By Kamel                                         H.B. No. 300

      75R1681 MLR-F                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the authority of an employee of the Parks and Wildlife

 1-3     Department to enter land and water and to collect information.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 12.103, Parks and Wildlife Code, is

 1-6     amended to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 12.103.  ENTERING LAND; USE OF INFORMATION OBTAINED BY

 1-8     ENTRY; CIVIL PENALTY.  (a)  To enforce the game and fish laws of

 1-9     the state [and to conduct scientific investigations and research

1-10     regarding wild game or fish], an authorized employee of the

1-11     department may enter on any land or water where wild game or fish

1-12     are known to range or stray if the employee has probable cause to

1-13     suspect that a violation of the game and fish laws is in progress

1-14     or has just occurred.  No action may be sustained against an

1-15     employee of the department to prevent his entering on land or water

1-16     when acting in his official capacity as described by this

1-17     subsection.

1-18           (b)  An authorized [Except as provided by Subsection (d), the

1-19     department may use information collected by an] employee of the

1-20     department may not enter on privately owned land or water where

1-21     wild game or fish are known to range or stray [only] for the

1-22     purposes of scientific investigations and research, or for any

1-23     purpose other than the purpose described in Subsection (a), without

1-24     the express [and only if authorized in writing by the landowner or

 2-1     the landowner's agent.  Unless the department first obtains the]

 2-2     written consent of the landowner  or the landowner's agent[, the

 2-3     department may not:]

 2-4                 [(1)  use other incidental information obtained on the

 2-5     land that does not pertain directly to the investigation or

 2-6     research authorized under Subsection (a); or]

 2-7                 [(2)  enter or permit the entry of any information that

 2-8     does not pertain directly to the investigation or research

 2-9     authorized under Subsection (a), into a database:]

2-10                       [(A)  maintained by the department and available

2-11     to a person other than a department employee;]

2-12                       [(B)  maintained by a natural heritage program

2-13     administered by the department; or]

2-14                       [(C)  established and maintained by any other

2-15     person].

2-16           [(c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), information

2-17     collected under this section may only be reported or compiled in a

2-18     manner that prevents the identification of an individual parcel or

2-19     specific parcels of private property without the written consent of

2-20     the landowner or the landowner's agent.]

2-21           [(d)  The department may collect and enter data as necessary

2-22     relating to the occurrence or harvest of natural resources in

2-23     public land or water.  The department may collect and report

2-24     standardized annual wildlife survey information required by the

2-25     Pitman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. Section 669 et

2-26     seq.).]

2-27           [(e)  The department is liable to a private landowner for a

 3-1     civil penalty in the amount of $1,000 for a violation of this

 3-2     section involving information collected by an employee of the

 3-3     department on the landowner's property.  A landowner may bring suit

 3-4     to collect the penalty in the county in which the land is located

 3-5     or the county in which the landowner resides.]

 3-6           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

 3-7     applies only to an  authorized employee of the Parks and Wildlife

 3-8     Department who enters land or water on or after that date.  An

 3-9     authorized employee of the Parks and Wildlife Department who enters

3-10     land or water before that date is governed by the law in effect on

3-11     the date the action was taken, and that law is continued in effect

3-12     for that purpose.

3-13           SECTION 3.  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.