BILL ANALYSIS


                                                        H.B. 2133
                                               By: Combs (Bivins)
                                                Natural Resources
                                                         05-19-95
                              Senate Committee Report (Unamended)
BACKGROUND

Under current law, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department employees
are authorized to enter the land of private property owners to
conduct scientific investigations and research regarding wild game
and fish.  Often entry occurs without the consent of the property
owner.  In addition, no restrictions exist on who has access to the
information obtained during entry.

PURPOSE

As proposed, H.B. 2133 restricts the ways in which information
obtained by employees of the Parks and Wildlife Department from a
private landowner's property may be used, and requires the
landowner's consent for certain uses of the information.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any
additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or
agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 12.103, Parks and Wildlife Code, as
follows:

     Sec. 12.103.  New heading: ENTERING LAND; USE OF INFORMATION
     OBTAINED BY ENTRY; CIVIL PENALTY.  (a) Prohibits any action
     from being sustained against an employee of the Parks and
     Wildlife Department (department) to prevent the employee's
     entering on land or water when acting in the employee's
     official capacity as described by this subsection.
     
     (b) Authorizes the department, except as provided by
       Subsection (d), to use information collected by an employee
       of the department on privately owned land for the purposes
       of scientific investigations and research described in
       Subsection (a) and only if authorized in writing by the
       landowner or landowner's agent (agent).  Prohibits the
       department, unless it first obtains the written consent of
       the landowner or agent, from using other incidental
       information obtained on the land that does not pertain
       directly to the investigation or research authorized under
       Subsection (a), or from entering or permitting entry of any
       information that does not pertain directly to the
       investigation or research authorized under Subsection (a)
       into certain databases.
       
       (c) Authorizes information collected under this section to
       be reported or compiled only in a manner that prevents the
       identification of an individual parcel or specific parcels
       of private property without the written consent of the
       landowner or agent, except as provided by Subsection (d).
       
       (d) Authorizes the department to collect and enter data as
       necessary relating to the occurrence or harvest of natural
       resources in public land or water, and to collect and report
       standardized annual wildlife survey information required by
       the Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C.
       Section 669 et seq.).
       
       (e) Provides that the department is liable to a private
       landowner for a civil penalty of $1,000 for a violation of
       this section involving information collected by a department
       employee on the landowner's property.  Authorizes a
       landowner to bring suit to collect the penalty in the county
       in which the land is located or the county in which the
       landowner resides.
       
       SECTION 2.   Effective date: September 1, 1995.

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.