By Conley H.B. No. 807
74R1320 DWS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the issuance of specially designed Texas nature license
1-3 plates and establishing the environmental education account in the
1-4 general revenue fund.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
1-7 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq.,
1-8 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5r to
1-9 read as follows:
1-10 Sec. 5r. (a) The department shall design and provide for
1-11 the issuance of special Texas nature license plates for passenger
1-12 cars and light commercial motor vehicles having a manufacturer's
1-13 rated carrying capacity of one ton or less.
1-14 (b) The license plates shall bear the name "Naturally Texas"
1-15 and be of a color, quality, and design depicting a Texas nature
1-16 scene approved by the commissioner of education.
1-17 (c) The department shall issue the license plates to a
1-18 person who:
1-19 (1) applies to the county tax collector in the county
1-20 of the person's residence on a form provided by the department; and
1-21 (2) pays the fee prescribed by Subsection (e) of this
1-22 section.
1-23 (d) A person applying for the license plates may:
1-24 (1) have a license plate number assigned by the
2-1 department; or
2-2 (2) apply for personalized prestige license plates
2-3 under Section 5c of this Act.
2-4 (e) The department shall set an annual fee for the plates in
2-5 an amount that is reasonable and necessary to make the deposit
2-6 required by Subsection (f) of this section and recover the cost of
2-7 administering this section. The fee is in addition to the regular
2-8 registration fee for the vehicle imposed by Section 5 of this Act
2-9 and, if personalized prestige license plates are issued, in
2-10 addition to the fee imposed by Section 5c of this Act.
2-11 (f) The department shall deposit 65 percent of each fee
2-12 collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
2-13 the environmental education account established under Section
2-14 11.53(b), Education Code. Fees deposited under this subsection are
2-15 supplementary and are not income for purposes of reducing general
2-16 revenue appropriations to the Central Education Agency in the
2-17 General Appropriations Act.
2-18 (g) After the deposit provided for by Subsection (f) of this
2-19 section, the department shall deposit the remainder of each fee
2-20 collected under this section in the state treasury to the credit of
2-21 the state highway fund to be used only to defray the cost of
2-22 administering this section.
2-23 (h) If license plates issued under this section are lost,
2-24 stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the plates
2-25 were issued may obtain replacement plates from the department by
2-26 paying a replacement fee of $5. If the owner of a vehicle for
2-27 which plates are issued under this section disposes of the vehicle
3-1 during a registration year, the owner shall return the special
3-2 license plates to the department.
3-3 (i) There is not a limit to the number of passenger cars and
3-4 light commercial motor vehicles for which a person may apply for
3-5 the issuance of license plates under this section.
3-6 SECTION 2. Section 11.53, Education Code, is amended to read
3-7 as follows:
3-8 Sec. 11.53. Environmental Education. (a) The commissioner
3-9 of education shall foster the development and dissemination of
3-10 educational activities and materials which will assist Texas public
3-11 school students, teachers, and administrators in the perception,
3-12 appreciation, and understanding of environmental principles and
3-13 problems. In order to do so, the commissioner shall:
3-14 (1) encourage the integration of environmental topics
3-15 into the regular curriculum, where appropriate;
3-16 (2) encourage the Central Education Agency to
3-17 coordinate state, federal, and other funding sources to develop and
3-18 disseminate to school districts instructional materials for use in
3-19 environmental education, with special concern given to the
3-20 ecological systems of Texas and the ways human beings depend on and
3-21 interact with the systems;
3-22 (3) encourage the Central Education Agency to
3-23 coordinate state, federal, and other available funding sources to
3-24 develop and deliver teacher inservice programs, including summer
3-25 seminars and institutes, on various aspects of environmental
3-26 pollution and conservation;
3-27 (4) collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate to
4-1 school districts information about environmental curriculum
4-2 materials, validated projects, and other successful programs;
4-3 (5) solicit, receive, and expend funds which may
4-4 become available through federal grants under any national
4-5 environmental education programs or from other public or private
4-6 sources;
4-7 (6) prepare an annual status report on environmental
4-8 education activities and deliver it to the legislature and the
4-9 governor on or before September 1 of each year.
4-10 (b) The money received under Subsection (a)(5) of this
4-11 section and fees collected under Section 5r, Chapter 88, General
4-12 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
4-13 (Article 6675a-5r, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), shall be
4-14 deposited to the credit of an environmental education account to be
4-15 established in the general revenue fund. Money in the account may
4-16 be used only to:
4-17 (1) develop new instructional materials on
4-18 environmental education, especially those relating to ecological
4-19 systems and the ways human beings depend on and interact with
4-20 ecological systems in Texas;
4-21 (2) support staff development for environmental
4-22 education through inservice programs, summer seminars, and
4-23 institutes;
4-24 (3) fund the position of environmental education
4-25 coordinator in the Central Education Agency to coordinate
4-26 environmental education in the state;
4-27 (4) establish teacher training centers for
5-1 environmental education across the state;
5-2 (5) provide a system for communicating current
5-3 information about environmental education curriculum materials,
5-4 validated projects, and other successful programs to teachers,
5-5 administrators, and the public; and
5-6 (6) establish procedures for coordinating
5-7 environmental education programs among state agencies.
5-8 (c) The account is exempt from the application of Sections
5-9 403.094 and 403.095, Government Code.
5-10 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.