By: Powell  S.B. No. 149
         (In the Senate - Filed November 9, 2020; March 3, 2021, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Veteran Affairs & Border
  Security; April 23, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0;
  April 23, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 149 By:  Taylor
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the prosecution of the offense of operation of an
  unmanned aircraft over certain facilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 423.0045(a)(1-a), Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
               (1-a)  "Critical infrastructure facility" means:
                     (A)  one of the following, if completely enclosed
  by a fence or other physical barrier that is obviously designed to
  exclude intruders, or if clearly marked with a sign or signs that
  are posted on the property, are reasonably likely to come to the
  attention of intruders, and indicate that entry is forbidden:
                           (i)  a petroleum or alumina refinery;
                           (ii)  an electrical power generating
  facility, substation, switching station, or electrical control
  center;
                           (iii)  a chemical, polymer, or rubber
  manufacturing facility;
                           (iv)  a water intake structure, water
  treatment facility, wastewater treatment plant, or pump station;
                           (v)  a natural gas compressor station;
                           (vi)  a liquid natural gas terminal or
  storage facility;
                           (vii)  a telecommunications central
  switching office or any structure used as part of a system to
  provide wired or wireless telecommunications services;
                           (viii)  a port, a public or private airport
  depicted in any current aeronautical chart published by the Federal
  Aviation Administration, a railroad switching yard, a trucking
  terminal, or any other freight transportation facility;
                           (ix)  a gas processing plant, including a
  plant used in the processing, treatment, or fractionation of
  natural gas;
                           (x)  a transmission facility used by a
  federally licensed radio or television station;
                           (xi)  a steelmaking facility that uses an
  electric arc furnace to make steel;
                           (xii)  a dam that is classified as a high
  hazard by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; [or]
                           (xiii)  a concentrated animal feeding
  operation, as defined by Section 26.048, Water Code; or
                           (xiv)  a military installation owned or
  operated by or for the federal government, the state, or another
  governmental entity; or
                     (B)  if enclosed by a fence or other physical
  barrier obviously designed to exclude intruders:
                           (i)  any portion of an aboveground oil, gas,
  or chemical pipeline;
                           (ii)  an oil or gas drilling site;
                           (iii)  a group of tanks used to store crude
  oil, such as a tank battery;
                           (iv)  an oil, gas, or chemical production
  facility;
                           (v)  an oil or gas wellhead; or
                           (vi)  any oil and gas facility that has an
  active flare.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
  An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
  purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
  effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
  before that date.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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