S.B. No. 1044
AN ACT
relating to efforts to mitigate coastal erosion and improve public
access to public beaches; authorizing the issuance of bonds by
coastal counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
(1) Texas has the third-longest coastline in the
United States;
(2) Texas beaches and bays are extremely popular as
visitor destinations, making beach tourism a multi-billion-dollar
industry in the state;
(3) improved public access to and use of the public
beaches is needed to realize the full potential of these valued
natural resources;
(4) Texas must address long-term solutions to
beachfront erosion along developed areas adjacent to beaches and
inland bays of the Texas coast;
(5) Texas beaches suffer from the highest rate of
erosion in the country;
(6) many structures in Galveston and Brazoria Counties
are at risk due to erosion over the next 30 years;
(7) public infrastructure as well as residential
dwellings that generate significant portions of the local property
tax base are threatened by erosion rates of up to 10 feet a year or
greater; and
(8) public works, such as dams and flood-control
projects on inland waterways and jetties, sea walls, and dykes
along the coast, and subsidence caused by the withdrawal of water
are significant causes of erosion, leading to the need for public
assistance as an aid in mitigation.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 33.605, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Money in the account may be used for any action
authorized by this subchapter, except for a restoration project
authorized by Section 33.613.
SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 33, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 33.613 to read as follows:
Sec. 33.613. PROPERTY RIGHTS; RESTORATION BY BEACHFRONT
OWNER OF PRIVATE PROPERTY AFFECTED BY COASTAL EROSION. (a) This
section applies to land that:
(1) on December 31, 1955, was privately owned and not
submerged or owned by the School Land Board; and
(2) fronts on a bay and not the Gulf of Mexico.
(b) In accordance with land office rules, the owner of
property immediately landward of a public beach or submerged land,
including state mineral lands, that has been affected by coastal
erosion shall restore the affected land to its original boundaries
as evidenced in a residential subdivision plat for residential lots
of one acre or less filed in the real property records of each
county in which the affected land is located. The owner shall use
only private resources and money for restoration authorized by this
section. After restoration the owner owns the restored land in fee
simple, subject to:
(1) the common law rights of the public in public
beaches as affirmed by Subchapter B, Chapter 61; and
(2) the rights of a public school land lessee holding a
lease on the property on September 1, 2005.
(c) In accordance with land office rules, the owner shall
build bulkheads on the restored land to prevent further erosion of
the restored land.
(d) The land office shall adopt reasonable rules to govern
the restoration of land under this section, including rules that:
(1) prescribe the type and quality of materials that
may be used to backfill or build a bulkhead;
(2) require maintenance of backfill and bulkheads;
(3) authorize land office maintenance or removal of
abandoned or dilapidated structures;
(4) require consideration of any adverse effects on
adjacent property owners; and
(5) establish penalties for the violation of this
section or rules adopted under this section.
(e) State money may not be used to restore land under this
section.
SECTION 4. Chapter 33, Natural Resources Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. COASTAL PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT
Sec. 33.651. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Bond" means any type of interest-bearing
obligation, including a bond, note, bond anticipation note,
certificate of participation, lease, contract, or other evidence of
indebtedness issued by a coastal county to pay the project costs of
a qualified project.
(2) "Coastal county" means a county that borders on
the Gulf of Mexico.
(3) "Coastal erosion" has the meaning assigned by
Section 33.601.
(4) "Coastal improvement project" means a project to
improve access to a public beach by:
(A) acquiring fee title to property or a right of
public access to a public beach;
(B) constructing or maintaining public roads,
parking, or other facilities in aid of public access to or use of a
public beach; or
(C) requiring a landowner, as prescribed by land
office rules, to restore land affected by coastal erosion to its
original boundaries.
(5) "Coastal protection project" means a project to
address or mitigate coastal erosion.
(6) "Coastal protection and improvement fund" means
the coastal protection and improvement fund created under Section
33.653.
(7) "County coastal protection and improvement fund"
means a county coastal protection and improvement fund created by a
coastal county under Section 33.655.
(8) "Project cost" means a cost or expense incurred in
relation to a qualified project, including the cost of:
(A) designing, engineering, acquiring,
constructing, maintaining, improving, extending, repairing,
replacing, monitoring, removing, or administering a qualified
project; or
(B) financing a qualified project, including the
cost of issuing bonds and the payment of principal, interest, and
redemption price.
(9) "Public beach" has the meaning assigned by Section
61.013.
(10) "Qualified agreement" means an agreement between
the land office and a coastal county in accordance with Section
33.657.
(11) "Qualified payment" means a payment by the
commissioner to a coastal county from the coastal protection and
improvement fund, as provided by this subchapter, that has been
approved in amount and qualification for payment by the land office
and the applicable coastal county.
(12) "Qualified project" means a coastal protection or
improvement project that qualifies for funding under Section
33.656.
Sec. 33.652. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER TO CERTAIN
MUNICIPALITIES. The provisions of this subchapter relating to
coastal counties apply to a municipality if all or substantially
all of the gulf beach within a coastal county is located within the
boundaries of the municipality.
Sec. 33.653. CREATION OF COASTAL PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT
FUND. (a) The coastal protection and improvement fund is created
as a trust fund outside the state treasury to be held by the Texas
Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company and administered by the
commissioner as trustee on behalf of the coastal counties.
(b) The fund consists of:
(1) gifts and grants; and
(2) appropriations of money to the fund by the
legislature.
(c) The commissioner shall allocate five percent of the
amount deposited in the fund to the land office to be used only to
pay the cost of administering any coastal protection and
improvement efforts undertaken under this subchapter and to support
a coastal monitoring program by The University of Texas Bureau of
Economic Geology and the sea turtle and shore monitoring programs
of Texas A&M University at Galveston.
(d) The commissioner shall allocate 95 percent of the amount
deposited in the fund for use by the coastal counties as provided by
this subchapter.
Sec. 33.654. USE OF COASTAL PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT
FUND. (a) The coastal protection and improvement fund shall be
used only to make a qualified payment to a coastal county sponsoring
a qualified project under this subchapter.
(b) The commissioner may make a qualified payment from the
fund to a coastal county only if and to the extent that the coastal
county is sponsoring a project that qualifies for funding as
certified by the coastal county and the land office.
(c) The amount and timing of a qualified payment shall be
determined by agreement between the land office and the coastal
county sponsoring the project. The amount of a qualified payment
may not exceed the estimated project costs.
Sec. 33.655. COUNTY COASTAL PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT
FUND. (a) Each coastal county shall create a county coastal
protection and improvement fund.
(b) Each coastal county shall deposit any qualified payment
that it receives into its county coastal protection and improvement
fund and shall use the money in the fund only to pay the project
costs of a qualified project as provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 33.656. PROJECTS THAT QUALIFY FOR FUNDING. To qualify
for funding under this subchapter, a project must:
(1) be sponsored by a coastal county;
(2) be located within the sponsoring coastal county
along or adjacent to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, an inland bay,
or a connecting channel between the Gulf of Mexico and an inland
bay;
(3) be accessible by public roads or a common carrier
ferry;
(4) be identified and approved for funding by a
coastal county and the land office; and
(5) require more than $5 million to complete, as
estimated by the land office.
Sec. 33.657. QUALIFIED AGREEMENT. (a) The land office and
a coastal county may enter into one or more agreements relating to a
qualified project and the payment of the associated project costs.
An agreement is governed by this subchapter.
(b) An agreement may provide that the commissioner will pay
to the coastal county an agreed amount from the coastal protection
and improvement fund over a term of years to be used by the coastal
county for a project that qualifies for funding under this
subchapter.
Sec. 33.658. QUALIFIED PAYMENT. (a) The commissioner
shall make qualified payments to a coastal county based on the land
office's estimate of the expected project costs of any qualified
projects undertaken by that county in the fiscal year in which the
payment is made.
(b) To the extent that the aggregate of qualified payments
by the commissioner to a coastal county in a fiscal year exceeds the
project costs of qualified projects undertaken by the county during
that year, the commissioner shall recover the amount of the
overpayment by:
(1) requiring the county to remit the amount of the
overpayment to the commissioner for deposit in the coastal
protection and improvement fund; or
(2) taking a credit against qualified payments due
that county the following year or years.
(c) If a coastal county that received an overpayment is not
due additional qualified payments the following year, the county
shall promptly remit the amount of the overpayment to the
commissioner for deposit in the coastal protection and improvement
fund.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), the commissioner may
not take a credit against qualified payments due a coastal county
the following year if the county needs the full amount of the
qualified payment that year to:
(1) pay the principal or interest on, or the
redemption price of, bonds issued to finance a qualified project;
or
(2) fund a reserve or other fund required by the
documents authorizing the issuance of bonds.
(e) The failure of a coastal county to use the full amount of
a qualified payment in the fiscal year in which it is received does
not prejudice the right of the county to receive money from the
coastal protection and improvement fund in future years as may be
provided in the county's qualified agreement.
(f) A coastal county may not use a qualified payment as a
local match for funding under a state program.
(g) A coastal county may use a qualified payment as a local
match for funding under a federal program.
Sec. 33.659. GENERAL POWERS OF COASTAL COUNTIES. (a) In
addition to all other powers that a coastal county has under general
law, a coastal county has the rights, powers, privileges,
authority, and functions that are necessary or convenient to:
(1) the designing, engineering, acquiring,
constructing, improving, maintaining, extending, repairing,
replacing, monitoring, removing, administering, and financing of a
qualified project located in a coastal county; and
(2) the funding of a reserve or other fund relating to
bonds.
(b) A coastal county may issue bonds to pay the project
costs of a qualified project. For purposes of this subchapter, a
coastal county is an issuer and a qualified project is an eligible
project within the meaning of Chapter 1371, Government Code, and
the provisions of Chapter 1371, Government Code, are applicable to
bonds issued by a coastal county.
(c) A coastal county may:
(1) enter into agreements with a public or private
person for the joint ownership, financing, or operation of a
qualified project;
(2) enter into contracts, leases, and agreements with,
and accept grants and loans from, any person to perform all acts
necessary for the full exercise of the powers vested in the county
on terms and for the term the county determines to be advisable;
(3) acquire property under a conditional sales
contract, lease, equipment trust certificate, or other form of
contract or trust agreement; and
(4) do anything necessary, convenient, or desirable to
carry out the powers expressly granted or implied by this
subchapter.
Sec. 33.660. AUTHORITY TO CONTRACT. (a) A coastal county
may contract with a state agency, municipality, county, or other
political subdivision of the state or any agency or instrumentality
of the federal government to implement a qualified project under
this subchapter. A contract under this section may:
(1) be for a period on which the parties agree;
(2) include terms on which the parties agree; and
(3) be payable from taxes, qualified payments, or any
other source of revenue available for that purpose.
(b) A coastal county may enter into a contract, lease, or
agreement with or make or accept grants and loans to or from:
(1) the United States;
(2) the State of Texas;
(3) a county, municipality, or other political
subdivision of the state;
(4) a public or private corporation; or
(5) any other person.
Sec. 33.661. FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFIED PROJECTS.
(a) A coastal county may pay the project costs of a qualified
project from general or available funds, payments received from the
land office, including payments from the coastal protection and
improvement fund, contract reserves, ad valorem taxes, sales taxes,
the proceeds of bonds, or any combination of those funds.
(b) Payments made by the commissioner under this subchapter
are in addition to any other funds to which the coastal county may
be entitled under any other state law or program.
(c) This subchapter does not preclude a contribution to a
qualified project from any state, federal, private, or other
source.
Sec. 33.662. BONDS ELIGIBLE FOR PURCHASE. Bonds issued by a
coastal county under this subchapter may be purchased by the Texas
Water Development Board for purposes authorized by Chapter 17,
Water Code.
Sec. 33.663. CONSTRUCTION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
shall be liberally construed to accomplish the purposes of
mitigation of coastal erosion and improvement of public access to
public beaches.
SECTION 5. To the extent money is available, the
Commissioner of the General Land Office shall make the first
distribution of money from the coastal protection and improvement
fund created under Section 33.653, Natural Resources Code, as added
by this Act, on or after January 1, 2008.
SECTION 6. Not later than December 1, 2005, the General Land
Office shall adopt rules for the administration and regulation of
the restoration of land affected by coastal erosion as authorized
by Section 33.613, Natural Resources Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1044 passed the Senate on
May 3, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendments on May 27, 2005, by the
following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1044 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 141,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor