By:  Krusee                                                       H.B. No. 2051



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT


relating to the adoption of a state scenic byways program.                  
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 391, Transportation Code, 
is amended by adding Section 391.038 to read as follows:
	Sec. 391.038.  REGULATION OF OUTDOOR ADVERTISING ON CERTAIN 
HIGHWAYS.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), the commission 
by rule shall prohibit outdoor advertising in a manner consistent 
with 23 U.S.C. Section 131(s) on a State Scenic Byway designated 
under Section 391.256.
	(b)  A rule adopted under Subsection (a) may not apply to 
outdoor advertising:
		(1)  permitted under Section 391.031(b); or                            
		(2)  required to be relocated by an improvement to the 
state highway system if the advertising was erected before the 
highway was designated a State Scenic Byway under Section 391.256.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter I, Chapter 391, Transportation Code, 
is amended by adding Section 391.256 to read as follows:
	Sec. 391.256.  SCENIC BYWAYS PROGRAM.  (a)  The department 
shall plan, design, and establish a program for designating 
highways as State Scenic Byways.
	(b)  The program must include a process by which the 
department:      
		(1)  receives proposals from political subdivisions or 
other community groups approved by the department for funding 
projects in accordance with 23 U.S.C. Section 162;
		(2)  applies for grants under 23 U.S.C. Section 162 for 
the projects;
		(3)  allows an applicant who consents to pay for the 
costs of the projects that are not covered by grants made under 23 
U.S.C. Section 162;
		(4)  excludes from designation a highway or a segment 
of a highway that no longer meets the criteria established by the 
department for designation as a State Scenic Byway; and
		(5)  excludes from designation as a State Scenic Byway 
any segment of a highway that:
			(A)  is adjacent to land zoned as commercial or 
industrial;         
			(B)  does not have the scenic, historic, cultural, 
natural, recreational, or archaeological qualities for which the 
highway as a whole is being designated; and
			(C)  is not requested to be excluded from 
designation for the sole purpose of allowing outdoor advertising as 
determined by the department.
	(c)  A highway is designated a State Scenic Byway when the 
department applies for a grant under Subsection (b)(1) for a 
project related to the highway.
	(d)  The department may use money from the state highway fund 
to pay for the costs of a project that are not covered by a grant 
made under 23 U.S.C. Section 162.
	(e)  The department shall adopt rules to implement this 
section.      
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.