1-1 By: Uher (Senate Sponsor - Armbrister) H.C.R. No. 242 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001; 1-3 May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; 1-4 May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, 1-5 Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.) 1-6 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-7 WHEREAS, Gulf Marine Institute of Technology alleges that: 1-8 (1) on August 27, 1986, the General Land Office 1-9 executed a surface and subsurface lease agreement with Seagull 1-10 Energy E & P, Inc., for the purpose of oil and gas production; 1-11 (2) Gulf Marine Institute of Technology negotiated 1-12 with Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., to transfer Seagull's inactive oil 1-13 and gas lease and platform to Gulf Marine Institute of Technology 1-14 for mariculture purposes; 1-15 (3) in its formal surface lease application dated July 1-16 23, 1998, Gulf Marine Institute of Technology fully disclosed to 1-17 the General Land Office its intended use of the platform for 1-18 mariculture research and development; 1-19 (4) as a condition of the lease assignment, the 1-20 General Land Office required Gulf Marine Institute of Technology to 1-21 post a $2.6 million performance bond to ensure that it would 1-22 dismantle and remove the mariculture platform complex upon 1-23 completion of the project; 1-24 (5) Gulf Marine Institute complied with the request to 1-25 provide a performance bond; 1-26 (6) on September 19, 1998, the General Land Office 1-27 approved and accepted the performance bond, and the assignment of 1-28 the lease from Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., to Gulf Marine Institute 1-29 of Technology became effective; 1-30 (7) Seagull Energy E & P, Inc., was required to plug, 1-31 abandon, and remove all production equipment from the platform; 1-32 (8) on May 12, 1999, the General Land Office notified 1-33 Gulf Marine Institute of Technology that it no longer had the right 1-34 to use the platform and was given the final deadline of May 26, 1-35 2000, to dismantle the platform; 1-36 (9) by approving the assignment of the lease to Gulf 1-37 Marine Institute of Technology, the General Land Office entered 1-38 into a contractual relationship with Gulf Marine Institute of 1-39 Technology with the understanding that the platform would be used 1-40 for mariculture research and development purposes; and 1-41 (10) the General Land Office has breached its 1-42 contractual agreement with Gulf Marine Institute of Technology by 1-43 suddenly claiming that the lease is terminated because the oil and 1-44 gas wells were plugged and abandoned and by requiring the platform 1-45 to be removed; now, therefore, be it 1-46 RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That Gulf 1-47 Marine Institute of Technology be granted permission to sue the 1-48 State of Texas and General Land Office subject to Chapter 107, 1-49 Civil Practice and Remedies Code; and, be it further 1-50 RESOLVED, That the suit authorized by this resolution shall 1-51 be brought in Travis County; and, be it further 1-52 RESOLVED, That the total of all damages awarded in the suit 1-53 authorized by this resolution, including any court costs, 1-54 attorney's fees, and prejudgment interest awarded under law, may 1-55 not exceed $3 million, that Gulf Marine Institute of Technology may 1-56 not plead an amount in excess of that amount in a suit authorized 1-57 by this resolution, and that this is the total amount that may be 1-58 recovered with respect to the contractual agreement that is the 1-59 subject of this resolution in all actions brought with respect to 1-60 that agreement; and, be it further 1-61 RESOLVED, That the commissioner of the General Land Office be 1-62 served process as provided by Section 107.002(a)(3), Civil Practice 1-63 and Remedies Code. 2-1 * * * * *