H.B. No. 1

AN ACT

relating to youth camp emergency plans and preparedness; authorizing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Youth Camp Alert, Mitigation, Preparedness, and Emergency Response (Youth CAMPER) Act.

SECTION 2. Section 141.002, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivisions (1-a), (2-a), (2-b), and (2-c) to read as follows:

(1) "Cabin" means a structure used to provide temporary sleeping quarters for campers.

(1-a) "Camper" means a minor who is attending a youth camp on a day care or boarding basis.

(2-a) "Floodplain" has the meaning assigned by Section 762.001.

(2-b) "Floodway" means an area identified on the most recent flood hazard map published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. Section 4001 et seq.) as a regulatory floodway.

(2-c) "Governmental entity" means this state or a state agency or political subdivision of this state.

SECTION 3. Section 141.005(a), Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A person holding a license issued under this chapter must:

(1) renew the license annually by submitting a renewal application on a date determined by department rule on a form provided by the department; and

(2) submit a renewal application not later than the 30th day after the date the person:

(A) alters the boundaries of a youth camp operated by the person;

(B) completes construction of one or more new cabins located on the premises of the camp; or

(C) completes any renovation to one or more existing cabins located on the premises of the camp that:

(i) increases or decreases the number of beds in an affected cabin; or

(ii) alters the method of ingress or egress to an affected cabin.

SECTION 4. Section 141.008, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) The department shall review the camper to counselor ratios for overnight stays at youth camps and provide to the executive commissioner recommendations regarding minimum camper to counselor ratios. The executive commissioner by rule shall establish minimum camper to counselor ratios for overnight stays at youth camps.

SECTION 5. Chapter 141, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Sections 141.0071, 141.0081, 141.0091, 141.0092, 141.0093, and 141.0094 to read as follows:

Sec. 141.0071. ADDITIONAL INSPECTION REQUIRED; PARENTAL COMPLAINTS. (a) A youth camp operator shall include in a prominent place on the youth camp's publicly accessible Internet website a clearly marked link to the youth camp program web page on the department's Internet website for campers, parents, and camp staff and volunteers to use to report the camp's noncompliance with this chapter.

(b) The department shall investigate each complaint filed with the department for a youth camp to ensure the youth camp operator is properly implementing the camp's approved emergency plan submitted as required under Section 141.0091 and the camp complies with this chapter.

(c) A department investigation under this section must include an inspection to ensure the youth camp's compliance with this chapter. The inspection shall be performed in the same manner as an inspection under Section 141.007.

Sec. 141.0081. YOUTH CAMP SAFETY MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM. (a) The Youth Camp Safety Multidisciplinary Team is created within the department and is composed of at least one representative from:

(1) the department;

(2) the Texas Division of Emergency Management;

(3) the Texas Department of Insurance State Fire Marshal's Office;

(4) the Parks and Wildlife Department;

(5) the Texas Water Development Board;

(6) the Texas A&M Forest Service; and

(7) the Department of Public Safety.

(b) The commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall serve as the chair of the team.

(c) The team shall meet regularly to develop proposed minimum standards for youth camps under this chapter. The team shall present the proposed minimum standards to the executive commissioner as recommendations for adoption.

Sec. 141.0091. ADDITIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS; EMERGENCY PLAN. (a) As part of the health and safety standards established under Section 141.009, the executive commissioner by rule shall make applicable to a youth camp the requirements of Chapter 762 in the same manner as those requirements apply to a campground under that chapter.

(b) The executive commissioner by rule shall require a youth camp operator in the emergency plan the operator develops for a youth camp to:

(1) specify muster zones for campers and camp staff to gather in an emergency event that requires evacuation from any location within the premises of the camp;

(2) establish procedures for responding to an emergency event, other than an event addressed by Section 762.002, including:

(A) a lost camper;

(B) a fire on the premises of the camp;

(C) a severe injury, severe illness, serious accident, or death of one or more campers, visitors, camp staff, or camp volunteers that occurs:

(i) on camp premises; or

(ii) while under the supervision of camp staff;

(D) an aquatic emergency if the camp borders a watercourse, lake, pond, or any other body of water;

(E) an epidemic;

(F) an unauthorized or unknown individual present on the camp's premises;

(G) a transportation emergency; and

(H) any other natural disaster or emergency event required under department rules;

(3) establish procedures to identify and account for each camper affected by the emergency event;

(4) establish procedures to notify and communicate with:

(A) local emergency management services, including the emergency management director or coordinator designated under Section 418.1015, Government Code, by the political subdivision within which the camp is located;

(B) camp administrative and medical services staff; and

(C) the parents or legal guardians of each camper identified under Subdivision (3); and

(5) designate a camp emergency preparedness coordinator.

(c) The executive commissioner by rule shall require a youth camp operator to, at each youth camp the operator operates:

(1) maintain an operable radio capable of providing real-time weather alerts issued by the National Weather Service or a similar professional weather service at the camp;

(2) install and maintain at the camp an emergency warning system that:

(A) is capable of alerting all campers and camp occupants of an emergency; and

(B) includes a public address system operable without reliance on an Internet connection;

(3) monitor safety alerts issued:

(A) by the National Weather Service or a similar professional weather service; and

(B) by local river authorities, if applicable to the camp, or through other local emergency notification systems; and

(4) certify the operator's compliance with this subsection.

(d) In developing a youth camp's emergency plan, a youth camp operator must annually submit the initial or updated plan to the department for approval in the form and manner the department prescribes.

(e) If the department determines a youth camp's submitted emergency plan does not meet the minimum standards prescribed by department rules, the youth camp operator shall revise and resubmit the plan not later than the 45th day after the date the operator receives notice from the department of the plan's deficiencies.

(f) A youth camp operator shall include any updated youth camp emergency plan as an attachment to each application to renew the operator's license under Section 141.005.

(g) Notwithstanding Section 762.002(c), not later than the 10th business day following the date the department approves a youth camp's emergency plan or, if the department determines the plan is deficient under Subsection (e), the camp's revised emergency plan, the operator shall provide a copy of the plan to:

(1) for a camp located in a municipality, the emergency management director or coordinator designated under Section 418.1015, Government Code, for the municipality; and

(2) the emergency management director or coordinator designated under Section 418.1015, Government Code, for the county.

(h) In developing a youth camp's emergency plan, a youth camp operator may consult with an emergency management director or coordinator described by Subsection (g).

(i) The department shall store in a digital database each emergency plan submitted to the department under this section or Section 762.002 and provide access to that database to:

(1) the Texas Division of Emergency Management; and

(2) each member of the Youth Camp Safety Multidisciplinary Team created under Section 141.0081.

(j) A youth camp operator shall:

(1) provide the most recent version of a youth camp's emergency plan submitted under this section to the parent or legal guardian of:

(A) a camper who is participating in a camp session; or

(B) a prospective camper who is registered to participate in a future camp session;

(2) notify the parent or legal guardian of a camper or prospective camper described by Subdivision (1) if any area of the camp is located within a floodplain; and

(3) ensure the parent or legal guardian signs and submits to the operator a statement acknowledging receipt of the notice required under Subdivision (2).

(k) Not more than 48 hours after each youth camp session begins, the youth camp operator or a youth camp staff member shall conduct a mandatory safety orientation that:

(1) notifies each camper of the camp's boundaries and any hazards present on the camp premises;

(2) instructs each camper on behavioral expectations in an emergency event; and

(3) provides each camper developmentally appropriate instruction on the appropriate actions and procedures to follow in an emergency event, in accordance with the camp's emergency plan required under this section and Section 762.002.

(l) At least once a year, a youth camp operator shall:

(1) provide each youth camp staff member and volunteer with a copy of the camp's most recent emergency plan;

(2) ensure each staff member and volunteer successfully completes training on the camp's emergency plan in compliance with any minimum standards and required hours established by department rule;

(3) instruct each staff member and volunteer on the proper procedures to follow in an emergency event under the plan; and

(4) maintain written records documenting each staff member's and volunteer's successful completion of the training required under this subsection.

(m) A youth camp operator shall:

(1) conspicuously post in each cabin on the youth camp premises the proper evacuation route described in the youth camp's emergency plan; and

(2) ensure each evacuation route on the camp premises is illuminated at night.

(n) Notwithstanding Section 141.0025, the department shall not grant a waiver from a requirement prescribed under this section or Chapter 762.

(o) An emergency plan submitted to, received by, or accessed by the department, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, an emergency management director or coordinator designated under Section 418.1015, Government Code, or any other governmental entity under this section is confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.

Sec. 141.0092. REDUNDANT INTERNET CONNECTIONS REQUIRED. (a) In this section, "broadband service" has the meaning assigned by Section 490I.0101, Government Code.

(b) A youth camp operator shall provide and maintain for a youth camp:

(1) Internet services through a broadband service that connects to the Internet using end-to-end fiber optic facilities; and

(2) a secondary Internet connection through a broadband service distinct from the service described under Subdivision (1).

Sec. 141.0093. REQUIRED NOTICE FOR MODIFICATION OF CERTAIN YOUTH CAMP STRUCTURES OR ACTIVITY LOCATIONS. (a) A youth camp operator shall notify the department, in the form and manner prescribed by the department, of any modification to:

(1) a structure intended to facilitate youth camp activities; or

(2) the location of a camp activity on the camp's premises.

(b) On receiving notification of a modification described by Subsection (a), the department may require the youth camp operator to update the youth camp's emergency plan under Section 141.0091.

Sec. 141.0094. DENIAL OR SUSPENSION OF LICENSE FOR NONCOMPLIANCE. (a) The department shall not issue a license or renew a license for a youth camp under this chapter if the youth camp operator is not in compliance with Sections 141.0091 and 141.0092 or a rule adopted under those sections.

(b) The department shall suspend a youth camp license issued by the department if the camp or youth camp operator is in violation of Section 141.0091 or 141.0092. The department may reinstate the license only on or after the date the department determines the camp and the operator are in compliance with Sections 141.0091 and 141.0092.

SECTION 6. Notwithstanding Section 141.0081, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, the Youth Camp Safety Multidisciplinary Team is not required to hold its first meeting until September 1, 2026.

SECTION 7. Not later than January 1, 2026, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt the rules required by Section 141.0091, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 8. Notwithstanding Section 141.0091, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, a youth camp operator is not required to submit a youth camp emergency plan to the Department of State Health Services until April 1, 2026.

SECTION 9. 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 on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative session.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1 was passed by the House on August 21, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 1, 1 present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1 on September 3, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 122, Nays 4, 1 present, not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 1 was passed by the Senate, with amendments, on September 3, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________

Date

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Governor