By Mowery                                             H.B. No. 2746
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to calculation of interest on sales of public school land,
    1-3  recording of patents, the sale of minerals under lands dedicated to
    1-4  the permanent school fund, and the commissioner's discretion to
    1-5  issue permits to prospect for minerals:
    1-6        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-7        SECTION 1.  Section 51.070(a), Natural Resources Code, is
    1-8  amended to read as follows:
    1-9        (a)  Unpaid and delinquent interest on sales of public school
   1-10  land shall bear interest at a rate set by the board, <compounded
   1-11  annually as it accrues on the date of payment set by the board>
   1-12  which interest shall be payable at the times and on such terms as
   1-13  are established by the board by rule or by contract.
   1-14        SECTION 2.  Section 51.244, Natural Resources Code, is
   1-15  amended to read as follows:
   1-16        (a)  When a patent is ready for delivery, the commissioner
   1-17  shall send it, together with the check for payment of the fee
   1-18  required by Section 51.242 of this code and the name and address of
   1-19  the owner or his agent, by <registered> certified mail to the clerk
   1-20  of the proper county.
   1-21        (b)  On receiving the patent, the clerk shall record it and
   1-22  shall send the patent, together with the name and address of the
   1-23  owner or his agent and the remaining recording fees, by
    2-1  <registered> certified mail to the clerk of another proper county
    2-2  until the patent has been recorded in each county in which all or
    2-3  part of the land is located.
    2-4        (c)  After the patent is recorded in all the proper counties,
    2-5  it shall be sent by <registered> certified mail to the proper
    2-6  party.
    2-7        SECTION 3.  Section 51.054(a), Natural Resources Code, is
    2-8  amended to read as follows:
    2-9        Sec. 51.054.  Reservation of Minerals.
   2-10        (a)  <Land> Except as otherwise provided in this section,
   2-11  land dedicated to the permanent school fund shall be sold subject
   2-12  to a reservation set by the <School Land Board> board of not less
   2-13  than one-eighth of all sulphur and other mineral substances from
   2-14  which sulphur may be derived or produced and not less than
   2-15  one-sixteenth of all other minerals to the state; provided, that if
   2-16  leasing rights are retained hereunder, the reserved minerals shall
   2-17  be subject to lease as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 52,
   2-18  Natural Resources Code, and Subchapters B and E, Chapter 53,
   2-19  Natural Resources Code.  The mineral reservation to the state shall
   2-20  be determined by the board before the land is offered for sale.  If
   2-21  the board determines that a mineral reservation under this section
   2-22  would substantially reduce the value of the surface of land by
   2-23  restricting its suitability for agricultural, commercial, or
   2-24  residential use, the board may take such action or waive such
   2-25  rights as are in the best interest of the permanent school fund,
    3-1  including, without limitation, establishing designated exploration
    3-2  or drilling sites, waiving surface or other rights of access or
    3-3  development, or conveying the land with no mineral reservation.
    3-4        SECTION 4.  Section 53.013(a), Natural Resources Code, is
    3-5  amended to read as follows:
    3-6        Sec. 53.013.  CONDITIONS OF PERMIT.  (a)  <After the receipt
    3-7  of the rental payment set by the commissioner, the> The
    3-8  commissioner <shall> may issue to the first applicant a permit to
    3-9  prospect the area designated in the applicant's application for a
   3-10  period <of> up to one year from the date the application is filed.
   3-11  If the commissioner elects to grant the application for a permit to
   3-12  prospect under the provisions of this subchapter, the permit shall
   3-13  not be issued until after the land office receives the rental
   3-14  payment set by the commissioner.
   3-15        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-16  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-17  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-18  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-19  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-20  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-21  passage, and it is so enacted.