By: Leedom S.B. No. 646
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to certain transactions and other actions involving public
1-2 lands and land abutting public land.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 5.115, Water Code, is amended to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 Sec. 5.115. Notice of Application. (a) At the time an
1-7 application for a permit or license under this code is filed with
1-8 the executive director and is administratively complete, the
1-9 commission shall give notice of the application to any person who
1-10 may be affected by the granting of the permit or license.
1-11 (b) At the time an application for any formal action by the
1-12 commission which will affect lands dedicated to the permanent
1-13 school fund is filed with the executive director or the commission
1-14 and is administratively complete, the commission shall give notice
1-15 to the School Land Board. Notice of the proposed action to the
1-16 board shall be delivered by certified mail, return receipt
1-17 requested, addressed to the Commissioner of the General Land
1-18 Office. Delivery shall not be deemed complete until the return
1-19 receipt is signed by the Commissioner of the General Land Office or
1-20 the chief clerk of that office and returned to the commission.
1-21 (c) The commission shall adopt rules for the notice required
1-22 by this section.
1-23 (d) <(c)> The notice must state:
2-1 (1) the identifying number given the application by
2-2 the commission;
2-3 (2) the type of permit or license sought under the
2-4 application;
2-5 (3) the name and address of the applicant;
2-6 (4) the date on which the application was submitted;
2-7 and
2-8 (5) a brief summary of the information included in the
2-9 permit application.
2-10 (e) The notice to the School Land Board under this section
2-11 shall additionally:
2-12 (1) state the location of the permanent school fund
2-13 land to be affected; and
2-14 (2) describe any foreseeable impact or effect of the
2-15 commission's action on permanent school fund land.
2-16 (f) Any formal action or ruling by the commission on an
2-17 application affecting permanent school fund land without the notice
2-18 required by this section is voidable by the School Land Board as to
2-19 all affected permanent school fund lands.
2-20 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 43.022, Local Government
2-21 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-22 (c) Public notice of the election must be given in the
2-23 manner provided for other municipal elections. Notice of the
2-24 election and the intent of the municipality to annex any state
2-25 lands belonging to the permanent school fund shall be given to the
3-1 School Land Board by certified mail, return receipt requested,
3-2 addressed to the Commissioner of the General Land Office at least
3-3 30 days before the specified election date. Delivery shall not be
3-4 deemed complete until the return receipt is signed by the
3-5 Commissioner of the General Land Office or chief clerk of that
3-6 office and returned to the municipality. Without the notice
3-7 required by this section, any annexation which affects state land
3-8 dedicated to the permanent school fund shall not be effective as to
3-9 the permanent school fund lands sought to be annexed.
3-10 SECTION 3. Section 11.001, Natural Resources Code, is
3-11 amended to read as follows:
3-12 Sec. 11.001. Definitions. In this chapter:
3-13 (1) "State" means the State of Texas.
3-14 (2) "Land office" means the General Land Office.
3-15 (3) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the
3-16 General Land Office.
3-17 (4) "Board" means the School Land Board.
3-18 (5) "Agency" means any department, board, bureau,
3-19 commission, office, authority, council, institution, county,
3-20 municipality, district, or other political subdivision of the
3-21 state.
3-22 (6) "Action" means the formal adoption of an agency
3-23 policy, the final adoption of an agency administrative rule, the
3-24 issuance of findings of fact or law, the issuance of an
3-25 administrative order in an administrative hearing, or the adoption
4-1 of a local ordinance or resolution.
4-2 (7) "Initiation" means the commencement of the first
4-3 phase of public consideration of a formal policy, rule, or
4-4 ordinance or a hearing undertaken by the agency which is intended
4-5 to result in final adoption of agency action.
4-6 SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 11, Natural Resources Code,
4-7 is amended by adding Section 11.082 to read as follows:
4-8 Sec. 11.082. NOTICE TO SCHOOL LAND BOARD. (a) A state
4-9 agency may not formally take any action that may affect state land
4-10 dedicated to the permanent school fund without giving notice of
4-11 such action to the board. Notice of the proposed action to the
4-12 board shall be delivered by certified mail, return receipt
4-13 requested, addressed to the commissioner on or before the state
4-14 agency's formal initiation of the action. Delivery shall not be
4-15 deemed complete until the return receipt is signed by the
4-16 commissioner or chief clerk of the General Land Office and returned
4-17 to the agency. The notice shall:
4-18 (1) describe the proposed action;
4-19 (2) state the location of the permanent school fund
4-20 land to be affected; and
4-21 (3) describe any foreseeable impact or effect of the
4-22 state agency's action on permanent school fund land.
4-23 (b) Any action taken by a state agency without the notice
4-24 required by Subsection (a) of this section which affects state land
4-25 dedicated to the permanent school fund shall not be effective as to
5-1 permanent school fund land.
5-2 SECTION 5. Section 32.112, Natural Resources Code, is
5-3 amended to read as follows:
5-4 Sec. 32.112. SALE OF TAX FORECLOSURE PROPERTY. (a) All
5-5 <The board may sell by sealed bid all> real property or any
5-6 interest in real property placed in the name of the state as a
5-7 result of any tax foreclosure sale may be sold or leased by the
5-8 board<. The sealed bid sales shall be conducted> in the same
5-9 manner as <sealed bid> sales or leases of <for> public school land.
5-10 (b) The board may retain from the proceeds of a sale or
5-11 lease conducted under this section the cost of conducting the
5-12 transaction <sale>, including advertising, appraisal, and
5-13 administrative costs. The balance of the proceeds shall be
5-14 deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Texas capital
5-15 trust fund.
5-16 SECTION 6. Subchapter D, Chapter 33, Natural Resources Code,
5-17 is amended by adding Section 33.135 to read as follows:
5-18 Sec. 33.135. NOTICE TO PURCHASER OR GRANTEE OF COASTAL AREA
5-19 PROPERTY. (a) Any person who sells, transfers, or conveys an
5-20 interest other than a mineral, leasehold, or security interest in
5-21 real property adjoining and abutting the tidally influenced waters
5-22 of the state shall include the following notice as a part of any
5-23 written executory contract for the sale, transfer, or conveyance:
5-24 "NOTICE REGARDING COASTAL AREA PROPERTY
5-25 "(1) The real property described in and subject to
6-1 this contract adjoins and shares a common boundary with the tidally
6-2 influenced submerged lands of the state.
6-3 "(2) The boundary line between the property described
6-4 in and subject to this contract and the submerged lands of the
6-5 state is legally defined and declared to be the line of mean high
6-6 tide or the line of mean higher high tide, as determined by the
6-7 date of the original grant from the sovereignty.
6-8 "(3) The applicable tide line is a dynamic boundary
6-9 line, subject to change by natural forces. Changes in this
6-10 boundary line cannot legally result from artificial or man-made
6-11 causes.
6-12 "(4) The seller, transferor, or grantor has no
6-13 knowledge of any prior artificial or man-made alteration of the
6-14 applicable tide line as it relates to the property described in and
6-15 subject to this contract.
6-16 "(5) The owner of the uplands property adjoining the
6-17 submerged lands may gain or lose portions of the uplands tract
6-18 because of natural changes in the applicable tide line, such as
6-19 accretion or erosion.
6-20 "(6) State law prohibits the use, encumbrance,
6-21 construction, or placing of any structure in, on, or over
6-22 state-owned submerged lands below the applicable tide line without
6-23 proper permission.
6-24 "(7) Information regarding the location of the
6-25 applicable tide line in relation to the property described in and
7-1 subject to this contract may be obtained from the surveying
7-2 division of the General Land Office.
7-3 "(8) Permission to use any part of the submerged lands
7-4 adjacent to the land described in and subject to this contract may
7-5 be obtained only from the General Land Office.
7-6 "(9) The purchaser or grantee is hereby advised to
7-7 seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified person as to the
7-8 legal nature and effect of the facts set forth in this notice on
7-9 the property described in and subject to this contract."
7-10 (b) If property is sold, transferred, or conveyed without an
7-11 executory contract for conveyance, a written statement containing
7-12 the notice set forth in Subsection (a) of this section must be
7-13 delivered to the grantee for execution and acknowledgement of
7-14 receipt prior to the recording of any conveyance.
7-15 (c) Failure to include the prescribed notice in the written
7-16 executory contract or to deliver a written statement containing the
7-17 notice for execution and acknowledgement by the grantee in the
7-18 absence of a written executory contract shall:
7-19 (1) create a legal right in the purchaser to terminate
7-20 such contract or to renounce a sale, transfer, or conveyance;
7-21 (2) create a requirement that any earnest money, down
7-22 payment, or deposit paid by the grantee be forthwith returned to
7-23 the grantee together with a cancellation of any promissory note and
7-24 security instrument given in consideration for the sale,
7-25 conveyance, or transfer; and
8-1 (3) constitute a deceptive act under Section 17.46,
8-2 Business & Commerce Code.
8-3 (d) Nothing contained in this section, nor the action of any
8-4 party subject to this section, shall diminish or modify the beach
8-5 access and use rights of the public as acquired by statute or under
8-6 common law.
8-7 SECTION 7. Section 51.052, Natural Resources Code, is
8-8 amended to read as follows:
8-9 Sec. 51.052. CONDITIONS FOR SALE OF LAND. (a) Land sold
8-10 under the provisions of this subchapter shall be sold without
8-11 condition of settlement and residence.
8-12 (b) A purchaser of land under this subchapter may make a
8-13 down payment of an amount determined by the board and the board may
8-14 set the terms and conditions of the sale, including the interest
8-15 rate. On full payment and satisfaction of other conditions, the
8-16 purchaser is entitled to a patent for the land. This subsection
8-17 does not prevent the board from requiring a tract of land to be
8-18 purchased for cash.
8-19 (c) <(d)> Before the land under this subchapter is sold, the
8-20 appraisers for the land office must appraise the land at its market
8-21 value and file a copy of the appraisal with the commissioner. No
8-22 land covered by this subchapter may be sold for less than the
8-23 market value that appears in the appraisal made under this
8-24 subsection.
8-25 (d) <(e)> The owner of land that surrounds land in a tract
9-1 of 700 <320> acres or less shall have a preference right to
9-2 purchase the tract before the land is made available for sale to
9-3 any other person, provided the person having the preference right
9-4 pays not less than the market value for the land as determined by
9-5 the board.
9-6 (e) <(f)> If the surrounding land is owned by more than one
9-7 person, the owners of land with a common boundary with a tract of
9-8 700 <320> acres or less that is for sale shall have a preference
9-9 right to purchase the tract before it is made available to any
9-10 other person, provided the person with the preference right pays
9-11 not less than the market value of the land as determined by the
9-12 board and the board finds use of the preference to be in the best
9-13 interest of the state. The board shall adopt rules to implement
9-14 this preference right.
9-15 (f) <(g)> If land is located within the boundaries of or
9-16 adjacent to any state park, refuge, natural area, or historical
9-17 site subject to the management and control of the Parks and
9-18 Wildlife Department, the department has a preference right to
9-19 purchase the land before it is made available for sale to any other
9-20 person. A sale to the department under this section may not be for
9-21 less than the fair market value of the land, as determined by the
9-22 board.
9-23 (g) <(h)> The board may sell or exchange any interest in the
9-24 surface estate of public school land directly to any state agency,
9-25 board, commission, or political subdivision or other governmental
10-1 entity of this state without the necessity of a sealed bid sale.
10-2 All sales or exchanges made pursuant to this subsection shall be
10-3 for not less than fair market value as determined by the board and
10-4 under such other terms and conditions the board determines to be in
10-5 the best interest of the state.
10-6 (h) If no bids meeting minimum requirements are received for
10-7 a tract of land offered at a sealed bid sale under the provisions
10-8 of Chapter 32 of this code, the asset management division of the
10-9 land office may solicit proposals or negotiate a sale, exchange, or
10-10 lease of the property to any person or entity, provided that the
10-11 sale price may not be less than the appraised value of the land as
10-12 determined by the asset management division. The board must
10-13 approve any negotiated sale, trade, or lease of any land under this
10-14 section.
10-15 SECTION 8. Subchapter D, Chapter 51, Natural Resources Code,
10-16 is amended by adding Section 51.132 to read as follows:
10-17 Sec. 51.132. VENUE. The venue for suits by or against the
10-18 state arising from the provisions of this subchapter shall be in
10-19 Travis County.
10-20 SECTION 9. Section 51.291, Natural Resources Code, is
10-21 amended to read as follows:
10-22 Sec. 51.291. GRANTS OF EASEMENTS. The commissioner may
10-23 execute grants of easements for rights-of-way across, through, and
10-24 under unsold public school land, the portion of the Gulf of Mexico
10-25 within the jurisdiction of the state, the riverbeds and beds of
11-1 navigable streams of the public domain, and all islands, saltwater
11-2 lakes, bays, inlets, marshes, and reefs owned by the state within
11-3 tidewater limits for:
11-4 (1) telephone, telegraph, electric transmission, and
11-5 powerlines;
11-6 (2) oil pipelines, including pipelines connecting the
11-7 onshore storage facilities with the offshore facilities of a
11-8 deepwater port, as defined by the federal Deepwater Port Act of
11-9 1974 (33 U.S.C.A. Section 1501 et seq.), gas pipelines, sulphur
11-10 pipelines, and other electric lines and pipelines of any nature;
11-11 (3) irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines;
11-12 (4) roads; and
11-13 (5) any other purpose the commissioner considers to be
11-14 in the best interest of the state.
11-15 SECTION 10. The importance of this legislation and the
11-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
11-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
11-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
11-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.