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Committee amends bill to lower economic-analysis threshold for water conveyance projects
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Summary
Members amended House Bill 12 18 to require life-cycle/economic analyses for flood and water conveyance projects at a lower dollar threshold ($750,000) and stripped permissive language on commission policies to align state review processes.
Representatives Haggart and Doctor presented amendments to House Bill 12 18, which addresses water plans, conveyance and related economic analysis. The amendment removed language authorizing the commission to develop policies and procedures in a way that duplicated existing State Water Commission guidance and instead inserted a lifecycle or economic analysis requirement for flood and water conveyance projects.
Representative Doctor proposed lowering the dollar threshold in the amended bill from $5,000,000 to $750,000 to capture more projects in the economic-review process; Representative Haggart and others supported that change during floor discussion in committee. Haggart argued the higher $5 million threshold was too high given the historical distribution of projects: committee records show 58 environmental assessments have been completed since 2019 and only three exceeded the $5 million level, so a reduced threshold would require review for a broader set of projects.
The committee adopted amendment 1003 with the $750,000 figure and later voted to give House Bill 12 18 a due pass as amended. The committee did not attach a fiscal note in the hearing record; members said the change aligns review practice with existing State Water Commission actions and anticipated negotiations with the Senate on final language.
