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79R4431 SMH-F
By: Eiland H.B. No. 1640
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the enforcement of the law governing access to public
beaches; imposing a surcharge on certain insurance premiums.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 61.018, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding
Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(a) Any county attorney, district attorney, or criminal
district attorney, a private attorney under a contract with the
commissioner, or the attorney general at the request of the
commissioner[,] 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.
(b) In the same suit, the attorney general, [the]
commissioner, county attorney, district attorney, [or] criminal
district attorney, or private attorney may recover penalties on
behalf of the state and the costs of removing any improvement,
obstruction, barrier, or other encroachment if it is removed by
public authorities pursuant to an order of the court.
(d) Any county attorney, [or] the attorney general at the
request of the commissioner, or a private attorney under a contract
with the commissioner 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.
(e) The commissioner may enter into a contract with a
private attorney to represent the commissioner in a suit under this
section with the consent of the attorney general or of the county
attorney, district attorney, or criminal district attorney for the
county in which the suit is to be filed.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 61, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 61.027 to read as follows:
Sec. 61.027. OPEN BEACH PROTECTION FUND. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Association" means the Texas Windstorm Insurance
Association.
(2) "Coastal property" means real property located
seaward of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to its southernmost point
and then seaward of the longitudinal line also known as 97 degrees,
12', 19" which runs southerly to the international boundary from
the intersection of the centerline of the Gulf Intracoastal
Waterway and the Brownsville Ship Channel.
(3) "Eligible property owner" means a person who owns
coastal property on which is located a structure that is situated
wholly or partly on a public beach.
(4) "First tier coastal county" has the meaning
assigned by Section 3, Article 21.49, Insurance Code.
(5) "Fund" means the open beach protection fund.
(b) The association shall assess an annual premium
surcharge of $10 on each Texas windstorm and hail insurance policy
issued by the association under Article 21.49, Insurance Code, on
property in a first tier coastal county. The surcharge is fully
earned when paid, and a commission may not be charged on the
surcharge.
(c) The association shall remit an annual premium surcharge
collected under this section to the comptroller not later than:
(1) January 15 if the surcharge was assessed on an
insurance policy that was delivered, issued for delivery, or
renewed on or after October 1 of the preceding year and not later
than December 31 of the preceding year;
(2) April 15 if the surcharge was assessed on an
insurance policy that was delivered, issued for delivery, or
renewed on or after January 1 of the current year and not later than
March 31 of that year;
(3) July 15 if the surcharge was assessed on an
insurance policy that was delivered, issued for delivery, or
renewed on or after April 1 of the current year and not later than
June 30 of that year; or
(4) October 15 if the surcharge was assessed on an
insurance policy that was delivered, issued for delivery, or
renewed on or after July 1 of the current year and not later than
September 30 of that year.
(d) The comptroller shall deposit to the credit of the fund
the annual premium surcharges collected under this section and
remitted to the comptroller. The fund is an account in the general
revenue fund that may be appropriated only to the commissioner to:
(1) pay the expenses of the land office related to the
implementation and enforcement of this chapter, including the costs
of removing an improvement, obstruction, barrier, or other
encroachment on a public beach, court costs, expert witness fees,
and attorney's fees;
(2) reimburse a municipality or county for the
reasonable costs, as determined by the commissioner, incurred by
the municipality or county in removing debris or a structure from a
public beach; or
(3) reimburse an eligible property owner for all or
part of the reasonable costs, as determined by the commissioner,
incurred by the owner in relocating or removing a structure that is
situated wholly or partly on a public beach, except that money in
the fund may not be used to purchase real property from a property
owner or to reimburse a property owner for the costs incurred by the
property owner in purchasing real property.
(e) Interest earned on the fund shall be credited to the
fund. The fund is exempt from the application of Section 403.095,
Government Code.
(f) The commissioner may accept grants, gifts, and
donations of real or personal property on behalf of the fund. A
structure may not be constructed on real property donated to the
fund if the property is located on or adjacent to a public beach.
The commissioner may sell real property donated to the fund that is
located landward of a public beach and shall deposit the proceeds of
the sale to the credit of the fund.
(g) The attorney general at the request of the commissioner
or a private attorney under a contract with the commissioner may
bring an action under Section 61.018 to recover for deposit to the
credit of the fund money disbursed from the fund for a purpose
described by Subsection (d)(1) or (2) of this section.
(h) The comptroller shall administer this section as
provided by Subtitles A and B, Title 2, Tax Code.
(i) The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this
section, including rules relating to:
(1) the administration of the fund;
(2) the requirements for obtaining a disbursement from
the fund;
(3) the costs of removal of debris or relocation or
removal of a structure that are eligible for reimbursement from the
fund; and
(4) the percentage of the reasonable costs of
relocation or removal of a structure that are eligible for
reimbursement from the fund.
SECTION 3. Section 61.027, Natural Resources Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an insurance policy delivered, issued
for delivery, or renewed by the Texas Windstorm Insurance
Association on or after January 1, 2006. A policy delivered, issued
for delivery, or renewed before January 1, 2006, is governed by the
law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. The commissioner of the General Land Office
shall adopt rules to implement Section 61.027, Natural Resources
Code, as added by this Act, not later than January 1, 2006. The
commissioner may not make a disbursement from the open beach
protection fund established under that section until the
commissioner adopts rules to implement that section.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.