1-1     By:  Truan                                            S.B. No. 1050

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 1997; March 12, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;

 1-4     April 25, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 1; April 25, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1050                   By:  Truan

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to artificial processes affecting ownership of coastal

1-11     public land.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 33, Natural Resources Code,

1-14     is amended by adding Section 33.136 to read as follows:

1-15           Sec. 33.136.  PROPERTY RIGHTS:  PRESERVATION OF LITTORAL

1-16     RIGHTS.  (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a person may

1-17     not undertake, within the coastal zone, an action relating to

1-18     erosion response that will cause or contribute to shoreline

1-19     alteration before the person has conducted and filed a coastal

1-20     boundary survey in the same manner as the survey of public land

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

1-22     On filing of the survey, the shoreline depicted on the survey is a

1-23     fixed line for the purpose of locating a shoreline boundary,

1-24     subject to erosion landward of that line.  A coastal boundary

1-25     survey conducted under this section may not be filed until the

1-26     commissioner gives notice of approval under Subsection (c).

1-27           (b)  The survey must contain the following statement:

1-28     "NOTICE:  This survey was performed in accordance with Section

1-29     33.136, Natural Resources Code, for the purpose of evidencing the

1-30     location of the shoreline in the area depicted in this survey as

1-31     that shoreline existed before commencement of erosion response

1-32     activity in the coastal zone, as required by Chapter 33, Natural

1-33     Resources Code.  The line depicted on this survey fixes the

1-34     shoreline for the purpose of locating a shoreline boundary, subject

1-35     to erosion landward as provided by Section 33.136, Natural

1-36     Resources Code."

1-37           (c)  Within 30 days after the date the commissioner approves

1-38     a coastal boundary survey fixing the location of the shoreline

1-39     under this section, the commissioner shall provide notice of the

1-40     commissioner's action by:

1-41                 (1)  publication in the Texas Register;

1-42                 (2)  publication for two consecutive weeks in a

1-43     newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which

1-44     the land is located; and

1-45                 (3)  filing a copy of the commissioner's decision in

1-46     the archives and records division of the land office.

1-47           (d)  A person who claims title to land as a result of

1-48     accretion, reliction, or avulsion within the coastal zone in an

1-49     area where the shoreline was or may have been changed by an action

1-50     relating to erosion response must, in order to prevail in the

1-51     claim, prove that:

1-52                 (1)  a change in the shoreline has occurred;

1-53                 (2)  the change did not occur as a result of the

1-54     claimant's actions, the action of any predecessor in title, the

1-55     action of any grantee, assignee, licensee, or person authorized by

1-56     the claimant to use the claimant's land, or an erosion response

1-57     activity; and

1-58                 (3)  the claimant is entitled to benefit from the

1-59     change.

1-60           (e)  An upland owner who, because of erosion activity

1-61     undertaken by the commissioner, ceases to hold title to land that

1-62     extends to the shoreline as altered by the erosion response

1-63     activity is entitled to continue to exercise all littoral rights

1-64     possessed by that owner before the date the erosion response

 2-1     activity commenced, including rights of ingress, egress, boating,

 2-2     bathing, and fishing.

 2-3           (f)  In this section, "erosion response" means an action

 2-4     intended to address coastal erosion, mitigate the effect of coastal

 2-5     erosion, or maintain or enhance beach stability or width.  The term

 2-6     includes:

 2-7                 (1)  beach nourishment;

 2-8                 (2)  sediment management;

 2-9                 (3)  beneficial use of dredged material;

2-10                 (4)  construction of breakwaters;

2-11                 (5)  dune creation or enhancement; and

2-12                 (6)  revegetation.

2-13           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

2-14     applies only to an erosion response action initiated on or after

2-15     that date.

2-16           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-17     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-18     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-19     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-20     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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