Biography

Bill practices in the areas of water and environmental law, public law and administrative law. He represents and advises municipalities, river authorities and water districts before state and federal agencies with an emphasis on water and environmental issues. He focuses his practice on client counseling and administrative hearings for industrial, commercial and governmental clients in matters involving ground water, water and sewer rates, water quality permitting, industrial and municipal solid waste, hazardous waste cleanup and disposal, air quality permitting, open meetings and open records, and contracting.

Representative Experience

Groundwater matters – Bill serves as general counsel for the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District and Bluebonnet Groundwater Conservation District. In this capacity, Bill assists these districts in a wide variety of matters including groundwater permitting, rule enforcement, open meetings and open records, contracting, elections, and employment matters.

Municipal representation – Bill represented a coalition of cities in a TCEQ appeal of the cities’ rate ordinance by the state’s largest investor-owned water and sewer utility. Bill represented numerous cities in contested cases regarding certificated water and sewer service territories. Bill also represented cities before TCEQ in enforcement matters and wastewater discharge permit amendments and renewals. Bill represented cities in negotiating and drafting wholesale water supply contracts.

Political subdivisions other than cities – Bill represented a coalition of Texas counties in federal court, before U.S. Congress and in a U.S. EAA rulemaking regarding Phase II stormwater regulations. Bill represented water districts in negotiating and drafting water supply contracts and in contested wastewater discharge permit hearings. Bill represented a school district and a community college in environmental due diligence matters and in matters involving leaking petroleum storage tanks, solid waste disposal, and the TCEQ voluntary clean-up program.

Private entities – Bill has represented publicly traded companies in environmental due diligence associated with the acquisition of over 100 different cell tower sites and another publicly traded company in a water quality enforcement matter before the TCEQ.

Former Briefing Attorney, Court of Appeals, Third District of Texas

Board Certified – Administrative Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

The Best Lawyers in America©, Water Law, 2024

Secretary of the Administrative and Public Law Section Council of the State Bar of Texas

Member, Administrative Law Exam Commission, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Texas Super Lawyers list (2009-2011)

National Jamboree Committee Chair, Capitol Area Council Boy Scouts of America

Member, Texas Water Conservation Association

Member, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts

GCD Must-Do’s, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts GCD Boot Camp, April 25, 2022

Updates on Open Meetings Laws, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Regular Business Meeting Speaker Series, June 8, 2021

Lessons Learned: Accountability and the Petition for Review Process, Panel Moderator, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts 2020 Virtual Texas Groundwater Summit, September 3, 2020

GCD Board Statutory Requirements-Conflict of Interest and Open Government, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Leadership Training, October 27, 2016, Austin, TX

Moving Groundwater in Texas, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Texas Groundwater Summit, August 23, 2016, San Marcos, TX

GCD Brackish Groundwater Authority and Regulation of “White Zones” Texas Aquifer Conference, American Groundwater Trust Annual Texas Conference, June 9, 2016, Austin, TX

E-mails and E-mail Addresses under Open Government Laws, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts Quarterly Business Meeting, May 18, 2016, Austin, TX

GCD’s Role in Water Quality Protection, TWCA 72nd Annual Convention, March 3, 2016, Woodlands, TX

GCD’s Role in Water Quality Protection, 25th Annual Water Law Conference, October 5-6, 2015, Austin, TX

Everything You Want to Know About CCNs, 17th Annual Water Quality Management & Planning Conference, Lower Rio Grande Valley, May 19-23, 2015

BSEACD and HB 3405, Austin Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, May 7, 2015

All Appropriate Inquires in Connection with Groundwater Purchases, Changing Face of Water Rights, State Bar of Texas, February 26-27, 2015

Speaker at Texas Alliance of Groundwater District Leadership Conference in Lubbock, September 2014.

Speaker at Texas Alliance of Groundwater District annual meeting San Marcos, August 2014.

 Speaker at UT Advanced Administrative Law Conference CLE, August 2014.

 Speaker on  Desired Future Conditions,  UT Water Law Institute CLE, December 2013.

Speaker on Open Meetings Act Texas Water Conservation Association Fall Convention, October 2013.

Co-Author and project member Desalination Concentrate Management Policy  Analysis for the Arid West published by the Water Reuse Research Foundation, Project WRRF-11-09, August 2013.

Speaker on Public Information  Act at Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts annual meeting Austin, August 2013.

Speaker on Groundwater Districts at State Bar of Texas Environmental Impacts of Oil and Gas Exploration CLE San Antonio, January 2013.

Group Moderator at Inland Desalination Concentrate Workshop El Paso, Texas, October 2012.

Speaker on desalination on a panel Water Law Institute CLE, November 2012.

Negotiating the Transaction, Author / Speaker, Landowner and Citizen Information on Groundwater Leasing, Marketing, and Sales Seminar, TAMU Agricultural Experimental Station, April 1, July 29, and September 14, 2004.

An Update on Phase II Storm Water Activities, Author / Speaker, 15th Annual Local Government Seminar (April 2002).

Conflicts of Interest Affecting Groundwater District Officials, Speaker, Preserving Groundwater through Local Management, Texas Groundwater Legal Defense and Education Fund (August 2001).

A Sampling of Environmental Issues and Opportunities Facing Texas Local Governments in 2000 and Beyond, Author / Speaker, 13th Annual Local Government Seminar (April 2000).

How To Create A Groundwater Conservation District, Author / Speaker, 12th Annual Local Government Seminar (April 1999).

“Phase II” of the EPA’S Storm Water Regulations: An Analysis of the Impact on Local Governments in Texas, Author / Speaker, 12th Annual Local Government Seminar (April 1999).

Options for Local Governments Involved in Administrative Enforcement Actions with the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Author / Speaker, 10th Annual Local Government Seminar (April 1997).