure that water quality standards set by the   commission under Section 26.023, Water Code, comply with Section   26.0231, Water Code, as added by this Act, in the first revision of   the commission's relevant rules that occurs after the effective   date of this Act.          (b)  Not later than September 1, 2026, the Texas Commission   on Environmental Quality shall publish on its Internet website a   report on the results of long-term studies conducted between 2003   and 2025 by the commission and other state agencies of estuarine   salinity gradients.  The report must assess, based on available   information from stakeholders and the studies, the effects of   additional wastewater loading, desalination, and changes in   hydrological conditions and rainfall on estuarine salinity   gradients and estuarine dependent wildlife.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.