By Berlanga                                           H.B. No. 3089
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the operation and re-creation of the dedicated account
    1-3  known as the coastal protection account.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 40.151(c), Natural Resources Code, is
    1-6  amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (c)  Sections 403.094 and 403.095, Government Code, do not
    1-8  apply to the dedicated account created under this section <Except
    1-9  as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, the commissioner may
   1-10  invest money in the fund not currently needed to meet the
   1-11  commissioner's responsibility under this chapter in the manner
   1-12  provided by Section 161.173 of this code for investment of the
   1-13  veterans land fund.  Income received on investments shall be
   1-14  credited to the fund.>.
   1-15        SECTION 2.  Section 40.155, Natural Resources Code, is
   1-16  amended to read as follows:
   1-17        (a)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, the rate
   1-18  of the fee shall be two cents per barrel of crude oil until the
   1-19  commissioner certifies that the unencumbered balance in the fund
   1-20  has reached $25 million.  The commissioner shall certify to the
   1-21  comptroller the date on which the unencumbered balance in the fund
   1-22  exceeds $25 million.  The fee shall not be collected or required to
   1-23  be paid on or after the first day of the second month following the
    2-1  commissioner's certification to the comptroller that the
    2-2  unencumbered balance in the fund exceeds $25 million.
    2-3        (b)  If the unencumbered balance in the fund falls below $14
    2-4  million, the commissioner shall certify such fact to the
    2-5  comptroller.  On receiving the commissioner's certification, the
    2-6  comptroller shall resume collecting the fee until suspended in the
    2-7  manner provided in Subsection (a) of this section.
    2-8        (c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) or (b)
    2-9  of this section, the fee shall be levied at the rate of four cents
   2-10  per barrel if the commissioner certifies to the comptroller a
   2-11  written finding of the following facts:
   2-12              (1)  the unencumbered balance in the fund is less than
   2-13  $25 million;
   2-14              (2)  an unauthorized discharge of oil in excess of
   2-15  100,000 gallons has occurred within the previous 30 days; and
   2-16              (3)  expenditures from the fund for response costs and
   2-17  damages are expected to deplete the fund substantially.
   2-18        (d)  In the event of a certification to the comptroller under
   2-19  Subsection (c) of this section, the unencumbered balance of the
   2-20  dedicated coastal protection account is appropriated to the General
   2-21  Land Office for emergency response and the comptroller shall
   2-22  collect the fee at the rate of four cents per barrel until the
   2-23  unencumbered balance in the fund reaches $25 million or any lesser
   2-24  amount that the commissioner determines is necessary to pay such
   2-25  response costs and damages without substantially depleting the
    3-1  fund.  The commissioner shall certify to the comptroller the date
    3-2  on which the unencumbered balance in the fund exceeds $25 million
    3-3  or such other lesser amount.  The fee shall not be collected or
    3-4  required to be paid on or after the first day of the second month
    3-5  following the commissioner's certification to the comptroller.
    3-6        (e)  For purposes of this section, the unencumbered balance
    3-7  of the fund shall be determined by the unencumbered cash balance of
    3-8  the fund at the end of each month or on the date of a finding under
    3-9  Subsection (c) of this section.
   3-10        SECTION 3.  The coastal protection account is hereby
   3-11  re-created as a special dedicated account.  The value of all extant
   3-12  investments are transferred into such account to be used for the
   3-13  purposes designated in Chapter 40, Natural Resources Code.
   3-14        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-15  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-16  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-17  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-18  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-19  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-20  passage, and it is so enacted.