New Texas Law Aims to Toughen Irrigation Standards

Starting January 2009, irrigators in Texas will have to incorporate a few more ‘to-dos’ in their pursuit to install an irrigation system.

H.B. 1656, a bill mandating all cities with populations of 20,000 or more to regulate irrigators and irrigation systems, was signed into Texas law June 2007. The new law, requiring the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to adopt rules which will go into effect January 2009, proposes that:

• Each participating city adopts standards and specifications for designing, installing, and operating irrigation systems.
• Irrigation installations receive onsite supervision by a licensed individual.
• All new installations undergo inspection and approval by a licensed irrigation inspector (from the municipality or associated water district) or licensed plumbing inspector.

So what does this all mean?

“Texas irrigators will have to do away with ‘comfort zone’ installations, and ensure proper head spacing, uniformity, and pressure requirements are met,” said Jeffrey Knight, education manager for Ewing Irrigation and a Texas Licensed Irrigator. “Irrigators can no longer cut corners. There will be a new system for checks and balances for our industry.”

Breaking the Rules Down

While Texas has maintained different variations of irrigator licensing programs since 1973, the new law is setting stricter standards on the irrigator, and the design, installation and maintenance completed by an irrigator.

The TCEQ, the law’s governing body, has conceptualized several proposed requirements under the new law, but the two primary propositions that stirred up debate at the law’s rulemaking hearing in Austin on February 26 deal with the “supervision” and “inspection” of an installation.

To ensure the minimum standards and specifications for designing, installing and operating irrigation systems are met by irrigators, the proposed rules indicate that each installation will need to be accompanied with “on-the-job oversight and direction” by a licensed individual.

With the current rules, the law states that each municipality must require a written design to pull the permit for a jobsite. When the job is completed, the rules advise that the corrections are recorded on an as-built diagram.

“The one-man show might go out of business,” said John Schwartz, owner of Amarillo Sprinklers. “Requiring designs is going to add more expense to small businesses and require them to work nights and weekends to keep up on the paperwork associated with designs.”

Schwartz doesn’t agree with the micro-management of the irrigator the TCEQ is trying to pursue.

“Let Austin (the TCEQ) spell out the broad rules, but don’t get specific,” Schwartz added. “Stay away from the minute details!”

New Irrigator License Classifications

The proposed rule to have a licensed individual present during the installation, repair, alteration or service of an irrigation system prompted the TCEQ to create a new license classification—the irrigation technician license—in order to meet expected statewide demand for the installation of irrigation systems.

This license would phase out the installer license and require all licensed installers to obtain an irrigation technician license before January 1, 2010.

“Individuals holding a current installer license will be able to continue to perform their current duties until December 31, 2009, but will not be able to perform the expanded duties of the irrigator technician,” said Candy Garrett, rule project manager for the TCEQ Landscape Irrigation Program.

In order to receive a technician license, professionals must apply for the irrigation technician license, complete the corresponding training course and pass the exam.

The TCEQ predicts to issue approximately 1,700 irrigation technician licenses within the first year of the proposed rules taking effect.

“To become a licensed irrigator, you must attend a TCEQ-approved irrigation training course. There is no training required for a licensed installer, and the fact is, most irrigators are turning jobs over to their employees for installation,” Knight said. “Unless the owner of the company is facilitating training for their employees, the average employee is not well-versed in the rules, regulations and specifications outlined by the state. There is no quality control so now the state is stepping up to make sure things are done correctly.”

In regards to the proposed “inspection” requirement, the rules state that the jobsite may need to be inspected and approved by a licensed plumbing or irrigation inspector from the city or associated water district.

“H.B. 1656 allows each municipality to employ or contract with a licensed plumbing inspector or a licensed irrigation inspector to enforce the local ordinances,” said Garrett, adding that water districts may also adopt rules to have a licensed plumbing inspector, a licensed irrigation inspector, the district’s operator, or another governmental entity to enforce their landscape irrigation rules.

An individual who becomes a licensed irrigation inspector, another new proposed license classification stemming from the law, will be able to work for cities and water districts, or may contract with those entities, to inspect new residential and commercial irrigation systems. The TCEQ estimates license exam fees and training costs for a first-year licensed irrigation inspector will be $1,300.

The Great Debate

Irrigation professionals who attended the hearing in Austin voiced opposition to the proposed rule because it states a licensed plumbing inspector is able to inspect an irrigation jobsite.

Lonnie Erwin, chief plumbing and mechanical inspector for the City of Dallas, said it is more economical for the City of Dallas to hire supplemental licensed plumbing inspectors who are responsible for inspecting irrigation systems, than to hire and train an independent group of licensed irrigation inspectors.

“We can train plumbing inspectors to look at and inspect irrigation systems, but we don’t want to hire irrigation inspectors who are limited to what they can inspect,” Erwin said. “If our plumbing inspectors who are assigned to irrigation systems are having a slow day, we can send them out to other types of inspections. It is more dollar-conscious.”

Due to the overarching authority of the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners, the TCEQ cannot impose additional training on plumbing professionals, but according to Erwin, he is not going to send his crew into the field without training them about the inner-workings of an irrigation system.

The TCEQ is currently developing the foundational ‘checklist’ for an installation inspection, but city officials may further build upon the criteria if they so choose.

“Each city ordinance or set of rules must adopt TCEQ rules at a minimum, but may go beyond TCEQ requirements,” Garrett said. “For example, the City of Dallas requires a freeze sensor, but the proposed TCEQ rules do not require freeze sensors. An inspection checklist for the City of Dallas would probably include a freeze sensor. It is important that irrigators are aware of local requirements in addition to the minimum TCEQ requirements.”  

The ramifications for breaking the new regulations will be determined at the local level. Local jurisdiction may include fines, the barring of a licensed irrigation professional from pulling permits or other administrative implications.   

Approximately 117 municipalities will be required to adopt and enforce a landscape irrigation ordinance, and about 1,100 water districts will have the option of doing so.

The TCEQ projects to finalize the rules by June.