By: Wentworth S.B. No. 976
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the issuance of special wildlife conservation license
1-2 plates for the support of state and local parks and environmental
1-3 education.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
1-6 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq.,
1-7 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5q to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 5q. (a) The department shall provide for the issuance
1-10 of special wildlife conservation license plates for passenger cars
1-11 and light commercial motor vehicles having a manufacturer's rated
1-12 carrying capacity of one ton or less.
1-13 (b) The license plates must be of a color, quality, and
1-14 design approved by the Parks and Wildlife Commission and the
1-15 department.
1-16 (c) The department shall issue license plates under this
1-17 section to a person who:
1-18 (1) applies to the county assessor-collector in the
1-19 county of the person's residence on a form provided by the
1-20 department; and
1-21 (2) pays the fee prescribed by Subsection (e) of this
1-22 section.
1-23 (d) A person applying for license plates under this section
1-24 may:
2-1 (1) have a license plate number assigned by the
2-2 department; or
2-3 (2) apply for personalized prestige license plates
2-4 under Section 5c of this Act.
2-5 (e) The fee for issuance of special license plates under
2-6 this section is $30 a year in addition to the motor vehicle
2-7 registration fee imposed by Section 5 of this Act and, if
2-8 personalized prestige license plates are issued, in addition to the
2-9 fee imposed by Section 5c of this Act.
2-10 (f) The department shall deposit $15 of each fee collected
2-11 under this section to the credit of the special nongame and
2-12 endangered species conservation account established by Section
2-13 11.052, Parks and Wildlife Code. Amounts deposited under this
2-14 subsection are supplementary and are not income for purposes of
2-15 reducing general revenue appropriations to the Parks and Wildlife
2-16 Department in the General Appropriations Act.
2-17 (g) The department shall deposit $5 of each fee collected
2-18 under this section to the credit of the environmental education
2-19 account established under Section 11.53(b), Education Code.
2-20 Amounts deposited under this subsection are supplementary and are
2-21 not income for purposes of reducing general revenue appropriations
2-22 to the Central Education Agency in the General Appropriations Act.
2-23 (h) The department shall deposit the remainder of the fees
2-24 collected under this section, after making the deposit required by
2-25 Subsections (f) and (g) of this section, to the credit of the state
2-26 highway fund to be used only to defray the cost of administering
2-27 this section.
3-1 (i) If license plates issued under this section are lost,
3-2 stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the plates
3-3 were issued may obtain replacement plates from the department by
3-4 paying a replacement fee of $5. If the owner of the vehicle for
3-5 which plates are issued under this section disposes of the vehicle
3-6 during a registration year, the person shall return the special
3-7 license plates to the department.
3-8 (j) There is no limit to the number of passenger cars or
3-9 light commercial motor vehicles for which a person may apply for
3-10 the issuance of license plates under this section.
3-11 SECTION 2. Section 11.53, Education Code, is amended to read
3-12 as follows:
3-13 Sec. 11.53. ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION. (a) The commissioner
3-14 of education shall foster the development and dissemination of
3-15 educational activities and materials which will assist Texas public
3-16 school students, teachers, and administrators in the perception,
3-17 appreciation, and understanding of environmental principles and
3-18 problems. In order to do so, the commissioner shall:
3-19 (1) encourage the integration of environmental topics
3-20 into the regular curriculum, where appropriate;
3-21 (2) encourage the Central Education Agency to
3-22 coordinate state, federal, and other funding sources to develop and
3-23 disseminate to school districts instructional materials for use in
3-24 environmental education, with special concern given to the
3-25 ecological systems of Texas and the ways human beings depend on and
3-26 interact with the systems;
3-27 (3) encourage the Central Education Agency to
4-1 coordinate state, federal, and other available funding sources to
4-2 develop and deliver teacher inservice programs, including summer
4-3 seminars and institutes, on various aspects of environmental
4-4 pollution and conservation;
4-5 (4) collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate to
4-6 school districts information about environmental curriculum
4-7 materials, validated projects, and other successful programs;
4-8 (5) solicit, receive, and expend funds which may
4-9 become available through federal grants under any national
4-10 environmental education programs or from other public or private
4-11 sources; and
4-12 (6) prepare an annual status report on environmental
4-13 education activities and deliver it to the legislature and the
4-14 governor on or before September 1 of each year.
4-15 (b) The money received under Subsection (a)(5) of this
4-16 section and the applicable amount of fees collected under Section
4-17 5q, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd
4-18 Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-5q, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-19 Statutes), shall be deposited to the credit of an environmental
4-20 education account to be established in the general revenue fund.
4-21 Money in the account may be used only to create an environmental
4-22 education program through an optional formal curriculum course in
4-23 public schools. Before creating an environmental education
4-24 program, the State Board of Education shall provide an opportunity
4-25 for public comment on the proposed curriculum course.
4-26 (c) The account is exempt from the application of Sections
4-27 403.094 and 403.095, Government Code.
5-1 SECTION 3. Section 11.053, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
5-2 amended to read as follows:
5-3 Sec. 11.053. SOURCES OF ACCOUNT. (a) The department shall
5-4 deposit to the credit of the special nongame and endangered species
5-5 conservation account all money received from:
5-6 (1) private contributions, grants, and donations made
5-7 to the special nongame and endangered species conservation account;
5-8 (2) the net proceeds from the sale under this chapter
5-9 of wildlife art prints, decals, and stamps;
5-10 (3) interest income from the investment of money
5-11 collected under this section; and
5-12 (4) income from entrance fees, easements, mineral
5-13 leases, grazing leases, and sale of products from lands purchased
5-14 with funds from the special nongame and endangered species
5-15 conservation account.
5-16 (b) Fees collected under Section 5q, Chapter 88, General
5-17 Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929
5-18 (Article 6675a-5q, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), shall be
5-19 deposited to the credit of the account in the amount prescribed by
5-20 that section.
5-21 (c) The department may accept private contributions, grants,
5-22 and donations made to the special nongame and endangered species
5-23 conservation account.
5-24 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Section 311.025, Government Code,
5-25 this Act prevails over any revision, recodification, or reenactment
5-26 of Titles 1 and 2 of the Education Code by the 74th Legislature.
5-27 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-1 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.