H.B. No. 2557

	AN ACT
	relating to the development of certain local government
	transportation infrastructure projects; authorizing the issuance
	of bonds.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 172.001, Transportation Code, is amended
	by adding Subdivision (4-a) and amending Subdivision (7) to read as
	follows:
	(4-a)  "Intelligent transportation system" means:
	(A)  innovative or intelligent technological
	transportation systems, infrastructure, or facilities, including
	elevated freight transportation facilities:
	(i)  in proximity to, or within, an existing
	right-of-way on the state highway system; or
	(ii)  that connect land ports of entry to the
	state highway system;
	(B)  communications or information processing
	systems that improve the efficiency, security, or safety of freight
	movement on the state highway system, including improving the
	conveyance of freight on dedicated intelligent freight lanes; or
	(C)  a transportation facility or system that
	increases truck freight efficiencies in the boundaries of an
	intermodal facility or hub.
	(7)  "Rail facilities" means:
	(A)  passenger or freight rail facilities,
	including:
	(i)  tracks;
	(ii)  a rail line;
	(iii)  switching, signaling, or other
	operating equipment;
	(iv)  a depot;
	(v)  a locomotive;
	(vi)  rolling stock;
	(vii)  a maintenance facility; and
	(viii)  other real and personal property
	associated with a rail operation;
	(B)  an intermodal hub;
	(C)  an automated conveyor belt for the movement
	of freight;
	(D)  an intelligent transportation system that
	operates with or as part of facilities described by Paragraphs
	(A)-(C); or
	(E)  a system of facilities described by
	Paragraphs (A)-(D) [property, or an interest in that property, that
	the board determines is necessary or convenient to provide a rural
	rail transportation system; and
	[(B)     property or an interest necessary or
	convenient to acquire, provide, construct, enlarge, remodel,
	renovate, improve, furnish, use, or equip the system, including:
	[(i)  a right-of-way;
	[(ii)     an earthwork or structure, including
	clearing and grubbing of right-of-way, demolition of a structure,
	relocation of utilities, a pipeline, or any other obstacle in a
	right-of-way, stripping and stockpiling, removal of subsoil for
	embankment or spoil, a borrow pit, dressing and seeding of a slope,
	construction of a culvert, a road crossing, a bridge, restoration
	of a roadway, drainage within a right-of-way or along a road
	network, and restoration of a hydrologic system;
	[(iii)  trackwork;
	[(iv)     a train control, including
	signalling, interlocking equipment, speed monitoring equipment, an
	emergency braking system, a central traffic control facility, and a
	communication system;
	[(v)     a passenger or freight service
	building, terminal, or station, a ticketing facility, a waiting
	area, a platform, a concession, an elevator, an escalator, a
	facility for handicapped access, an access road, a parking facility
	for passengers, a baggage handling facility, a local maintenance
	facility, and offices for district purposes and includes an
	interest in real property necessary or convenient for an item
	listed under this subparagraph;
	[(vi)  rolling stock; and
	[(vii)  a maintenance facility].
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 172, Transportation Code,
	is amended by adding Section 172.211 to read as follows:
	Sec. 172.211.  OTHER POWERS OF COUNTY, DISTRICT, AND
	NAVIGATION DISTRICT.  (a)  This section applies only to a county
	that:
	(1)  is adjacent to a county with a population of four
	million or more;
	(2)  has a population of 300,000 or more; and
	(3)  has created a district by concurrent order with an
	adjacent county pursuant to Section 172.052.
	(b)  A county acting through the commissioners court or a
	local government corporation may adopt an order that authorizes the
	county and a navigation district located wholly or partly in the
	county to:
	(1)  develop rail facilities as a qualifying project
	under Chapter 2267, Government Code; and
	(2)  issue bonds for rail facilities secured by a
	pledge of the revenues of the facilities, including contract
	revenue, grant revenue, or other revenue collected in connection
	with the facilities.
	(c)  If each county that created a district adopts an order
	described by Subsection (b), the district may exercise the powers
	described by that subsection.
	SECTION 3.  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, 2017.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2557 was passed by the House on May
	12, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 129, Nays 12, 1 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2557 was passed by the Senate on May
	24, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 1.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor