Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.

      Line and page numbers may not match official copy.

         By:  Truan                                   S.B. No. 1050

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to protection of the State's ownership of Permanent School

 1-2     Fund 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 Sections 33.140 and 33.141 to read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 33.140.  PRESERVATION OF PROPERTY AND LITTORAL RIGHTS.

 1-7     (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, no action relating to

 1-8     erosion response which will cause, or contribute to shoreline

 1-9     alteration, shall be undertaken within the coastal zone, as

1-10     established in Section 503.1, Chapter 31, Texas Administrative

1-11     Code, prior to conducting and filing a coastal boundary survey in

1-12     the same manner as the survey of public land required in Chapter 21

1-13     of this code, and all applicable rules adopted by the commissioner,

1-14     and obtaining any required lease, easement or other instrument from

1-15     the commissioner or School Land Board, as applicable.  Upon the

1-16     filing of the survey, the shoreline depicted on the survey shall

1-17     become, and remain, a fixed line for the purpose of locating a

1-18     shoreline boundary, subject to movement landward of such line.  A

1-19     coastal boundary survey conducted under this section shall not be

1-20     filed until notice of approval is given by the commissioner under

1-21     Subsection (d) of this section.

1-22           (b)  For the purposes of this section, "erosion response"

1-23     means an action intended to address coastal erosion, mitigate the

 2-1     effect of coastal erosion, or maintain or enhance beach stability

 2-2     or width including, but not limited to, beach nourishment, sediment

 2-3     management, beneficial use of dredged material, construction of

 2-4     breakwaters, dune creation or enhancement, and revegetation.

 2-5     Erosion response shall not mean or refer to construction of a

 2-6     breakwater or bulkhead landward of the shoreline depicted on a

 2-7     current coastal boundary survey.

 2-8           (c)  The survey shall contain the following statement:

 2-9     NOTICE:  This survey was performed in accordance with Section,

2-10     33.140, Natural Resources Code, for the purpose of evidencing the

2-11     location of the shoreline in the area depicted hereon prior to the

2-12     commencement of an erosion response activity in the coastal zone,

2-13     as required by Chapter 33, Natural Resources Code.  If a lease,

2-14     easement or other instrument was issued by the commissioner or

2-15     School Land Board in connection with the erosion response activity,

2-16     the line depicted hereon shall fix the shoreline for the purpose of

2-17     locating a shoreline boundary, subject to movement landward as

2-18     provided in Section 33.140, Natural Resources Code.

2-19           (d)  Within 30 days after the date the commissioner approves

2-20     a coastal boundary survey under this section, the commissioner

2-21     shall provide notice of his approval, by:

2-22                 (1)  publication in the Texas Register;

2-23                 (2)  publication for two consecutive weeks in a

2-24     newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which

2-25     the land is located; and

 3-1                 (3)  filing a copy of his decision in the Archives and

 3-2     Records Division of the Land office.

 3-3           (e)  Any upland owner who, due to erosion response activity

 3-4     undertaken by the commissioner, ceases to be a holder of title to

 3-5     land which extends to the shoreline as altered by the erosion

 3-6     response activity shall be entitled to continue to exercise all

 3-7     littoral rights possessed by that owner prior to the date the

 3-8     activity commenced, including, but not limited to, rights of

 3-9     ingress, egress, boating, bathing, and fishing.

3-10           Sec. 33.141.  PROOF OF CLAIM.  Any person who claims title to

3-11     Permanent School Fund land as a result of accretion, reliction, or

3-12     avulsion within the coastal zone after the effective date of this

3-13     Act shall, in order to prevail in his claim, prove that:

3-14                 (1)  a change in the shoreline has occurred;

3-15                 (2)  the change did not occur as result of the

3-16     claimant's actions, the action of any predecessor in title, the

3-17     action of any grantee, assignee, licensee, or person authorized by

3-18     him to use his land, or an erosion response activity; and

3-19                 (3)  the claimant is entitled to benefit from the

3-20     change.

3-21           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-22     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-23     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-24     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-25     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 4-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 4-2     passage, and it is so enacted.  relating to coastal erosion

 4-3     planning and response.