Overview
Texas Agriculture Code §201.020(a) and §203.012 provide the basis for the TSSWCB to pass rules, which can be found in the Texas Administrative Code, Title 31 - Natural Resources and Conservation, Part 17 - Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board.
View Title 31, Part 17 of the Texas Administrative Code
Pending Rule Review
RULE §523.1 Scope and Jurisdiction
(a) The Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board (State Board) is the lead agency in this state for activity relating to abating agricultural and silvicultural nonpoint source pollution.
(1) Nonpoint source pollution is pollution caused by diffuse sources that are not regulated as point sources and normally is associated with, but is not limited to agricultural, silvicultural, and urban runoff including construction activities. Such pollution is the result of human-made or human-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water. In practical terms nonpoint source pollution does not result from a discharge at a specific, single location (such as a single pipe) but generally results from land runoff, precipitation, atmospheric deposition, or percolation. Pollution from nonpoint sources occurs when the rate at which pollutant materials entering water bodies or groundwater exceeds natural rates or total loadings exceed natural loadings.
(A) Possible nonpoint source pollutants associated with agricultural and silvicultural activities include nutrients, pesticides, organic matter, sediment, and animal wastes. These pollutants may be transported to surface waters in solution with runoff water, suspended in runoff water, or adsorbed on eroded soil particles. The primary concern about agricultural and silvicultural impacts on groundwater relate to use of pesticides, nutrients and potential leaching of these compounds to groundwater or surface runoff entering groundwater through avenues such as abandoned and improperly constructed wells.
(B) Animal feeding operations, in their entirety as a single functioning facility, may be considered a point or a nonpoint source depending on size, location, and other considerations. For the purposes of this chapter, all animal feeding operations not required to obtain a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality are nonpoint sources.
(2) Agriculture includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: cultivating the soil; producing crops for human food, animal feed, planting seed, or fiber; floriculture; viticulture; horticulture; aquaculture; raising or keeping livestock or poultry; and planting cover crops or leaving land idle for the purpose of participating in any governmental program or normal crop or livestock rotation procedure.
(3) Silviculture includes, but is not limited to, the following activities: practices to establish, nurture, protect, and enhance the desired growth of trees for human and/or wildlife benefit; natural or planted afforestation; the propagation and culture of tree seedlings, tree saplings, and Christmas trees; controlling, suppressing, or culling unwanted woody or herbaceous vegetation in a forested area; establishing and/or maintaining strips or belts of trees for purposes of providing wildlife habitat, wind breaks, or riparian buffers; construction and maintenance of roads and fire lanes; practices and operations that facilitate the harvesting, handling, and removing timber products from a site where they were grown.
(b) As the lead agency, the State Board shall plan, implement, and manage programs and practices for abating agricultural and silvicultural nonpoint source pollution. At a minimum, these programs shall include:
(1) a water quality management plan certification program required by Agriculture Code §201.026(g);
(2) a nonpoint source grant program funded by §319(h) of the federal Clean Water Act, as well as available non-federal appropriations provided by the Texas Legislature, to initiate planning, assessment, education, demonstration, research, or implementation projects and programs associated with the effective administration of the Texas Nonpoint Source Management Program;
(3) a total maximum daily load program in cooperation with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and as required by §303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act; the State Board may enter into an agreement with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the effective coordination of agricultural and silvicultural nonpoint source pollution components of total maximum daily loads and total maximum daily load implementation plans; and;
(4) a coastal nonpoint source pollution control program as required by §6217 of the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments of 1990 in cooperation with the Coastal Coordination Council and the Texas Coastal Management Program as required by Natural Resources Code §33.052.
The provisions of this §523.1 adopted to be effective December 22, 1993, 18 TexReg 9106; amended to be effective March 21, 2004, 29 TexReg 2652; amended to be effective June 21, 2006, 31 TexReg 4867; amended to be effective December 23, 2008, 33 TexReg 10325; amended to be effective July 8, 2013, 38 TexReg 4384
RULE §523.2 Identification of Problem Areas
(a) On its own petition or on the petition of a soil and water conservation district, the State Board may delineate an area having the potential to develop agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint source water pollution problems.
(b) Problem areas may be delineated based on the following criteria:
(1) data and information submitted by soil and water conservation districts;
(2) data and information obtained by the State Board;
(3) studies conducted by the State Board or soil and water conservation districts;
(4) assessments, special studies, and programs and research conducted relative to surface and underground water quality pursuant to the Federal Clean Water Act, §§106, 305b, 314, and 319; the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA), §6217; the National Estuary Program; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; the Texas Water Code, §26.0135; the Texas Clean Rivers Program and data and information collected or obtained by other local, state, or federal governmental entities;
(5) guidelines developed and promulgated by the State Board.
(c) Allocation of resources will be based on priority considerations. In allocating resources for the programs specified in §523.1(b)(1) - (4) of this title, the State Board will consider the following:
(1) known problems, where the State Board has determined that adequate data show the existence of a water quality problem caused by agricultural or silvicultural nonpoint sources;
(2) potential problems, where the State Board has determined that the intensity and location of certain agricultural and silvicultural activities requires program implementation to prevent pollution problems caused by agricultural and silvicultural nonpoint source activities;
(3) corrective action plans needing to be implemented, the economic impact on producers, and benefits to water quality. Corrective action plans may include, but are not limited to, watershed protection plans, total maximum daily loads and associated implementation plans, nonpoint source grant project plans, or certified water quality management plans.
The provisions of this §523.2 adopted to be effective December 22, 1993, 18 TexReg 9106; amended to be effective December 23, 2008, 33 TexReg 10325; amended to be effective July 8, 2013, 38 TexReg 4384
Comments on Pending Rules Review
Written comments on pending rules should be submitted to Heather Bounds by email at hbounds
tsswcb.texas.gov (hbounds[at]tsswcb[dot]texas[dot]gov) by July 13, 2025.
TEXAS STATE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION BOARD RULE REVIEW PLAN
In accordance with the Texas Government Code §2001.039, regarding Agency Review of existing rules, the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board adopts the following revised Rule Review Plan.
Fiscal Year 2025:
- Chapter 520, Subchapter B, Requirements to Receive State Funds or Administer State Programs (§§520.11 – 520.13)
- Chapter 523, Agricultural and Silvicultural Water Quality Management (§§523.1 - 523.8)
- Chapter 525, Subchapter A, Audit Requirements for Soil and Water Conservation Districts (§§525.1 – 525.9)
- Chapter 518, Subchapter A, Employee Training Rules (§§518.1 – 518.2)
- Chapter 527, Removal of A District Director (§§527.1 – 527.7)