By:  Brown                                            S.B. No. 1040
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the operation and re-creation of the dedicated account
    1-2  known as the coastal protection account.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 40.151 (c), Natural Resources Code, is
    1-5  amended to read as follows:
    1-6        (c)  Sections 403.094 and 403.095, Government Code, do not
    1-7  apply to the dedicated account created under this section <Except
    1-8  as provided by Subsection (e) of this section, the commissioner may
    1-9  invest money in the fund not currently needed to meet the
   1-10  commissioner's responsibility under this chapter in the manner
   1-11  provided by Section 161.173 of this code for investment of the
   1-12  veterans land fund.  Income received on investments shall be
   1-13  credited to the fund>.
   1-14        SECTION 2.  Section 40.155, Natural Resources Code, is
   1-15  amended to read as follows:
   1-16        (a)  Except as otherwise provided in this section, the rate
   1-17  of the fee shall be two cents per barrel of crude oil until the
   1-18  commissioner certifies that the unencumbered balance in the fund
   1-19  has reached $25 million.  The commissioner shall certify to the
   1-20  comptroller the date on which the unencumbered balance in the fund
   1-21  exceeds $25 million.  The fee shall not be collected or required to
   1-22  be paid on or after the first day of the second month following the
   1-23  commissioner's certification to the comptroller that the
    2-1  unencumbered balance in the fund exceeds $25 million.
    2-2        (b)  If the unencumbered balance in the fund falls below $14
    2-3  million, the commissioner shall certify such fact to the
    2-4  comptroller.  On receiving the commissioner's certification, the
    2-5  comptroller shall resume collecting the fee until suspended in the
    2-6  manner provided in Subsection (a) of this section.
    2-7        (c)  Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) or (b)
    2-8  of this section, the fee shall be levied at the rate of four cents
    2-9  per barrel if the commissioner certifies to the comptroller a
   2-10  written finding of the following facts:
   2-11              (1)  the unencumbered balance in the fund is less than
   2-12  $25 million;
   2-13              (2)  an unauthorized discharge of oil in excess of
   2-14  100,000 gallons has occurred within the previous 30 days; and
   2-15              (3)  expenditures from the fund for response costs and
   2-16  damages are expected to deplete the fund substantially.
   2-17        (d)  In the event of a certification to the comptroller under
   2-18  Subsection (c) of this section, the unencumbered balance of the
   2-19  dedicated coastal protection account is appropriated to the General
   2-20  Land Office for emergency response and the comptroller shall
   2-21  collect the fee at the rate of four cents per barrel until the
   2-22  unencumbered balance in the fund reaches $25 million or any lesser
   2-23  amount that the commissioner determines is necessary to pay such
   2-24  response costs and damages without substantially depleting the
   2-25  fund.  The commissioner shall certify to the comptroller the date
    3-1  on which the unencumbered balance in the fund exceeds $25 million
    3-2  or such other lesser amount.  The fee shall not be collected or
    3-3  required to be paid on or after the first day of the second month
    3-4  following the commissioner's certification to the comptroller.
    3-5        (e)  For purposes of this section, the unencumbered balance
    3-6  of the fund shall be determined by the unencumbered cash balance of
    3-7  the fund at the end of each month or on the date of a finding under
    3-8  Subsection (c) of this section.
    3-9        SECTION 3.  The coastal protection account is hereby
   3-10  recreated as a special dedicated account.  The value of all extant
   3-11  investments are transferred into such account to be used for the
   3-12  purposes designated in Chapter 40, Natural Resources Code.
   3-13        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-14  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-15  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-16  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-17  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   3-18  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   3-19  passage, and it is so enacted.