Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to backwater variances for bridge construction or repair
Sponsored by Rep. Brooke Boden (R)
Topics:Environment & natural resourcesCities & countiesTransportation
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 28, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeMarch 3, 2025
- Stopped: House committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committeeFunnel: by March 20, 2026
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2026 session adjourned on May 3, 2026, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary When a bridge project causes extra flooding on nearby land, the Department of Natural Resources usually requires the local government to buy flooding easements from those landowners. This new law says the director must grant a special exception if every affected landowner signs a paper acknowledging that their property will flood during and after the work. This change affects cities, counties, and state agencies working on bridge construction or repairs.1
Read the official explanation
This bill relates to backwater variances for bridge construction or repair. Under current administrative rules, if a bridge that requires a flood plain construction permit exceeds established backwater limits, the department of natural resources (DNR) may require the relevant authority to acquire from the affected landowners a flooding easement for the excess backwater. The bill requires the director of DNR to issue a variance to any state agency, county, or city for backwater requirements for bridge construction or repair if the director receives from all affected landowners who have not provided the state agency, county, or city with a flooding easement a written acknowledgment that each landowner’s property will be subject to flooding during and after the construction or repair.
House subcommittee
Named March 3, 2025. On March 4, 2025 it recommended passage.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part