By Uher                                              H.C.R. No. 242
         77R9537 MDR-D                           
                             HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
 1-1           WHEREAS, Gulf Marine Institute of Technology alleges that:
 1-2                 (1)  on August 27, 1986, the General Land Office
 1-3     executed a surface and subsurface lease agreement with Seagull
 1-4     Energy E & P, Inc., for the purpose of oil and gas production;
 1-5                 (2)  Gulf Marine Institute of Technology negotiated
 1-6     with Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., to transfer Seagull's inactive oil
 1-7     and gas lease and platform to Gulf Marine Institute of Technology
 1-8     for mariculture purposes;
 1-9                 (3)  in its formal surface lease application dated July
1-10     23, 1998, Gulf Marine Institute of Technology fully disclosed to
1-11     the General Land Office its intended use of the platform for
1-12     mariculture research and development;
1-13                 (4)  as a condition of the lease assignment, the
1-14     General Land Office required Gulf Marine Institute of Technology to
1-15     post a $2.6 million performance bond to ensure that it would
1-16     dismantle and remove the mariculture platform complex upon
1-17     completion of the project;
1-18                 (5)  Gulf Marine Institute complied with the request to
1-19     provide a performance bond;
1-20                 (6)  on September 19, 1998, the General Land Office
1-21     approved and accepted the performance bond, and the assignment of
1-22     the lease from Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., to Gulf Marine Institute
1-23     of Technology became effective;
1-24                 (7)  Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., was required to plug,
 2-1     abandon, and remove all production equipment from the platform;
 2-2                 (8)  on May 12, 1999, the General Land Office notified
 2-3     Gulf Marine Institute of Technology that it no longer had the right
 2-4     to use the platform and was given the final deadline of May 26,
 2-5     2000, to dismantle the platform;
 2-6                 (9)  by approving the assignment of the lease to Gulf
 2-7     Marine Institute of Technology, the General Land Office entered
 2-8     into a contractual relationship with Gulf Marine Institute of
 2-9     Technology with the understanding that the platform would be used
2-10     for mariculture research and development purposes; and
2-11                 (10)  the General Land Office has breached its
2-12     contractual agreement with Gulf Marine Institute of Technology by
2-13     suddenly claiming that the lease is terminated because the oil and
2-14     gas wells were plugged and abandoned and by requiring the platform
2-15     to be removed; now, therefore, be it
2-16           RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That Gulf
2-17     Marine Institute of Technology be granted permission to sue the
2-18     State of Texas and General Land Office subject to Chapter 107,
2-19     Civil Practice and Remedies Code; and, be it further
2-20           RESOLVED, That the commissioner of the General Land Office be
2-21     served process as provided by Section 107.002(a)(3), Civil Practice
2-22     and Remedies Code.