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  H.B. No. 2567
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to forest pest control.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 152.001, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.001.  POLICY. It is the public policy of the State
  of Texas to mitigate and control [forest] pests [in or] threatening
  forest land [forests] in this state in order to protect associated
  ecological [forest] resources, enhance the health [growth] and
  maintenance of forests, promote stability of forest-using
  industries, ensure public safety [protect recreational wildlife
  uses], and conserve the ecosystem [other] values of the forest.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 152.003(1), (2), (3), (6), and (7),
  Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
               (1)  "Service" means the Texas A&M Forest Service.
               (2)  "Forest pests" means native insects and diseases,
  nonnative invasive insects and diseases, and noxious and invasive
  plants included on a list under Section 71.151, Agriculture Code,
  that are harmful, injurious, or destructive to forests or trees and
  whose damage, if uncontrolled, is of considerable economic and
  environmental importance [, and includes:
                     [(A)     pine bark beetles of the genera
  Dendroctonus, Ips, Pissodes, and Hylobius;
                     [(B)  sawflies of the genus Neodiprion;
                     [(C)     defoliators in the genera Datana,
  Malacosoma, Hyphantria, Diapheromera, and Galerucella;
                     [(D)  pine shoot moth of the genus Rhyacionia;
                     [(E)  wilt of the genus Chalora; and
                     [(F)  rots of the genera Fomes and Polyporus].
               (3)  "Forest land" means land with at least 10 percent
  cover by live trees of any size, including land that formerly had
  that amount of tree cover and will be naturally or artificially
  regenerated [on which the trees are potentially valuable for timber
  products, protection of watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreational
  uses, or for other purposes], but does not include land within the
  incorporated limits of a village, town, or city.
               (6)  "Infestation" means actual infestation or
  infection at conditions beyond normal proportion causing [abnormal
  epidemic] loss to forests [present or future commercial timber
  supply or both].
               (7)  "Landowner" and "owner" mean a person who owns
  forest land or has forest land under the person's [his] direction
  irrespective of ownership.
         SECTION 3.  The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 152,
  Natural Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF [THE] TEXAS A&M FOREST SERVICE
         SECTION 4.  Section 152.016, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.016.  PROCEDURES FOR CONTROL. [(a)] As soon as
  practicable after the hearing, the service shall promulgate
  procedures to be followed for the control of the infestation and
  shall[:
               [(1)     mail a copy to all appearing at the hearing and to
  all to whom notices were originally sent; and
               [(2)]  publish a copy in a newspaper circulated in the
  affected area in the same manner as publication of preliminary
  notice.
         [(b)     Publication as provided in Subsection (a) of this
  section is notice to each landowner and each tract of land in the
  affected area on the date of publication.]
         SECTION 5.  Sections 152.018(a), (b), and (c), Natural
  Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The notice required by Section 152.017 [of this code]
  shall inform the landowner of:
               (1)  the facts found to exist;
               (2)  the landowner's [his] responsibilities for the
  control measures;
               (3)  the control technique recommended;
               (4)  the law under which control must be accomplished;
  and
               (5)  the authority of the service in the event the
  landowner takes no action toward controlling the pest.
         (b)  The notice may be given by:
               (1)  personal delivery to [service on] the landowner or
  [on] the person having control of the forest land;
               (2)  registered or certified mail directed to the
  landowner or person having control of the forest land at that
  person's [his] last known address; or
               (3)  if the identity or [person or his] address of the
  landowner or person having control of the forest land is unknown:
                     (A)  [,] publication in one issue of a newspaper
  of general circulation in the county in which the land is located;
  or
                     (B)  posting notice on the county's Internet
  website or on a bulletin board at a place convenient to the public
  in the county courthouse for the county in which the land is
  located.
         (c)  A published or posted notice under Subsection (b) must
  [of this section shall] include the information specified in
  Subsection (a) [of this section], state the name of the owner, if
  known, and briefly describe the land to which the notice applies.
         SECTION 6.  Section 152.019, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.019.  NOTICE TO FOREST OWNER. If the landowner has
  notified the service of a forest owner under [given notice to the
  service of an interest in the forest on his land owned by another,
  as provided for in] Section 152.064 [of this code], the service
  shall furnish the same information to the forest owner that it is
  required by [the provisions of] this chapter to give to the
  landowner.
         SECTION 7.  Section 152.020(a), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A landowner shall inform the [The] service of measures
  taken [shall keep informed of what is done] by the landowner to
  [take measures to] control the infestation and the results of those
  measures [result of it].
         SECTION 8.  Section 152.021, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.021.  CONTROL MEASURES APPLIED BY [FOREST] SERVICE.
  If the landowner or another person fails to apply the pest control
  measures prescribed by the service not later than the 10th day after
  the date [are not applied by the landowner or any other person
  within 10 days from the time] notice is given under Section 152.014
  or 152.018, [as provided in this chapter, exclusive of the date the
  notice is given, representatives of] the service may contact the
  landowner to offer further assistance or may [shall] enter the land
  and have the forest pests controlled [or destroyed].
         SECTION 9.  Section 152.022, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.022.  EXPENSE OF CONTROL MEASURES TAKEN BY SERVICE.
  (a) The landowner shall pay [Except as provided in Subsection (b)
  of this section,] all charges and expenses of [destruction or]
  control measures taken by the service [shall be paid by the owner of
  the land on which the infestation occurred].
         (b)  The service shall charge amounts consistent with
  current commercial rates for control measures taken [If the tract
  with respect to which the service conducted control measures
  contains 50 acres of forest land or less and the landowner in whose
  name the record title to the land stands owns no more than 50 acres
  of forest land in the county in which the infestation occurred, the
  cost of control shall be borne] by the service.
         SECTION 10.  Section 152.023, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.023.  CLAIM AGAINST LANDOWNER. The amount charged
  for [If] control measures taken [is undertaken] by the service [,
  the cost, not to exceed $10 for each infested acre or part of an acre
  on which control measures have been employed,] constitutes a legal
  claim against the landowner, but does not constitute a lien on any
  land owned by the landowner.
         SECTION 11.  Section 152.025, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.025.  LANDOWNER REIMBURSEMENT. (a) If the
  landowner has notified the service of a forest owner under Section
  152.064, the landowner is entitled to reasonable reimbursement from
  the forest owner [given the service notice of an interest owned by
  another in the forest on his land and the landowner has made
  expenditures] for amounts:
               (1)  spent by the landowner for pest control measures
  under [purposes as provided in] Section 152.062; or
               (2)  [of this code, or has] paid on a legal claim
  [against him] under [the provisions of] Sections 152.022 through
  152.024 [of this code, the landowner is entitled to a reasonable
  reimbursement for the expenses from the forest owner].
         (b)  The amount of reimbursement paid by a forest owner under
  Subsection (a) shall be proportional to the interest owned in the
  forest by the forest owner.
         SECTION 12.  Section 152.061, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.061.  GENERAL DUTY OF LANDOWNER. Each owner of
  forest land shall control the forest pests on land owned by the
  person [him] or under the person's [his] direction as provided in
  this chapter.
         SECTION 13.  Section 152.062, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.062.  DUTY TO APPLY CONTROL MEASURES. Not later
  than the 10th day after the date [Within 10 days after] notice is
  given under [as provided in] Section 152.014 or 152.018 [of this
  code, exclusive of the date the notice is given], each affected
  landowner shall commence diligently to take measures to control the
  infestation as prescribed and continue this activity with all
  practical expedition and efficiency under the direction of the
  service.
         SECTION 14.  Section 152.063(a), Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The landowner shall notify the service of the
  landowner's [his] actions and the result of those [his] actions.
         SECTION 15.  Section 152.064, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.064.  NOTIFYING SERVICE OF FOREST OWNER. If all or
  part of the standing trees are owned by someone other than the
  landowner, either by a present right or by a future right under the
  terms of a valid existing contract, the landowner shall notify the
  service of that fact and furnish the name and address [names and
  addresses] of each [the] forest owner not later than the 10th day
  after the date the landowner receives [within 10 days after
  receiving the] notice from the service under [as provided for in]
  Section 152.014 or 152.018 [of this code].
         SECTION 16.  Section 152.105, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 152.105.  INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR LANDOWNER. If the
  final judgment in an action seeking relief from a notice is in favor
  of the landowner, the landowner may be entitled to injunctive
  relief against the use of any control measures on the landowner's
  [his] forest land by the service until a [such] time determined by
  [as] the court [may determine].
         SECTION 17.  Section 152.003(9), Natural Resources Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 18.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2567 was passed by the House on May 4,
  2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 2567 on May 21, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 134, Nays 2,
  2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2567 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 19, 2017, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays
  0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor