S.B. No. 517




AN ACT

relating to studies or projects concerning coastal erosion that may 
be undertaken by the General Land Office in conjunction with 
qualified project partners.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 33.603, Natural Resources Code, is 
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections 
(g) and (h) to read as follows:
	(b)  The studies and projects shall address:                                   
		(1)  assessment of the feasibility, cost, and financing 
of different methods of avoiding, slowing, or remedying coastal 
erosion;
		(2)  beneficial placement of dredged material where 
appropriate to replenish eroded public beach, bay shore, marsh, and 
dune areas;
		(3)  public beach, bay shore, and marsh nourishment or 
restoration projects using sediments other than material from 
navigational or other dredging projects;
		(4)  guidelines on grain size and toxicity level;                             
		(5)  the economic, natural resource, and other benefits 
of coastal erosion projects;
		(6)  the protection, revegetation, and restoration of 
dunes;                
		(7)  the planting of vegetation as a means of 
inhibiting bay shore erosion and projects developing and 
cultivating disease-resistant vegetation adapted to local 
conditions;
		(8)  the construction or retrofitting of dams, jetties, 
groins, and other impoundment structures, provided that the 
structures include [with] sediment bypassing systems;
		(9)  estimating the quantity and quality of sediment 
trapped by reservoirs, navigation channels, and placement areas and 
identification of other sediment sources;
		(10)  the use of hard or soft structures on bay 
shorelines as a method[, giving preference to "soft" methods] of 
avoiding, slowing, or remedying erosion [in lieu of erecting hard 
or rigid shorefront structures];
		(11)  storm damage mitigation, post-storm damage 
assessment, [and] debris removal, and removal and relocation of 
structures from public beaches; [and]
		(12)  structural shoreline protection projects that 
use innovative technologies designed or engineered to minimize 
beach scour; and
		(13)  other studies or projects the commissioner 
considers necessary or appropriate to implement this subchapter.
	(d)  Except as provided by Subsections (b)(8) and (12), this
[This] chapter does not authorize the construction or funding of a 
hard structure on or landward of a public beach.
	(g)  Notwithstanding Subsection (d), each biennium the 
commissioner may undertake or provide funding for one or more 
erosion response demonstration projects if the state's portion of 
the shared project cost does not exceed one-tenth of the total 
amount appropriated to the land office for coastal erosion planning 
and response.
	(h)  Notwithstanding Subsection (e), the commissioner may 
determine the percentage of the shared project cost a qualified 
project partner must pay for a project undertaken pursuant to 
Subsection (b)(11) for removal of debris or structures, or 
relocation of structures from the public beach; provided, however, 
that no money in the account may be used for a project undertaken 
pursuant to Subsection (b)(11) to purchase real property or 
reimburse a property owner for the purchase of real property.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.                           

                                                                              




______________________________    ______________________________
President of the Senate             Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 517 passed the Senate on 
April 20, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.




______________________________ 
   Secretary of the Senate             
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 517 passed the House on 
May 19, 2005, by a non-record vote.




______________________________ 
   Chief Clerk of the House            



Approved:


______________________________ 
            Date



______________________________ 
          Governor