1-1 By: Combs, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Bivins) H.B. No. 2133
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 1995;
1-3 May 17, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
1-4 Resources; May 19, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 19, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the authority of certain Parks and Wildlife Department
1-9 employees to enter on private property and to the use of
1-10 information obtained.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 12.103, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 12.103. ENTERING LAND; USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY
1-15 ENTRY; CIVIL PENALTY. (a) To enforce the game and fish laws of
1-16 the state and to conduct scientific investigations and research
1-17 regarding wild game or fish, an authorized employee of the
1-18 department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish
1-19 are known to range or stray. No action may be sustained against an
1-20 employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water
1-21 when acting in his official capacity as described by this
1-22 subsection.
1-23 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the department may
1-24 use information collected by an employee of the department on
1-25 privately owned land only for the purposes of scientific
1-26 investigations and research described in Subsection (a) and only if
1-27 authorized in writing by the landowner or the landowner's agent.
1-28 Unless the department first obtains the written consent of the
1-29 landowner or the landowner's agent, the department may not:
1-30 (1) use other incidental information obtained on the
1-31 land that does not pertain directly to the investigation or
1-32 research authorized under Subsection (a); or
1-33 (2) enter or permit the entry of any information that
1-34 does not pertain directly to the investigation or research
1-35 authorized under Subsection (a), into a database:
1-36 (A) maintained by the department and available
1-37 to a person other than a department employee;
1-38 (B) maintained by a natural heritage program
1-39 administered by the department; or
1-40 (C) established and maintained by any other
1-41 person.
1-42 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), information
1-43 collected under this section may only be reported or compiled in a
1-44 manner that prevents the identification of an individual parcel or
1-45 specific parcels of private property without the written consent of
1-46 the landowner or the landowner's agent.
1-47 (d) The department may collect and enter data as necessary
1-48 relating to the occurrence or harvest of natural resources in
1-49 public land or water. The department may collect and report
1-50 standardized annual wildlife survey information required by the
1-51 Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. Section 669 et
1-52 seq.).
1-53 (e) The department is liable to a private landowner for a
1-54 civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for a violation of this
1-55 section involving information collected by an employee of the
1-56 department on the landowner's property. A landowner may bring suit
1-57 to collect the penalty in the county in which the land is located
1-58 or the county in which the landowner resides.
1-59 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
1-60 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
1-61 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-65 * * * * *