Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 155 adds a new subchapter to the Parks and Wildlife Code relating to protected freshwater areas. The bill prohibits a person on or after January 1, 2004, from operating a motor vehicle in or on a protected freshwater area, defined as that portion of the bed, bottom, or bank of any navigable river or stream that lies at or below the gradient boundary of the river or stream, and makes a conviction a Class C misdemeanor and a Class B misdemeanor with two or more previous convictions. The prohibition does not apply to a state, county, or municipal road right-of-way, a private road crossing established on or before a certain date, or operation of a motor vehicle by certain persons. The provisions also do not apply to any river with headwaters in another state and a mouth or confluence in another state. The bill authorizes a county, municipality, or river authority to adopt a written local plan to allow limited motor vehicle use in a protected freshwater area for a fee, not to exceed a certain amount, payable to the county, municipality, or river authority, and provides that the plan does not take effect until it is approved in writing by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. It also sets forth criteria to govern approval and revocation of local plans by the department and requires a county, municipality, or river authority implementing a local plan to remit to the department for administrative costs 20 percent of the gross receipts from collected fees. The bill also prohibits a person from restricting public recreational use of a protected freshwater area, and makes a conviction a Class C misdemeanor and a Class B misdemeanor with two or more previous convictions. Finally, the bill requires the department to establish a program to identify and facilitate, in cooperation with other entities, the development of motor vehicle recreation sites that are not located in or on a protected freshwater area and to report to the legislature about these efforts by September 1, 2004.