1-1 By: Leedom S.B. No. 1038
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 1995; March 9, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 March 21, 1995, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10,
1-5 Nays 0; March 21, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to calculation of interest on sales of public school land,
1-9 recording of patents, the sale of minerals under lands dedicated to
1-10 the permanent school fund, the commissioner's discretion to issue
1-11 permits to prospect for minerals, and the lease of unsurveyed land
1-12 in the public domain, including state-owned riverbeds and channels.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 51.070, Natural Resources
1-15 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-16 (a) Unpaid and delinquent interest on sales of public school
1-17 land shall bear interest at a rate set by the board, which interest
1-18 shall be payable at the times and on such terms as are established
1-19 by the board by rule or by contract <compounded annually as it
1-20 accrues on the date of payment set by the board>.
1-21 SECTION 2. Section 51.244, Natural Resources Code, is
1-22 amended to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 51.244. DELIVERY OF PATENT. (a) When a patent is
1-24 ready for delivery, the commissioner shall send it, together with
1-25 the check for payment of the fee required by Section 51.242 of this
1-26 code and the name and address of the owner or his agent, by
1-27 certified <registered> mail to the clerk of the proper county.
1-28 (b) On receiving the patent, the clerk shall record it and
1-29 shall send the patent, together with the name and address of the
1-30 owner or his agent and the remaining recording fees, by certified
1-31 <registered> mail to the clerk of another proper county until the
1-32 patent has been recorded in each county in which all or part of the
1-33 land is located.
1-34 (c) After the patent is recorded in all the proper counties,
1-35 it shall be sent by certified <registered> mail to the proper
1-36 party.
1-37 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 51.054, Natural Resources
1-38 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-39 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, land
1-40 <Land> dedicated to the permanent school fund shall be sold subject
1-41 to a reservation set by the board <School Land Board> of not less
1-42 than one-eighth of all sulphur and other mineral substances from
1-43 which sulphur may be derived or produced and not less than
1-44 one-sixteenth of all other minerals to the state; provided, that if
1-45 leasing rights are retained hereunder, the reserved minerals shall
1-46 be subject to lease as provided by Subchapter B, Chapter 52,
1-47 Natural Resources Code, and Subchapters B and E, Chapter 53,
1-48 Natural Resources Code. The mineral reservation to the state shall
1-49 be determined by the board before the land is offered for sale. If
1-50 the board determines that a mineral reservation under this section
1-51 would substantially reduce the value of the surface of land by
1-52 restricting its suitability for agricultural, commercial, or
1-53 residential use, the board may take such action or waive such
1-54 rights as are in the best interest of the permanent school fund,
1-55 including, without limitation, establishing designated exploration
1-56 or drilling sites, waiving surface or other rights of access or
1-57 development, or conveying the land with no mineral reservation.
1-58 SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 53.013, Natural Resources
1-59 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-60 (a) The <After receipt of the rental payment set by the
1-61 commissioner, the> commissioner may <shall> issue to the first
1-62 applicant a permit to prospect the area designated in the
1-63 applicant's application for a period up to <of> one year from the
1-64 date the application is filed. If the commissioner elects to grant
1-65 the application for a permit to prospect under the provisions of
1-66 this subchapter, the permit shall not be issued until after the
1-67 land office receives the rental payment set by the commissioner.
1-68 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-6 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-7 * * * * *