79R17859 ATP-D


By:  Brimer                                                       S.B. No. 342

Substitute the following for S.B. No. 342:                                    

By:  Otto                                                     C.S.S.B. No. 342



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the regulation of swimming pools in the unincorporated 
areas of certain counties as a public nuisance.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 343.011, Health and 
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  A public nuisance is:                                                     
		(1)  keeping, storing, or accumulating refuse on 
premises in a neighborhood unless the refuse is entirely contained 
in a closed receptacle;
		(2)  keeping, storing, or accumulating rubbish, 
including newspapers, abandoned vehicles, refrigerators, stoves, 
furniture, tires, and cans, on premises in a neighborhood or within 
300 feet of a public street for 10 days or more, unless the rubbish 
or object is completely enclosed in a building or is not visible 
from a public street;
		(3)  maintaining premises in a manner that creates an 
unsanitary condition likely to attract or harbor mosquitoes, 
rodents, vermin, or disease-carrying pests;
		(4)  allowing weeds to grow on premises in a 
neighborhood if the weeds are located within 300 feet of another 
residence or commercial establishment;
		(5)  maintaining a building in a manner that is 
structurally unsafe or constitutes a hazard to safety, health, or 
public welfare because of inadequate maintenance, unsanitary 
conditions, dilapidation, obsolescence, disaster, damage, or 
abandonment or because it constitutes a fire hazard;
		(6)  maintaining on abandoned and unoccupied property 
in a neighborhood, or maintaining on any property in a neighborhood 
in a county with a population of more than 1.1 million, a swimming 
pool that is not protected with:
			(A)  a fence that is at least four feet high and 
that has a latched gate that cannot be opened by a child; or
			(B)  a cover over the entire swimming pool that 
cannot be removed by a child;
		(7)  maintaining a flea market in a manner that 
constitutes a fire hazard;  
		(8)  discarding refuse or creating a hazardous visual 
obstruction on:       
			(A)  county-owned land; or                                                   
			(B)  land or easements owned or held by a special 
district that has the commissioners court of the county as its 
governing body; or
		(9)  discarding refuse on the smaller of:                                     
			(A)  the area that spans 20 feet on each side of a 
utility line; or        
			(B)  the actual span of the utility easement.                                
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act to Subsection 
(c), Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a 
swimming pool constructed or installed on or after September 1, 
2005, or located on property sold on or after September 1, 2005.  A 
swimming pool constructed or installed before September 1, 2005, is 
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date 
of this Act until the property on which the pool is located is sold, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.