By Combs                                              H.B. No. 2719
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to access to a portion of the Devil's River in Val Verde
    1-3  County and directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to
    1-4  generate a plan for river use in that segment of the river.
    1-5        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-6        SECTION 1.  In order to avoid conflicts between private land
    1-7  owners and the public using the Devil's River in Val Verde County,
    1-8  no person may enter the Devil's River from the right of way of
    1-9  State Highway 163 at its crossing of the river, in the area
   1-10  commonly known as Baker's Crossing, for the purpose of traveling
   1-11  down the river either as a pedestrian or in a boat, canoe or other
   1-12  means of transportation.  This Act does not preclude the use of
   1-13  this access point for any purpose related to emergency response or
   1-14  rescue and does not apply to any federal, state, or local
   1-15  governmental entity.  The Texas Department of Transportation shall
   1-16  post signs on the right of way informing the public of this
   1-17  restriction.  Violation of this Act shall be a class C misdemeanor.
   1-18        SECTION 2.  Recognizing that there is a need for public
   1-19  access to the river, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is
   1-20  hereby authorized and directed to develop and implement a plan for
   1-21  recreational access to that portion of the Devil's River in Val
   1-22  Verde County that lies within or along the I.& G.N. Ry. Co. survey,
   1-23  Abstract 2205; the Pedro Trevino Survey, Abstract 1752; the
    2-1  Francisco Gonzales Survey No. 1, Abstract 1754; and the Francisco
    2-2  Gonzales Survey No. 2, Abstract 1753.  The plan shall be
    2-3  coordinated with all riverfront land owners owning land in the
    2-4  these surveys.  The plan may provide for implementation by the
    2-5  private landowners.
    2-6        SECTION 3.  The plan shall include provisions for:
    2-7        (a)  garbage receptacles and collection;
    2-8        (b)  limiting and avoiding conflicts with private property
    2-9  interests in and adjacent to the stream bed;
   2-10        (c)  law enforcement; and
   2-11        (d)  river safety.
   2-12        SECTION 4.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shall
   2-13  hold public hearings on the proposed access plan in both Travis and
   2-14  Val Verde Counties.  Notice of each hearing shall be given at least
   2-15  thirty days in advance of the hearing by publication in at least
   2-16  two issues of a daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation in
   2-17  the county, and notice shall be given at least thirty days in
   2-18  advance to all private land owners who own property adjacent to the
   2-19  portion of river subject to this Act.  Notice to the land owner
   2-20  shall be deemed sufficient if made by certified mail to the address
   2-21  of the property owner of record as indicated by the office of the
   2-22  tax assessor collector in Val Verde County.
   2-23        SECTION 5.  The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department may
   2-24  promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement this Act.
   2-25        SECTION 6.  This Act shall expire on August 31, 1995.
    3-1        SECTION 7.  EMERGENCY.  The importance of this legislation
    3-2  and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create
    3-3  and emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-4  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-5  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.