75R12415 CAG-D
By Turner of Coleman H.B. No. 1395
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1395:
By Bosse C.S.H.B. No. 1395
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the review and approval of certain state or local
1-3 permits.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 481.143, Government Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 481.143. UNIFORMITY OF REQUIREMENTS. (a) The
1-8 approval, disapproval, or conditional approval of an application
1-9 for a permit shall be considered by each regulatory agency solely
1-10 on the basis of any orders, regulations, ordinances, rules,
1-11 expiration dates, or other duly adopted requirements in effect at
1-12 the time the original application for the permit is filed. If a
1-13 series of permits is required for a project, the orders,
1-14 regulations, ordinances, rules, expiration dates, or other duly
1-15 adopted requirements in effect at the time the original application
1-16 for the first permit in that series is filed shall be the sole
1-17 basis for consideration of all subsequent permits required for the
1-18 completion of the project, and all permits required for the project
1-19 shall be considered to be a single series of permits. Preliminary
1-20 subdivision plans and related subdivision plats, site plans, and
1-21 all other development permits for land covered by such preliminary
1-22 plans or subdivision plats are considered collectively to be one
1-23 series of permits, regardless of whether all the permits are issued
1-24 by the same regulatory agency or by more than one regulatory agency
2-1 that has had jurisdiction over the project at a stage of its
2-2 development. Once an application for a project has been filed, a
2-3 regulatory agency shall not shorten the duration of any permit
2-4 required for the project.
2-5 (b) The rules, regulations, ordinances, or requirements
2-6 applicable to the approval of a subdivision plat apply to the
2-7 construction of any infrastructure improvement required in
2-8 connection with the plat.
2-9 (c) A municipality, except for a regulation under Subsection
2-10 (f)(5), may not impair, stop, or cause the alteration of a project
2-11 by imposing new rules, regulations, ordinances, or requirements as
2-12 the result of the annexation of the area containing the project by
2-13 the municipality, if the municipality approved a site plan showing
2-14 building locations for the project before the date of the
2-15 annexation.
2-16 (d) Notwithstanding Subsection (f)(4) or (5), a municipality
2-17 may not impair, stop, or cause the alteration of a building or the
2-18 building's associated parking or landscaping that is lawfully being
2-19 constructed at the time of an annexation by the municipality by
2-20 imposing new rules, regulations, ordinances, or requirements as a
2-21 result of the annexation of the area containing the project.
2-22 (e) [(b)] This subchapter shall apply to all projects in
2-23 progress on or commenced after the effective date of this
2-24 subchapter as originally enacted by Section 1, Chapter 374, Acts of
2-25 the 70th Legislature, Regular Session, 1987, and the duly adopted
2-26 requirements in effect at the time the original application for the
2-27 first permit for the project was filed shall control. This
3-1 subchapter shall be enforceable solely through declaratory,
3-2 mandamus, or injunctive relief.
3-3 (f) Unless otherwise provided by this subchapter, this
3-4 [(c) This] section does not apply to:
3-5 (1) permits or licenses issued in connection with any
3-6 form of gaming or gambling;
3-7 (2) permits or licenses issued under Title 2, Tax
3-8 Code;
3-9 (3) permits or orders issued under programs for which
3-10 a state regulatory agency has received authorization, delegation,
3-11 or approval from the federal government to implement an equivalent
3-12 state program in lieu of or as part of the federal program;
3-13 (4) permits for the construction of buildings or
3-14 structures intended for human occupancy or habitation that are
3-15 issued pursuant to laws, ordinances, procedures, rules, or
3-16 regulations adopting solely the provisions of uniform building,
3-17 fire, electrical, plumbing, or mechanical codes promulgated by a
3-18 recognized national code organization or local amendments to any
3-19 such codes enacted solely to address imminent threats of
3-20 destruction of property or injury to persons, unless such permits
3-21 are less than two years old;
3-22 (5) municipal zoning regulations that do not affect
3-23 lot size, lot dimensions, lot coverage, or building size;
3-24 (6) regulations for the location of adult-oriented
3-25 businesses;
3-26 (7) state or local laws, including city or county
3-27 ordinances, rules, regulations, or other requirements, affecting
4-1 colonias;
4-2 (8) fees lawfully imposed in conjunction with
4-3 development permits;
4-4 (9) regulations for annexation;
4-5 (10) regulations for utility connections;
4-6 (11) regulations to prevent imminent destruction of
4-7 property or injury to persons; or
4-8 (12) construction standards for public works located
4-9 on public lands and easements.
4-10 (g) [(d)] Notwithstanding any provision of this section to
4-11 the contrary, a permit holder shall have the right to take
4-12 advantage of procedural changes to the laws, rules, regulations, or
4-13 ordinances of a regulatory agency which enhance or protect the
4-14 project including, without limitation, changes which lengthen the
4-15 effective life of the permit after the date on which application
4-16 for the permit was made, without otherwise forfeiting any rights
4-17 under this section.
4-18 (h) [(e)] The provisions of this section relating to the
4-19 expiration date of a permit or to the duration of a permit do not
4-20 apply in the case of a permit issued by the Railroad Commission of
4-21 Texas which did not have an expiration date or a specific duration
4-22 when originally issued.
4-23 (i) A land development project may be revised to allow for
4-24 types or intensities of land uses in a revised project that are
4-25 different from those that were originally planned for the project.
4-26 The revisions do not result in the forfeiture of any rights under
4-27 this section, if one or more permits in the series of permits
5-1 necessary to construct the project as originally planned is used in
5-2 the series of permits necessary to construct the revised project
5-3 and the application for the last permit in the series of permits
5-4 necessary to construct the project is made not more than 20 years
5-5 after the date of the first application in the series of permits.
5-6 This section does not limit the life of a project that has remained
5-7 substantially unchanged for any period.
5-8 SECTION 2. (a) This Act does not:
5-9 (1) limit or otherwise affect the authority of a
5-10 municipality, a county, another political subdivision, the state,
5-11 or an agency of the state to implement or enforce an ordinance, a
5-12 rule, or a statutory standard of a program, plan, or ordinance
5-13 adopted under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16
5-14 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) 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 under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972
5-20 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural
5-21 Resources Code.
5-22 (b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to diminish or
5-23 impair the rights or remedies of any person or entity under a final
5-24 judgment rendered by, or in any pending litigation brought in, any
5-25 court concerning an interpretation of the provisions of Subchapter
5-26 I, Chapter 481, Government Code, before the effective date of this
5-27 Act. In all other instances, this Act shall apply to all projects,
6-1 as defined in Section 481.142, Government Code, that were in
6-2 progress on or commenced after the effective date of Subchapter I,
6-3 Chapter 481, Government Code, as originally enacted by Section 1,
6-4 Chapter 374, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular Session, 1987.
6-5 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-10 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-11 passage, and it is so enacted.