Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By Turner of Coleman H.B. No. 1395
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the review and approval of certain permits by the
1-3 state, a municipality, or other local government agencies.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter I, Chapter 481, Government Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER I. STATE AND LOCAL PERMITS
1-8 Sec. 481.141. Legislative Finding and Intent. (a) The
1-9 legislature finds that current administrative practices often
1-10 result in unnecessary governmental regulatory delays that inhibit
1-11 the economic development of the state.
1-12 (b) The legislature desires to establish requirements
1-13 relating to the processing and issuance of permits and approvals by
1-14 governmental regulatory agencies in order to alleviate bureaucratic
1-15 obstacles to economic development.
1-16 Sec. 481.142. Definitions. In this subchapter:
1-17 (1) "Political subdivision" means a political
1-18 subdivision of the state, including a county, a school district, or
1-19 a municipality.
1-20 (2) "Permit" means a license, certificate, approval,
1-21 registration, consent, permit, change of zoning, or other form of
1-22 authorization required by law, rule, regulation, or ordinance that
1-23 must be obtained by a person in order to perform an action or
1-24 initiate a 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 required to initiate or continue the endeavor.
2-4 (4) "Regulatory agency" means an agency, bureau,
2-5 department, division, or commission of the state or any department,
2-6 agency, board, commission, or governing body of a political
2-7 subdivision in its capacity of processing, approving, or issuing
2-8 permits.
2-9 Sec. 481.143. Uniformity of Requirements. (a) The
2-10 approval, disapproval, or conditional approval of an application
2-11 for a permit shall be considered by each regulatory agency solely
2-12 on the basis of any orders, regulations, ordinances, rules,
2-13 expiration dates, or other duly adopted requirements in effect at
2-14 the time the original application for the permit is filed. If a
2-15 series of permits is required for a project, the orders,
2-16 regulations, ordinances, rules, expiration dates, or other duly
2-17 adopted requirements in effect at the time the original application
2-18 for the first permit in that series is filed shall be the sole
2-19 basis for consideration of all subsequent permits required for the
2-20 completion of the project, and all permits required for the project
2-21 shall be considered to be a single series of permits. Necessary
2-22 zoning changes, [Preliminary] preliminary subdivision plans and
2-23 related subdivision plats, site plans, and all other development
2-24 permits for land covered by such zoning changes, preliminary plans
2-25 or subdivision plats are considered collectively to be one series
2-26 of permits, regardless of whether all such permits are issued by
2-27 the same regulatory agency or by multiple regulatory agencies which
2-28 have jurisdiction over the project or which have had jurisdiction
2-29 over the project at various stages of its development. Once an
2-30 application for a project has been filed, a regulatory agency shall
3-1 not shorten the duration of any permit required for the project.
3-2 (b) This subchapter shall apply to all projects in progress
3-3 on or commenced after the effective date of this subchapter as
3-4 originally enacted by Section 1, Chapter 374, Acts of the 70th
3-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1987, and the duly adopted
3-6 requirements in effect at the time the original application for the
3-7 first permit for the project was filed shall control. This
3-8 subchapter shall be enforceable solely through declaratory,
3-9 mandamus, or injunctive relief.
3-10 (c) This section does not apply to:
3-11 (1) permits or licenses issued in connection with any
3-12 form of gaming or gambling;
3-13 (2) permits or licenses issued under Title 2, Tax
3-14 Code;
3-15 (3) permits or orders issued under programs for which
3-16 a state regulatory agency has received authorization, delegation,
3-17 or approval from the federal government to implement an equivalent
3-18 state program in lieu of or as part of the federal program;
3-19 (4) permits for the construction of buildings or
3-20 structures intended for human occupancy or habitation that are
3-21 issued pursuant to laws, ordinances, procedures, rules, or
3-22 regulations adopting solely the provisions of uniform building,
3-23 fire, electrical, plumbing or mechanical codes promulgated by a
3-24 recognized national code organization or local amendments to any
3-25 such codes enacted solely to address imminent threats of
3-26 destruction of property or injury to persons, unless such permits
3-27 are less than two years old;
3-28 (5) municipal zoning regulations that do not affect
3-29 lot size, lot dimensions, lot coverage, or building size, unless
3-30 otherwise provided by this subchapter;
4-1 (6) regulations for the location of adult-oriented
4-2 businesses;
4-3 (7) state or local laws, including city or county
4-4 ordinances, rules, regulations, or other requirements, affecting
4-5 colonias;
4-6 (8) fees lawfully imposed in conjunction with
4-7 development permits;
4-8 (9) regulations for annexation;
4-9 (10) regulations for utility connections;
4-10 (11) regulations to prevent imminent destruction of
4-11 property or injury to persons; or
4-12 (12) construction standards for public works located
4-13 on public lands and easements.
4-14 (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
4-15 contrary, a permit holder shall have the right to take advantage of
4-16 procedural changes to the laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances
4-17 of a regulatory agency which enhance or protect the project
4-18 including, without limitation, changes which lengthen the effective
4-19 life of the permit after the date on which application for the
4-20 permit was made, without otherwise forfeiting any rights under this
4-21 section.
4-22 (e) A land development project may be revised to allow for
4-23 types or intensities of land uses in the revised project which are
4-24 different from those which were originally planned for the project,
4-25 and such revisions shall not result in the forfeiture of any rights
4-26 under the section, so long as at least one permit in the series of
4-27 permits necessary to construct the project as originally planned is
4-28 used in the series of permits necessary to construct the project as
4-29 revised, and not more than 20 years has elapsed between the
4-30 applications for the first and last permits in the series of
5-1 permits necessary to construct the project as revised. Nothing
5-2 herein shall be construed to limit the life of a project which has
5-3 remained substantially unchanged to any particular duration of
5-4 time.
5-5 [(e)] f The provisions of this section relating to the
5-6 expiration date of a permit or to the duration of a permit do not
5-7 apply in the case of a permit issued by the Railroad Commission of
5-8 Texas which did not have an expiration date or a specific duration
5-9 when originally issued.
5-10 SECTION 2. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to:
5-11 (1) limit or otherwise affect the authority of a
5-12 municipality, a county, another political subdivision, the state,
5-13 or an agency of the state, with respect to the implementation or
5-14 enforcement of an ordinance, a rule, or a statutory standard of a
5-15 program, plan, or ordinance that was adopted under the federal
5-16 Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et
5-17 seq.) or its subsequent amendments or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural
5-18 Resources Code; or
5-19 (2) apply to a permit, order, rule, regulation, or
5-20 other action issued, adopted, or undertaken by a municipality, a
5-21 county, another political subdivision, the state, or an agency of
5-22 the state in connection with the federal Coastal Zone Management
5-23 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) or its subsequent
5-24 amendments or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural Resources Code.
5-25 SECTION 3. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
5-26 diminish or impair the rights or remedies of any person or entity
5-27 under a final judgment rendered by, or in any pending litigation
5-28 brought in, any court concerning an interpretation of the
5-29 provisions of Subchapter I, Chapter 481, Government Code.
5-30 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-5 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-6 passage, and it is so enacted.