By:  Armbrister                                                   S.B. No. 1261


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to notice of proposed construction and the marking and 
location of certain wireless communication facilities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  This Act may be cited as the LeClair-Jennings 
Act.               
	SECTION 2.  Chapter 35, Business & Commerce Code, is amended 
by adding Subchapter J to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER J.  WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY
	Sec. 35.111.  DEFINITION.  In this subchapter, "wireless 
communication facility" means an equipment enclosure, antenna, 
antenna support structure, and any associated facility used for the 
reception or transmittal of a radio frequency, microwave, or other 
signal for a commercial communications purpose.
	Sec. 35.112.  NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION.  (a)  A person 
proposing to construct a wireless communication facility that is 
taller than 100 feet shall, on or before the 30th day before the 
date the construction begins, mail a letter to each of the 
following:
		(1)  any airport located within three miles of the 
proposed facility location; and
		(2)  the Texas Agricultural Aviation Association.                      
	(b)  The letter must state:                                             
		(1)  the legal description of the proposed site of 
construction, including a graphic depiction showing the location, 
height, longitude, latitude, pad size, roadway access, and proposed 
use of the wireless communication facility and location of any guy 
wires;
		(2)  at a minimum, the name, phone number, electronic 
mail address, if any, and mailing address of the person proposing 
construction of the wireless communication facility; and
		(3)  a phone number that is operational 24 hours a day, 
seven days a week, for emergency purposes.
	Sec. 35.113.  EXCEPTIONS.  This subchapter does not apply to 
any structure whose main purpose is to provide electric service, a 
wireless communication facility used by an entity only for internal 
communications, a wireless communication facility constructed by a 
municipality, a wireless communication facility used for emergency 
communications, a radio or television reception antenna, a 
satellite or microwave parabolic antenna not used by a wireless 
communication service provider, a receive-only antenna, an antenna 
owned and operated by a federally licensed amateur radio station 
operator, a cable television company facility, a radio or 
television broadcasting facility, a colocation antenna, or a 
wireless communication facility installed for colocation purposes.
	Sec. 35.114.  EFFECT ON CERTAIN ORDINANCES.  This subchapter 
does not preempt a local ordinance regulating a wireless 
communication facility.
	SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Transportation Code, 
is amended by adding Section 21.070 to read as follows:
	Sec. 21.070.  MARKING OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY.  
(a)  In this section:
		(1)  "Cultivated field" means any open space or pasture 
larger than five acres in which a plant or tree nursery is located 
or an agricultural crop, including cotton, corn, grain, grapes, 
beets, peanuts, and rice, but not including grass grown for hay, is 
grown on a continuing basis.
		(2)  "Wireless communication facility" has the meaning 
assigned by Section 35.111, Business & Commerce Code.
	(b)  Absence of plants, seedlings, or a crop on a temporary 
basis due to crop rotation or other farm management techniques does 
not remove an open area from the definition of "cultivated field."
	(c)  This section applies only to an antenna structure that 
is used to provide commercial wireless communications services and 
that is located in a cultivated field or within 100 feet of a 
cultivated field.
	(d)  A person who proposes to construct a wireless 
communication facility that is at least 100 feet but not more than 
200 feet in height above ground level shall mark the highest guy 
wires on the facility, if any, with two warning spheres each.
	SECTION 4.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act apply 
only to a wireless communication facility constructed on or after 
the effective date of this Act.
	(b)  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote 
of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided 
by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this Act does 
not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes 
effect September 1, 2003.