1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to notice of proposed construction sent to the county
1-3 commissioners court and others regarding, and the marking,
1-4 location, and removal of, certain wireless communication
1-5 facilities.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the LeClair-Jennings Act.
1-8 SECTION 2. Chapter 35, Business & Commerce Code, is amended
1-9 by adding Subchapter J to read as follows:
1-10 SUBCHAPTER J. WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY
1-11 Sec. 35.111. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "wireless
1-12 communication facility" means an equipment enclosure, antenna,
1-13 antenna support structure, and any associated facility used for the
1-14 reception or transmittal of a radio frequency, microwave, or other
1-15 signal for a commercial communications purpose.
1-16 Sec. 35.112. FILING REQUIREMENTS REGARDING CONSTRUCTION. (a)
1-17 A person wishing to construct a wireless communication facility
1-18 that is taller than 100 feet shall, before the 30th day before the
1-19 date construction begins, file with the county clerk or the county
1-20 official designated by the commissioners court of the county in
1-21 which the person wishes to construct a wireless communication
1-22 facility:
1-23 (1) a statement that construction is proposed and that
1-24 provides the date on or after which the construction will begin;
2-1 (2) the correct phone number and address of the person
2-2 proposing the construction;
2-3 (3) the legal description of the proposed site of
2-4 construction, including a graphic depiction showing the location,
2-5 height, longitude, latitude, pad size, location of any guy wires,
2-6 roadway access, and proposed use of the wireless communication
2-7 facility; and
2-8 (4) a phone number that is operational 24 hours a day,
2-9 seven days a week, for emergency purposes.
2-10 (b) A person wishing to construct a wireless communication
2-11 facility shall assign each proposed wireless communication facility
2-12 a unique identification and shall provide the county clerk or
2-13 official with that unique identification.
2-14 Sec. 35.113. NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION. (a) A person proposing
2-15 to construct a wireless communication facility that is taller than
2-16 100 feet shall, before the 30th day before the date the
2-17 construction begins, mail a letter to:
2-18 (1) each of the following:
2-19 (A) a public airport located within three miles
2-20 of the proposed facility location; and
2-21 (B) the Texas Department of Agriculture, which
2-22 shall notify the boll weevil eradication foundation; and
2-23 (2) one of the following:
2-24 (A) each owner of land within two miles of the
2-25 proposed facility location if the proposed location is not within a
2-26 metropolitan statistical area; or
2-27 (B) a newspaper of general circulation in the
3-1 county of construction.
3-2 (b) The letter must state:
3-3 (1) the legal description of the proposed site of
3-4 construction, including a graphic depiction showing the location,
3-5 height, longitude, latitude, pad size, location of any guy wires,
3-6 roadway access, and proposed use of the wireless communication
3-7 facility;
3-8 (2) at a minimum, the name, phone number, and mailing
3-9 address of the person proposing construction of the wireless
3-10 communication facility;
3-11 (3) the unique identification of the wireless
3-12 communication facility; and
3-13 (4) a phone number that is operational 24 hours a day,
3-14 seven days a week, for emergency purposes.
3-15 Sec. 35.114. TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP. If a transfer of
3-16 ownership of a wireless communication facility occurs that results
3-17 in a change in the information required under Section 35.113(b)(2),
3-18 (3), or (4), the lessee of the real property used for the wireless
3-19 communication facility shall give written notice to the county
3-20 clerk or official of the county of construction and the lessor of
3-21 the real property.
3-22 Sec. 35.115. REMOVAL. A contract entered into by a property
3-23 owner that conveys to a person a property interest for the purpose
3-24 of allowing the person to construct a wireless communication
3-25 facility must contain a provision relating to the removal of the
3-26 facility and any appurtenances to the facility that prescribes the
3-27 circumstances under which removal shall be accomplished.
4-1 Sec. 35.116. EXCEPTIONS. This subchapter does not apply to
4-2 any structure whose main purpose is to provide electric service, a
4-3 wireless communication facility used by an entity only for internal
4-4 communications, a wireless communication facility constructed by a
4-5 municipality, a wireless communication facility used for emergency
4-6 communications, a radio or television reception antenna, a
4-7 satellite or microwave parabolic antenna not used by a wireless
4-8 communication service provider, a receive-only antenna, an antenna
4-9 owned and operated by a federally licensed amateur radio station
4-10 operator, a cable television company facility if the company holds
4-11 a valid and current franchise, a radio or television broadcasting
4-12 facility, a colocation antenna, or a wireless communication
4-13 facility installed for colocation purposes.
4-14 Sec. 35.117. EFFECT ON CERTAIN ORDINANCES. This subchapter
4-15 does not preempt a local ordinance regulating a wireless
4-16 communication facility.
4-17 Sec. 35.118. PROHIBITION. To the extent not already governed
4-18 by and not inconsistent with the federal Telecommunications Act of
4-19 1996 (47 U.S.C. Section 251 et seq.), as amended, a wireless
4-20 communication facility that is more than 15 feet in height above
4-21 ground level may not be located within three miles of the castor
4-22 railroad crossing, located on the eastern side of a peak that is an
4-23 oblong promontory with rimrock edges on the north and west sides
4-24 that is 1,712 feet above sea level and that is in a county with a
4-25 population of less than 5,500, whose county seat has a population
4-26 of less than 2,500.
4-27 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Transportation Code, is
5-1 amended by adding Section 21.069 to read as follows:
5-2 Sec. 21.069. MARKING OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY. (a)
5-3 In this section:
5-4 (1) "Cultivated field" means any open space or pasture
5-5 larger than five acres in which a plant or tree nursery is located
5-6 or an agricultural crop, including cotton, corn, grain, grapes,
5-7 beets, peanuts, and rice, but not including grass grown for hay, is
5-8 grown on a continuing basis.
5-9 (2) "Wireless communication facility" has the meaning
5-10 assigned by Section 35.111, Business & Commerce Code.
5-11 (b) Absence of plants, seedlings, or a crop on a temporary
5-12 basis due to crop rotation or other farm management techniques does
5-13 not remove an open area from the definition of "cultivated field."
5-14 (c) This section applies only to an antenna structure that
5-15 is used to provide commercial wireless communications services and
5-16 that is located in a cultivated field or within 100 feet of a
5-17 cultivated field.
5-18 (d) A person who proposes to construct a wireless
5-19 communication facility that is at least 100 feet but not more than
5-20 200 feet in height above ground level shall mark the highest guy
5-21 wires on the facility, if any. The markings required under this
5-22 section must be of a kind generally used for marking antennae
5-23 structures.
5-24 SECTION 4. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
5-25 only to a wireless communication facility constructed on or after
5-26 the effective date of this Act.
5-27 (b) This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote
6-1 of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided
6-2 by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does
6-3 not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes
6-4 effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1148 was passed by the House on April
26, 2001, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1148 on May 25, 2001, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 1148 on May 27, 2001, by a
non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1148 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0, 1 present, not voting; at the request of the House, the Senate
appointed a conference committee to consider the differences
between the two houses; and that the Senate adopted the conference
committee report on H.B. No. 1148 on May 27, 2001, by the following
vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor