By Hilderbran, Turner of Coleman, Siebert H.B. No. 1287
76R4000 DRH-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the approval of certain permit applications by state
1-3 and local governments.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. (a) The
1-6 legislature finds that current administrative practices often
1-7 result in unnecessary governmental regulatory delays that inhibit
1-8 the economic development of the state.
1-9 (b) The legislature intends to establish requirements
1-10 relating to the processing and issuing of permits and approvals by
1-11 governmental regulatory agencies to alleviate bureaucratic
1-12 obstacles to economic development.
1-13 SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. Subtitle A, Title 10, Government
1-14 Code, is amended by adding Chapter 2010 to read as follows:
1-15 CHAPTER 2010. STATE AND LOCAL PERMITS
1-16 Sec. 2010.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-17 (1) "Permit" means a license, certificate, approval,
1-18 registration, consent, permit, or other form of authorization
1-19 required by law, rule, regulation, or ordinance that a person must
1-20 obtain to perform an action or initiate a project for which the
1-21 permit is sought.
1-22 (2) "Political subdivision" means a political
1-23 subdivision of the state, including a county, a school district, or
1-24 a municipality.
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 any of the following
2-5 entities acting in its capacity of processing, approving, or
2-6 issuing a permit:
2-7 (A) a bureau, department, division, board,
2-8 commission, or other agency of the state or of a political
2-9 subdivision; or
2-10 (B) the governing body of a political
2-11 subdivision.
2-12 Sec. 2010.002. UNIFORMITY OF REQUIREMENTS. (a) Each
2-13 regulatory agency shall consider the approval, disapproval, or
2-14 conditional approval of an application for a permit solely on the
2-15 basis of any orders, regulations, ordinances, rules, expiration
2-16 dates, or other properly adopted requirements in effect at the time
2-17 the original application for the permit is filed.
2-18 (b) If a series of permits is required for a project, the
2-19 orders, regulations, ordinances, rules, expiration dates, or other
2-20 properly adopted requirements in effect at the time the original
2-21 application for the first permit in that series is filed shall be
2-22 the sole basis for consideration of all subsequent permits required
2-23 for the completion of the project. All permits required for the
2-24 project are considered to be a single series of permits.
2-25 Preliminary plans and related subdivision plats, site plans, and
2-26 all other development permits for land covered by the preliminary
2-27 plans or subdivision plats are considered collectively to be one
3-1 series of permits without regard to whether the plats, plans, and
3-2 permits are issued or approved by the same regulatory agency.
3-3 (c) After an application for a project is filed, a
3-4 regulatory agency may not shorten the duration of any permit
3-5 required for the project.
3-6 (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the
3-7 contrary, a permit holder may take advantage of a procedural change
3-8 to the laws, rules, regulations, or ordinances of a regulatory
3-9 agency that enhance or protect the project, including changes that
3-10 lengthen the effective life of the permit after the date the
3-11 application for the permit was made, without forfeiting any rights
3-12 under this chapter.
3-13 Sec. 2010.003. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter
3-14 applies only to a project in progress on or commenced after
3-15 September 1, 1987.
3-16 Sec. 2010.004. EXEMPTIONS. (a) This chapter does not apply
3-17 to:
3-18 (1) a permit issued in connection with a form of
3-19 gaming or gambling;
3-20 (2) a permit issued under Title 2, Tax Code;
3-21 (3) a permit issued under a program for which a state
3-22 regulatory agency has received authorization, delegation, or
3-23 approval from the federal government to implement an equivalent
3-24 state program in lieu of or as part of the federal program;
3-25 (4) a permit that is at least two years old, is issued
3-26 for the construction of a building or structure intended for human
3-27 occupancy or habitation, and is issued under laws, ordinances,
4-1 procedures, rules, or regulations adopting only:
4-2 (A) uniform building, fire, electrical,
4-3 plumbing, or mechanical codes adopted by a recognized national code
4-4 organization; or
4-5 (B) local amendments to those codes enacted
4-6 solely to address imminent threats of destruction of property or
4-7 injury to persons;
4-8 (5) municipal zoning regulations that do not affect
4-9 lot size, lot dimensions, lot coverage, or building size;
4-10 (6) regulations for the location of adult-oriented
4-11 businesses;
4-12 (7) state or local laws, including municipal or county
4-13 ordinances, rules, regulations, or other requirements, affecting
4-14 colonias;
4-15 (8) fees imposed in conjunction with development
4-16 permits;
4-17 (9) regulations for annexation;
4-18 (10) regulations for utility connections;
4-19 (11) regulations to prevent imminent destruction of
4-20 property or injury to persons; or
4-21 (12) construction standards for public works located
4-22 on public lands or easements.
4-23 (b) The provisions of this chapter relating to the
4-24 expiration date of a permit or to the duration of a permit do not
4-25 apply to a permit issued by the Railroad Commission of Texas that
4-26 does not have an expiration date or a specific duration when
4-27 originally issued.
5-1 Sec. 2010.005. EFFECT ON COASTAL MANAGEMENT PLANS. This
5-2 chapter does not:
5-3 (1) limit or otherwise affect the authority of a
5-4 political subdivision, the state, or an agency of the state with
5-5 respect to the implementation or enforcement of an ordinance, a
5-6 rule, or a statutory standard of a program, plan, or ordinance that
5-7 was adopted under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972
5-8 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) or Subtitle E, Title 2, Natural
5-9 Resources Code; or
5-10 (2) apply to a permit or other action issued, adopted,
5-11 or undertaken by a political subdivision, the state, or an agency
5-12 of the state in connection with the federal Coastal Zone Management
5-13 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. Section 1451 et seq.) or Subtitle E, Title
5-14 2, Natural Resources Code.
5-15 Sec. 2010.006. ENFORCEMENT OF CHAPTER. This chapter may be
5-16 enforced only through mandamus or declaratory or injunctive relief.
5-17 SECTION 3. EFFECT ON JUDICIAL PROCEEDING. This Act does not
5-18 affect the rights or remedies of any person or entity under a final
5-19 judgment rendered by a court before the effective date of this
5-20 Act, or in any litigation pending in a court on the effective date
5-21 of this Act, involving an interpretation of Subchapter I, Chapter
5-22 481, Government Code, as it existed before its repeal by the 75th
5-23 Legislature.
5-24 SECTION 4. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
5-25 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-2 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-3 passage, and it is so enacted.