Amend HB 1457 by striking all below the enacting clause and
substituting the following:
SECTION 1. Section 61.011, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection
(f) to read as follows:
(c) The commissioner [attorney general] shall strictly and
vigorously enforce the prohibition against encroachments on and
interferences with the public beach easement. [The attorney
general shall develop and publicize an enforcement policy to
prevent and remove any encroachments and interferences on the
public beach. The land office may assist the attorney general in
enforcing this subchapter.]
(d) The commissioner shall promulgate rules, consistent
with the policies established in this section, on the following
matters only:
(1) acquisition by local governments or other
appropriate entities or public dedication of access ways sufficient
to provide adequate public ingress and egress to and from the beach
within the area described in Subdivision (6) [of this subsection];
(2) protection of the public easement from erosion or
reduction caused by development or other activities on adjacent
land and beach cleanup and maintenance;
(3) local government prohibitions of vehicular
traffic on public beaches, provision of off-beach parking, and
other minimum measures needed to mitigate for any adverse effect on
public access and dune areas;
(4) imposition of beach access, user, or parking fees
and reasonable exercises of the police power by local governments
with respect to public beaches;
(5) contents and certification of beach access and use
plans and standards for local government review of construction on
land adjacent to and landward of public beaches; [and]
(6) construction on land adjacent to and landward of
public beaches and lying in the area either up to the first public
road generally parallel to the beach or to any closer public road
not parallel to the beach, or to within 1,000 feet of mean high
tide, whichever is greater, that affects or may affect public
access to and use of public beaches; and
(7) the temporary suspension under Section 61.0185 of
enforcement of the prohibition against encroachments on and
interferences with the public beach easement and the ability of a
property owner to make repairs to a structure while a suspension is
in effect.
(f) Chapter 2007, Government Code, does not apply to rules
adopted under Subsection (d)(7).
SECTION 2. Sections 61.015(b)-(d), Natural Resources Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Local governments shall submit proposed beach access
and use plans to the commissioner for certification as to
compliance with such policies and rules [and to the attorney
general for review and comment]. The commissioner shall act on a
local government's proposed beach access and use plan within 60
days of submission by either approving the plan or denying
certification. In the event of denial, the commissioner shall send
the proposed plan back to the originating local government with a
statement of specific objections and the reasons for denial, along
with suggested modifications. On receipt, the local government
shall revise and resubmit the plan. The commissioner's
certification of local government plans shall be by adoption into
the rules under Section 61.011 [of this code].
(c) A littoral owner proposing construction adjacent to and
landward of a public beach in the area described in Section
61.011(d)(6) [of this code] shall submit a development plan to the
appropriate local government. The local government shall forward
the development plan to the commissioner [and the attorney general]
no less than 10 working days prior to acting on the development
plan. The commissioner [or the attorney general] may submit
comments on the proposed construction to the local government.
(d) The local government shall review the proposed
development plan and the commissioner's [and attorney general's]
comments and other information the local government may consider
useful to determine consistency with the local government's beach
access and use plan.
SECTION 3. Sections 61.018(a) and (d), Natural Resources
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Any county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney, or the [The] attorney general[, individually or]
at the request of the commissioner, [or any county attorney,
district attorney, or criminal district attorney] shall file in a
district court of Travis County, or in the county in which the
property is located, a suit to obtain either a temporary or
permanent court order or injunction, either prohibitory or
mandatory, to remove or prevent any improvement, maintenance,
obstruction, barrier, or other encroachment on a public beach, or
to prohibit any unlawful restraint on the public's right of access
to and use of a public beach or other activity that violates this
chapter.
(d) Any county attorney, or the [The] attorney general[,
either individually or] at the request of the commissioner [or any
county attorney], may bring a suit for a declaratory judgment to try
any issue affecting the public's right of access to or use of the
public beach.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 61, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 61.0185 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.0185. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF SUBMISSION OF
REQUESTS THAT ATTORNEY GENERAL FILE SUIT. (a) The commissioner by
order may suspend for a period of two years from the date the order
is issued the submission of a request that the attorney general file
a suit under Section 61.018(a) to obtain a temporary or permanent
court order or injunction, either prohibitory or mandatory, to
remove an improvement, obstruction, barrier, or other encroachment
from a public beach if the commissioner determines that:
(1) the line of vegetation establishing the boundary
of the public beach has moved as a result of a meteorological event;
(2) the improvement, obstruction, barrier, or other
encroachment was located landward of the line of vegetation before
the meteorological event; and
(3) the improvement, obstruction, barrier, or other
encroachment does not present an imminent threat to public health
and safety.
(b) The commissioner shall notify the attorney general and
each pertinent county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney of the issuance of an order under this section.
(c) A county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney may not file suit under Section 61.018(a) to
obtain a temporary or permanent court order or injunction, either
prohibitory or mandatory, to remove an improvement, obstruction,
barrier, or other encroachment from a public beach while the
improvement, obstruction, barrier, or other encroachment is
subject to an order issued under this section.
(d) While an order issued under this section is in effect, a
local government may:
(1) issue a certificate or permit authorizing repair
of a structure subject to the order if the local government
determines that the repair complies with rules adopted by the
commissioner under Section 61.011(d)(7); and
(2) allow utilities to be reconnected to a structure
subject to the order.
(e) Issuance of an order under this section is purely within
the discretion of the commissioner. This section does not create:
(1) a duty on the part of the commissioner to issue an
order related to all or part of an improvement, obstruction,
barrier, or other encroachment, regardless of any determination
made; or
(2) a private cause of action for:
(A) issuance of an order under this section; or
(B) failure to issue an order under this section.
(f) Chapter 2007, Government Code, does not apply to an
order issued under this section.
SECTION 5. Section 61.022(c), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) A local government proposing to adopt or amend such
vehicular traffic regulations, except those for public safety, or
fees shall submit a plan detailing the proposed action to the
[attorney general and the] commissioner for review. The
commissioner shall certify whether the proposed action is
consistent or inconsistent with such policies and rules.
Certifications of consistency shall be by adoption into the rules
promulgated under Section 61.011 [of this code].
SECTION 6. Section 61.026(b), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The land office [or the attorney general's office] may
develop and distribute public information about the requirements of
this chapter, the importance of natural beach and dune systems, and
the necessity for preserving them. Such information may include
public service announcements made under the direction of the land
office.
SECTION 7. Section 63.054(c), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Each county or municipality administering this chapter
shall establish procedures and requirements governing the review
and approval of dune permits, and these procedures and requirements
shall be submitted to the commissioner [and attorney general] for
[their] comments.
SECTION 8. Section 63.181(a), Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Any county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney, or the [The] attorney general[, individually or]
at the request of the commissioner, [or any county attorney,
district attorney, or criminal district attorney] shall file in a
district court of Travis County or in the county in which the
violation occurred a suit to obtain either a temporary or permanent
court order or injunction to prohibit and remedy any violation of
this chapter or any rule, permit, or order under this chapter and to
collect damages to natural resources injured by the violation and
to recover civil penalties.
SECTION 9. Section 61.011(e), Natural Resources Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 10. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) Section 61.0185, Natural Resources Code, as added by
this Act, applies to a meteorological event that occurs before, on,
or after the effective date of this Act.