By:  Truan                                            S.B. No. 1050

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to artificial processes affecting ownership of coastal

 1-2     public land.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 33, Natural Resources Code,

 1-5     is amended by adding Section 33.136 to read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 33.136.  PROPERTY RIGHTS:  PRESERVATION OF LITTORAL

 1-7     RIGHTS.  (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person may

 1-8     not undertake, on the public beach, as defined in Section

 1-9     61.001(8), Texas Natural Resources Code, an action relating to

1-10     erosion response that will cause or contribute to shoreline

1-11     alteration before the person has conducted and filed a coastal

1-12     boundary survey in the same manner as the survey of public land

1-13     required by Chapter 21 and any applicable rule of the commissioner.

1-14     On filing of the survey, the shoreline depicted on the survey is a

1-15     fixed line for the purpose of locating a shoreline boundary,

1-16     subject to erosion landward of that line.  A coastal boundary

1-17     survey conducted under this section may not be filed until the

1-18     commissioner gives notice of approval under Subsection (c).

1-19           (b)  The survey must contain the following statement:

1-20     "NOTICE:  This survey was performed in accordance with Section

1-21     33.136, Natural Resources Code, for the purpose of evidencing the

1-22     location of the shoreline in the area depicted in this survey as

1-23     that shoreline existed before commencement of erosion response

 2-1     activity on the public beach, as required by Chapter 33, Natural

 2-2     Resources Code.  The line depicted on this survey fixes the

 2-3     shoreline for the purpose of locating a shoreline boundary, subject

 2-4     to erosion landward as provided by Section 33.136, Natural

 2-5     Resources Code."

 2-6           (c)  Within 30 days after the date the commissioner approves

 2-7     a coastal boundary survey fixing the location of the shoreline

 2-8     under this section, the commissioner shall provide notice of the

 2-9     commissioner's action by:

2-10                 (1)  publication in the Texas Register;

2-11                 (2)  publication for two consecutive weeks in a

2-12     newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which

2-13     the land is located; and

2-14                 (3)  filing a copy of the commissioner's decision in

2-15     the archives and records division of the land office.

2-16           (d)  A person who claims title to land as a result of

2-17     accretion, reliction, or avulsion on the public beach in an area

2-18     where the shoreline was or may have been changed by an action

2-19     relating to erosion response must, in order to prevail in the

2-20     claim, prove that:

2-21                 (1)  a change in the shoreline has occurred;

2-22                 (2)  the change did not occur as a result of the

2-23     claimant's actions, the action of any predecessor in title, the

2-24     action of any grantee, assignee, licensee, or person authorized by

2-25     the claimant to use the claimant's land, or an erosion response

 3-1     activity; and

 3-2                 (3)  the claimant is entitled to benefit from the

 3-3     change.

 3-4           (e)  An upland owner who, because of erosion activity

 3-5     undertaken by the commissioner, ceases to hold title to land that

 3-6     extends to the shoreline as altered by the erosion response

 3-7     activity is entitled to continue to exercise all littoral rights

 3-8     possessed by that owner before the date the erosion response

 3-9     activity commenced, including rights of ingress, egress, boating,

3-10     bathing, and fishing.

3-11           (f)  In this section, "erosion response" means an action

3-12     intended to address coastal erosion, mitigate the effect of coastal

3-13     erosion, or maintain or enhance beach stability or width.  The term

3-14     includes:

3-15                 (1)  beach nourishment;

3-16                 (2)  sediment management;

3-17                 (3)  beneficial use of dredged material;

3-18                 (4)  construction of breakwaters;

3-19                 (5)  dune creation or enhancement; and

3-20                 (6)  revegetation.

3-21           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

3-22     applies only to an erosion response action initiated on or after

3-23     that date.

3-24           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-25     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

 4-1     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

 4-2     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

 4-3     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.