By: Shapiro S.B. No. 1704
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the review and approval of certain permits by the
1-2 state, a municipality, or other local governmental agencies.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 481, Government Code, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 SUBCHAPTER I. STATE AND LOCAL PERMITS
1-7 Sec. 481.141. Legislative Finding and Intent. (a) The
1-8 legislature finds that current administrative practices often
1-9 result in unnecessary governmental regulatory delays that inhibit
1-10 the economic development of the state.
1-11 (b) The legislature desires to establish requirements
1-12 relating to the processing and issuance of permits and approvals by
1-13 governmental regulatory agencies in order to alleviate bureaucratic
1-14 obstacles to economic development.
1-15 Sec. 481.142. Definitions. In this subchapter:
1-16 (1) "Political subdivision" means a political
1-17 subdivision of the state, including a county, a school district, or
1-18 a municipality.
1-19 (2) "Permit" means a license, certificate, approval,
1-20 registration, consent, permit, or other form of authorization
1-21 required by law, rule, regulation, or ordinance that must be
1-22 obtained by a person in order to perform an action or initiate a
1-23 project for which the permit is sought.
2-1 (3) "Project" means an endeavor over which a
2-2 regulatory agency exerts its jurisdiction and for which one or more
2-3 permits are <a permit is> required to initiate or continue <before
2-4 initiation of> the endeavor.
2-5 (4) "Regulatory agency" means an agency, bureau,
2-6 department, division, or commission of the state or any department,
2-7 <or other> agency, board, commission, or governing body of a
2-8 political subdivision in its capacity of processing, approving, or
2-9 issuing <that processes and issues> permits.
2-10 Sec. 481.143. Uniformity of Requirements. (a) The approval,
2-11 disapproval, or conditional approval of an application for a permit
2-12 shall be considered by each regulatory agency solely on the basis
2-13 of any orders, regulations, ordinances, rules, expiration dates, or
2-14 other duly adopted requirements in effect at the time the original
2-15 application for the permit is filed. If a series of permits is
2-16 required for a project, the orders, regulations, ordinances, rules,
2-17 expiration dates, or other duly adopted requirements in effect at
2-18 the time the original application for the first permit in that
2-19 series is filed shall be the sole basis for consideration of all
2-20 subsequent permits required for the completion of the project, and
2-21 all permits required for the project shall be considered to be a
2-22 single series of permits. Preliminary plans and related
2-23 subdivision plats, site plans, and all other development permits
2-24 for land covered by such preliminary plans or subdivision plats are
2-25 considered collectively to be one series of permits. Once an
3-1 application for a project has been filed, a regulatory agency shall
3-2 not shorten the duration of any permit required for the project.
3-3 (b) This subchapter shall apply to all projects in progress
3-4 on or commenced after the effective date of this subchapter as
3-5 originally enacted by Section 1, Chapter 374, Acts of the 70th
3-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1987, and the duly adopted
3-7 requirements in effect at the time the original application for the
3-8 first permit for the project was filed shall control. This
3-9 subchapter shall be enforceable solely through declaratory,
3-10 mandamus, or injunctive relief.
3-11 (c) This section does not apply to:
3-12 (1) permits or licenses issued in connection with any
3-13 form of gaming or gambling;
3-14 (2) permits or licenses issued under Title 2, Tax
3-15 Code; <or>
3-16 (3) permits or orders issued under programs for which
3-17 a state regulatory agency has received authorization, delegation,
3-18 or approval from the federal government to implement an equivalent
3-19 state program in lieu of or as part of the federal program;
3-20 (4) permits for the construction of buildings or
3-21 structures intended for human occupancy or habitation that are
3-22 issued pursuant to laws, ordinances, procedures, rules, or
3-23 regulations adopting solely the provisions of uniform building,
3-24 fire, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical codes promulgated by a
3-25 recognized national code organization or local amendments to any
4-1 such codes enacted solely to address imminent threats of
4-2 destruction of property or injury to persons, unless such permits
4-3 are less than two years old;
4-4 (5) municipal zoning regulations that do not affect
4-5 lot size, lot dimensions, lot coverage, or building size;
4-6 (6) regulations for the location of adult-oriented
4-7 businesses;
4-8 (7) state or local laws, including city or county
4-9 ordinances, rules, regulations, or other requirements, affecting
4-10 colonias;
4-11 (8) fees lawfully imposed in conjunction with
4-12 development permits;
4-13 (9) regulations for annexation;
4-14 (10) regulations for utility connections;
4-15 (11) regulations to prevent imminent destruction of
4-16 property or injury to persons; or
4-17 (12) construction standards for public works located
4-18 on public lands and easements.
4-19 (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
4-20 contrary, a permit holder shall have the right to take advantage of
4-21 procedural changes to the laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances
4-22 of a regulatory agency which enhance or protect the project
4-23 including, without limitation, changes which lengthen the effective
4-24 life of the permit after the date on which application for the
4-25 permit was made, without otherwise forfeiting any rights under this
5-1 section.
5-2 (e) The provisions of this section relating to the
5-3 expiration date of a permit or to the duration of a permit do not
5-4 apply in the case of a permit issued by the Railroad Commission of
5-5 Texas which did not have an expiration date or a specific duration
5-6 when originally issued.
5-7 SECTION 2. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to:
5-8 (1) limit or otherwise affect the authority of a
5-9 municipality, a county, another political subdivision, the state,
5-10 or an agency of the state, with respect to the implementation or
5-11 enforcement of an ordinance, a rule, or a statutory standard of a
5-12 program, plan, or ordinance that was adopted under the federal
5-13 Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et
5-14 seq.) or its subsequent amendments or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural
5-15 Resources Code; or
5-16 (2) apply to a permit, order, rule, regulation, or
5-17 other action issued, adopted, or undertaken by a municipality, a
5-18 county, another political subdivision, the state, or an agency of
5-19 the state in connection with the federal Coastal Zone Management
5-20 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) or its subsequent
5-21 amendments or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural Resources Code.
5-22 SECTION 3. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
5-23 diminish or impair the rights or remedies of any person or entity
5-24 under a final judgment rendered by, or in any pending litigation
5-25 brought in, any court concerning an interpretation of the
6-1 provisions of Subchapter I, Chapter 481, Government Code.
6-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-8 passage, and it is so enacted.