By Truan S.B. No. 1599
74R8685 MI-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of the Texas-Mexico Border Environmental
1-3 Education Council.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter I to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER I. TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER
1-8 ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION COUNCIL
1-9 Sec. 11.971. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "council"
1-10 means the Texas-Mexico Border Environmental Education Council.
1-11 Sec. 11.972. TEXAS-MEXICO BORDER ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
1-12 COUNCIL. (a) The Texas-Mexico Border Environmental Education
1-13 Council is created under the jurisdiction of the agency.
1-14 (b) The council consists of:
1-15 (1) six members appointed by the governor, one member
1-16 from each of the five border regional education service centers and
1-17 one member appointed at large; and
1-18 (2) the directors of the Region 1 and Region 19
1-19 education service centers, who serve ex officio.
1-20 (c) The at-large member serves as the presiding officer of
1-21 the council.
1-22 (d) The Region 1 and Region 19 education service centers
1-23 shall coordinate the council.
1-24 Sec. 11.973. COMPENSATION. Service on the council by a
2-1 state officer or employee is an additional duty of a council
2-2 member's office or employment. A council member is not entitled to
2-3 compensation as a council member but is entitled to reimbursement
2-4 of the member's travel expenses under provisions in the General
2-5 Appropriations Act.
2-6 Sec. 11.974. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The council shall:
2-7 (1) establish a communication network among
2-8 governmental and private entities in order to broaden and
2-9 facilitate the exchange of ideas and planning strategies to find
2-10 workable solutions to environmental conditions along the
2-11 Texas-Mexico border;
2-12 (2) create environmental education programs informally
2-13 through state agencies, community-based groups, and industry;
2-14 (3) jointly implement, with public schools and
2-15 communities, school and community outreach workshops to:
2-16 (A) address environmental problems in the
2-17 community and the region;
2-18 (B) increase environmental awareness among
2-19 children and adults; and
2-20 (C) develop skills in adults and children to
2-21 enable them to actively promote conservation and pollution
2-22 prevention measures;
2-23 (4) suggest mechanisms to guarantee local involvement
2-24 in identifying urban and economic development plans that could
2-25 affect community residents' physical environment;
2-26 (5) study and compare state legislative initiatives in
2-27 the United States and Mexico that support environmental programs;
3-1 (6) encourage the establishment of enterprises or
3-2 technologies that promote sustainable development;
3-3 (7) develop a border environmental programs resource
3-4 directory;
3-5 (8) develop and implement mechanisms for coordinating
3-6 council proposals across the Texas-Mexico border and among Mexican
3-7 states, including proposals for comprehensive courses on the
3-8 environment and conservation in schools in the Mexican border
3-9 states; and
3-10 (9) examine the possibility of formal cooperation with
3-11 international environmental institutions, including the Border
3-12 Environmental Cooperation Commission and the U.S.-Mexico Border
3-13 Health Commission.
3-14 (b) The council may create environmental education programs
3-15 through optional formal curriculum courses in public schools and
3-16 institutions of higher education.
3-17 (c) The council shall coordinate its activities with any
3-18 appropriate advisory committee established by the agency under
3-19 Subchapter H and with the Office of Texas-Mexico Health and
3-20 Environmental Issues established under Subchapter F, Chapter 12,
3-21 Health and Safety Code.
3-22 Sec. 11.975. PARTICIPATION BY AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS OF
3-23 HIGHER EDUCATION. (a) The following entities shall coordinate
3-24 with the council in order to implement this subchapter:
3-25 (1) the agency;
3-26 (2) the Parks and Wildlife Department;
3-27 (3) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
4-1 Commission;
4-2 (4) any border institution of higher education
4-3 designated by the council; and
4-4 (5) any other state agency designated by the council.
4-5 (b) In this section, "institution of higher education" has
4-6 the meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
4-7 Sec. 11.976. GIFTS AND GRANTS. (a) The council may accept
4-8 gifts and grants made to the council for the purposes of this
4-9 subchapter.
4-10 (b) Money received under this section shall be credited to a
4-11 separate account in the general revenue fund and may be used only
4-12 for the purposes of this subchapter. Sections 403.094 and 403.095,
4-13 Government Code, do not apply to the account created under this
4-14 subsection.
4-15 Sec. 11.977. STAFF. The agency may make available to the
4-16 council any agency staff or supplies that the agency considers
4-17 necessary to assist the council in the performance of its duties
4-18 under this subchapter.
4-19 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
4-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-25 passage, and it is so enacted.