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Amend CSHB 3588 by inserting the following new SECTIONS to the
bill and renumbering the existing SECTIONS accordingly:
SECTION ____. The heading to Chapter 55, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 55. FUNDING OF PORT SECURITY, PROJECTS,
AND STUDIES [TEXAS PORT TRANSPORTATION
AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUNDING]
SECTION ____. Section 55.001, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Transportation
Commission.
(2) "Committee" means the [Texas] Port Authority
[Transportation and Economic Development] Advisory Committee.
(3) [(2)] "Department" means the Texas Department of
Transportation [Economic Development].
(4) [(3)] "Fund" means the port access account fund.
(5) [(4)] "Port security, transportation, or facility
project" means a project that is necessary or convenient for the
proper operation of a port and that will improve the security,
movement, and intermodal transportation of cargo or passengers in
commerce and trade.
SECTION ____. Section 55.002, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.002. [TEXAS] PORT [TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC]
DEVELOPMENT FUNDING. (a) From [Using only] money in the fund, the
department shall fund:
(1) port security, transportation, or facility
projects; and [or]
(2) port studies.
(b) The department may not fund a port security,
transportation, or facility project unless an amount at least equal
to the amount provided by the department is invested in the [a]
project by a port authority or navigation district.
(c) Port security, transportation, or facility projects
eligible for funding under this chapter include:
(1) construction or improvement of transportation
facilities within the jurisdiction of a port;
(2) the dredging or deepening of channels, turning
basins, or harbors;
(3) the construction or improvement of wharves, docks,
structures, jetties, piers, storage facilities, cruise terminals,
or any facilities necessary or useful in connection with port
transportation or economic development;
(4) the construction or improvement of facilities
necessary or useful in providing port security;
(5) the acquisition of container cranes or other
mechanized equipment used in the movement of cargo or passengers in
international commerce;
(6) [(5)] the acquisition of land to be used for port
purposes;
(7) [(6)] the acquisition, improvement, enlargement,
or extension of existing port facilities; and
(8) [(7)] environmental protection projects that:
(A) are required as a condition of a state,
federal, or local environmental permit or other form of [state]
approval;
(B) are necessary for the acquisition of spoil
disposal sites and improvements to existing and future spoil sites;
or
(C) [that] result from the undertaking of
eligible projects.
(d) The department, in consultation with the committee,
shall review the list of projects recommended by the committee to
evaluate the economic benefit of each project. The commission
[department], after receiving recommendations from [in
consultation with] the committee and from the department, shall
approve projects or studies for funding based on its review.
SECTION ____. Section 55.004, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.004. AUDIT. The department may subject a project
that receives money under this chapter to a final audit. [The
department may adopt rules and perform other acts necessary or
convenient to ensure that the final audits are conducted and that
any deficiency or questioned costs noted by the audit are
resolved.]
SECTION ____. Section 55.006, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.006. [TEXAS] PORT AUTHORITY [TRANSPORTATION AND
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT] ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The committee
[Texas Port Transportation and Economic Development Advisory
Committee] consists of seven members appointed by the commission.
The members shall be appointed as follows:
(1) one member from the Port of Houston Authority [a
member of the governing body of each of the ports that are members
of the Texas Ports Association or their designees]; [and]
(2) three members who represent ports on the upper
Texas coast; and [as a nonvoting member, the executive director or
the designee of the department]
(3) three members who represent ports on the lower
Texas coast.
(b) A committee member serves at the pleasure of the
commission [The committee shall develop bylaws under which it
operates. The bylaws must specify the procedure by which the
presiding officer of the committee is elected. A majority of voting
members constitutes a quorum sufficient to conduct meetings and
business of the committee. A vote of the majority of the voting
members present is sufficient for any action of the committee,
unless the bylaws of the committee require a greater vote for a
particular action].
(c) [The committee shall meet at the call of its presiding
officer, at the request of a majority of its membership, or at times
prescribed in its bylaws.] The committee must meet at least
semiannually.
(d) A member is not entitled to compensation for service on
the committee but is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable
expenses the member incurs in performing committee duties.
(e) Section [Sections] 2110.002 [and 2110.008], Government
Code, does [do] not apply to the committee.
SECTION ____. Section 55.007, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.007. DUTIES OF COMMITTEE. The committee shall:
(1) prepare a port mission plan;
(2) review each project eligible to be funded under
this chapter and make recommendations for approval or disapproval
to the department;
(3) maintain trade data information that will assist
ports in this state and international trade;
(4) annually prepare a list of projects that have been
recommended by the committee, including:
(A) the recommended funding level for each
project; and
(B) if staged implementation of the project is
appropriate, the funding requirements for each stage; and
(5) advise the commission and the department on
matters relating to port authorities and, [adopt rules for
evaluating projects that may be funded under this chapter,
providing criteria for the evaluation of the economic benefit of
the project, measured by the potential for the proposed project to
increase:
[(A) cargo flow;
[(B) cruise passenger movement;
[(C) international commerce;
[(D) port revenues; and
[(E) the number of jobs for the port's local
community].
SECTION ____. Section 55.008, Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 55.008. CAPITAL PROGRAM. (a) The committee shall
prepare a two-year port capital program defining the goals and
objectives of the committee concerning the development of port
facilities and an intermodal transportation system. The port
capital program must include projects or studies submitted to the
committee by any [each] port [that is a member of the committee] and
recommendations for:
(1) the construction of transportation facilities
connecting any port to another transportation mode; and
(2) the efficient, cost-effective development of
transportation facilities or port facilities for the purpose of:
(A) enhancing international trade;
(B) enhancing security;
(C) promoting cargo flow;
(D) [(C)] increasing cruise passenger movements;
(E) [(D)] increasing port revenues; and
(F) [(E)] providing economic benefits to the
state.
(b) The committee shall update the port capital program
annually and shall submit the capital program not later than
February 1 of each year to:
(1) the governor;
(2) the lieutenant governor;
(3) the speaker of the house of representatives; and
(4) the commission [department].
SECTION ____. Chapter 55, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Section 55.009 to read as follows:
Sec. 55.009. RULES. The commission shall adopt rules to
implement this chapter.
SECTION ____. Chapter 53, Transportation Code, is repealed.