LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
May 10, 2001
TO: Honorable Florence Shapiro, Chair, Senate Committee on
State Affairs
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB2684 by Kuempel (Relating to the authority of the
Texas Transportation Commission to acquire certain
protected property.), Committee Report 2nd House,
Substituted
**************************************************************************
* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB2684, Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted: positive impact *
* of $0 through the biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
**************************************************************************
General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 0 *
* 2005 0 *
* 2006 0 *
****************************************************
All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
*****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Savings/(Cost) from State *
* Highway Fund *
* 0006 *
* 2002 $0 *
* 2003 0 *
* 2004 (10,210,000) *
* 2005 (37,200,000) *
* 2006 0 *
*****************************************************
Fiscal Analysis
The bill would amend the Transportation Code to prohibit the
Transportation Commission (TTC) from acquiring any property for use as a
disposal site for dredged material from the Laguna Madre before September
1, 2005, if the property was subject to a habitat conservation plan on
October 1, 1977. The bill would prohibit the TTC from acquiring any
property in the same area for the same purposes before September 1, 2003,
if the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is prohibited by a
federal study that would be issued prior to January 1, 2002, and filed by
TxDOT with the House Committee on Land and Resource Management by
January 15, 2002, from using open water disposal methods for Laguna Madre
dredge spoils. The bill would also require the House Committee on Land
and Resource Management to conduct an interim study on placement and use
of options for dredged material from the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway (GIW)
and report its findings and recommendations to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and the Legislature no later than November 1, 2002.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2001.
Methodology
Costs in the table above reflect TxDOT's estimate that dredging disposal
costs of approximately $10.2 million in fiscal year 2004 and $37.2
million in fiscal year 2005 would be realized for required dredging
activities along the Laguna Madre's 80 mile length of the GIW as a result
of TxDOT being unable to obtain land for upland disposal sites in this
area during the time period specified for the bill. TxDOT currently uses
an open water disposal method for material collected through dredging at
39 sites along the Laguna Madre's 80 mile length of the GIW and has
reported that a federal study is in progress to determine if open water
disposal would be allowed to continue in the GIW after fiscal year 2001.
This analysis reflects costs that would be realized if the findings of a
federal study that prohibited TxDOT from using open water disposal
methods for Laguna Madre dredge spoils were received on or after January
1, 2002, and it considers that TxDOT would not be able to acquire land
for upland disposal sites in less than 2 years along the Laguna Madre's
80 mile length of the GIW due to the required acquisition processes
regardless of the provisions of the bill. TxDOT estimates an average
upland disposal site would cost approximately $300,000 per site (based on
$1,500 per acre for a 200 acre site), that obtaining each disposal site
would require a time frame of 6 months to 2 years, and that each disposal
site would be usable for 30 to 50 years. This analysis also considers
appropriations in the amount of $1.35 million to TxDOT in the first year
of each biennium since fiscal year 1998 for the purposes of purchasing
upland dredge disposal sites.
For calculation purposes, TxDOT sectioned the 80 mile length of the GIW
into four segments and estimated the average cost per cubic yard to
dispose of the dredge material in open bay confined sites in each of the
segments would be $5.74, $3.11, $9.75, and $5.78 respectively based on
water depth, location, and dredge material composition of each segment.
TxDOT estimates that 2 million cubic yards of dredge material would have
to be removed during the third year and that 6 million cubic yards would
have to be removed during the fourth year. If TxDOT is not prohibited
from using an open water disposal method, there would be no significant
fiscal impact.
In addition, there would be no significant fiscal impact if TxDOT were
prohibited by a federal study issued prior to January 1, 2002, from
using open water disposal methods for Laguna Madre dredge spoils because
the prohibition on acquiring property in the Laguna Madre would expire
September 1, 2003, and it is estimated that the TTC would not be able to
acquire land for upland disposal sites in less than 2 years along the
Laguna Madre's 80 mile length of the GIW due to the required acquisition
processes regardless of the provisions of the bill. This analysis also
assumes that TxDOT would file the findings of such a federal study with
the House Committee on Land and Resource Management by January 15, 2002.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
LBB Staff: JK, RB, RT, MW