Municipal Setting Designations

Requesting a City Resolution of Support

To ask the City of Fredville for a resolution supporting a Municipal Setting Designation (MSD), send the items below to the city's Health and Environment staff:

• A request letter explaining why the city's support is needed. The letter must identify the applicant, give the address of the subject property and state why the MSD is being sought. If any city wells lie within five miles of the property, list how many there are and where they are located.
• The property's legal description, with a survey plat.
• An aerial photo showing the property and nearby land uses.
• A written description of the contamination plume, how far it has been delineated and the concentrations found in soil or groundwater, compared with the protective concentration levels that would apply without an MSD. Include a map of the delineated plume if one exists.
• A copy of any ordinance or resolution, including second or third readings, adopted by the city where the MSD is sought.
• If the plume extends under homes, say whether anyone has completed a study of soil vapor intrusion and what it found.

Provide the materials both electronically and on paper. For more information, contact the department director at (555) 010-1261 or [email protected].

What Is an MSD?

A Municipal Setting Designation is a state designation for property inside a city or its extraterritorial jurisdiction. It certifies that designated groundwater beneath the property is not used for drinking and may not be used for drinking in the future, because contamination exceeds the protective concentration level for potable water. An MSD can change the cleanup standards the state requires for that property.

Approval of an MSD rests with the executive director of the state's environmental agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), under Chapter 361, Subchapter W, of the state Health and Safety Code. The Legislature created the program in 2003 through House Bill 3152 of its 78th session.

TCEQ, the state agency charged with protecting public health and the environment, was directed by lawmakers to review MSD applications. Its review confirms that a proposal meets applicable laws and rules and weighs possible risks to present and future regional groundwater needs and to the obligations of water users.

City staff will not perform an environmental risk assessment of an application. Before the state can grant a designation, the local city council must back the request by resolution and must ban drinking-water use of the groundwater in the MSD by ordinance.

To streamline local review and give the public a voice, Fredville has adopted an MSD procedural ordinance. Applicants do not need to file with TCEQ before applying to the city.

Who May Apply?

Under the state MSD law, any person, including a local government, may ask the TCEQ executive director for a designation if the property lies within the city limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of an eligible municipality with at least 20,000 residents.

In addition, a public drinking water system that meets Chapter 341 of the Health and Safety Code must serve, or be able to serve, both the property and land within half a mile of it.

What Happens After I Apply?

The Health and Environment Department sends copies of the application to other city departments. Reviewers flag any problems and point out city interests the proposed MSD could affect.

When review is finished, the department determines if the submittal is complete; when it is, the director sets a date for a public meeting.

If the application is incomplete, the department returns it to the applicant with a written list of deficiencies. The applicant has 30 days from the date of that letter to fix the problems and resubmit. If no corrected application arrives in time, the application is considered withdrawn and the fee is forfeited.

Once the public meeting has been held, the department schedules a public hearing.

Must I Attend the Public Meeting and the Public Hearing?

Yes. At the public meeting, the applicant explains municipal setting designations and the specific request to the affected community and hears feedback before the formal City Council hearing. The applicant or a representative must attend; if no one appears, the application is considered withdrawn and the fee is forfeited.

The public hearing takes place during a City Council meeting, where the applicant or a representative must present the MSD request. Failing to appear in person or through a representative also results in withdrawal of the application and loss of the fee.

How Is an Application Approved?

• The City Council approves an application by adopting an ordinance that prohibits drinking-water use of the designated groundwater beneath the property.
• The ordinance takes effect once TCEQ issues pre-certification.
• The Council may attach other reasonable limits on groundwater use within the designation.
• The applicant will receive a certified copy of the ordinance once it is available.

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