HBA-CMT H.B. 630 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 630 By: Turner, Sylvester Urban Affairs 2/11/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Many cities throughout Texas are confronted with the problem of individuals who illegally dump trash along city streets, vacant lots, and in communities and neighborhoods. To address this issue, city environmental code enforcement officers spend time collecting information from citizens and setting up surveillance systems to determine which individuals are dumping illegally. The inability of these officers to perform such surveillance in unmarked vehicles may hamper their effectiveness. House Bill 630 allows municipal code enforcement officers to perform their duties in unmarked vehicles. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 630 amends the Transportation Code to authorize the governing body of a municipality to exempt an office having control of an automobile from the requirement of inscripting an automobile with the name of the municipality and office when it is used to perform an official duty by a municipal code enforcement officer designated to enforce environmental laws. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.