1-1 By: Uher, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Shapleigh) H.B. No. 1328
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1999;
1-3 May 6, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 13, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 13, 1999,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1328 By: Shapleigh
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the regulation of the practice of professional land
1-11 surveying.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 2(1), Professional Land Surveying
1-14 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-15 amended to read as follows:
1-16 (1) "Professional surveying" means the practice of
1-17 land, boundary, or property surveying or other similar professional
1-18 practices. The term includes any service or work the adequate
1-19 performance of which involves the application of special knowledge
1-20 of the principles of geodesy, mathematics, related applied and
1-21 physical sciences, and relevant laws to the measurement or [and]
1-22 location of sites, points, lines, angles, elevations, natural
1-23 features, and existing man-made works in the air, on the surface of
1-24 the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies
1-25 of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes for:
1-26 (A) the location of real property boundaries;
1-27 (B) the platting and layout of lands and
1-28 subdivisions of land; or [and]
1-29 (C) the preparation and perpetuation of maps,
1-30 record plats, field note records, easements, and real property
1-31 descriptions that represent those surveys. To the extent these
1-32 services or types of creative work meet this definition, the term
1-33 includes consultation, investigation, evaluation, analysis,
1-34 planning, providing an expert surveying opinion or testimony, and
1-35 mapping.
1-36 SECTION 2. Section 9(a), Professional Land Surveying
1-37 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-38 amended to read as follows:
1-39 (a) The board shall have the authority and power to make and
1-40 enforce all reasonable and necessary rules, regulations, and bylaws
1-41 not inconsistent with the Texas Constitution, the laws of this
1-42 state, and this Act for the performance of its duties in
1-43 administering this Act and for the purpose of establishing
1-44 standards of conduct and ethics for surveyors registered or
1-45 licensed under this Act. The board by rule shall prescribe the
1-46 minimum standards for professional surveying. The board by rule
1-47 shall prescribe standards for compliance with Subchapter A, Chapter
1-48 2254, Government Code, but may not otherwise adopt rules
1-49 restricting competitive bidding or advertising by a person
1-50 regulated by the board except to prohibit false, misleading, or
1-51 deceptive practices by the person. The board may not include in
1-52 its rules to prohibit false, misleading, or deceptive practices by
1-53 a person regulated by the board a rule that:
1-54 (1) restricts the use of any medium for advertising;
1-55 (2) restricts the person's personal appearance or use
1-56 of the person's voice in an advertisement;
1-57 (3) relates to the size or duration of an
1-58 advertisement by the person; or
1-59 (4) restricts the person's advertisement under a trade
1-60 name.
1-61 SECTION 3. Section 16(a), Professional Land Surveying
1-62 Practices Act (Article 5282c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-63 amended to read as follows:
1-64 (a) Each applicant seeking certification as a
2-1 surveyor-in-training, registration as a registered professional
2-2 land surveyor, or licensure as a licensed state land surveyor shall
2-3 file an application in writing with the Texas Board of Professional
2-4 Land Surveying. An application fee in an amount determined by the
2-5 board[, not to exceed $100,] shall be submitted with the
2-6 application. If the board determines that the applicant is
2-7 qualified to take the appropriate section of the examination, it
2-8 shall set and notify the applicant of the section of the
2-9 examination that the applicant is approved to take and the time and
2-10 place of the examination. The applicant may take the section of
2-11 the examination that the applicant is approved to take on payment
2-12 of an examination fee in an amount determined by the board[, not to
2-13 exceed $100].
2-14 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-20 passage, and it is so enacted.
2-21 * * * * *