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By: Wentworth S.B. No. 1455
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of regional habitat conservation
plans by political subdivisions of this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (d), Section 83.013, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) A plan participant may accept [apply for] a federal
permit in conjunction with a regional habitat conservation plan
only if the qualified voters of a plan participant have authorized
the issuance of bonds or other debt financing in an amount equal to
the estimated cost of acquiring all land for habitat preserves
within the time required by this subchapter or the plan participant
has demonstrated that adequate sources of funding exist to acquire
all land for habitat preserves within the time required by this
subchapter.
SECTION 2. Section 83.015, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
(e) and (f) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a [A] regional
habitat conservation plan, including any mitigation fee, shall be
based on the amount of harm to each endangered species to be
protected under the regional habitat conservation plan.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (f), the [The] size of
proposed habitat preserves shall be based solely on the amount of
harm to the endangered species to be protected in the regional
habitat conservation plan.
(e) For purposes of this section, "recovery criteria" means
the criteria developed under a recovery plan in accordance with the
federal act.
(f) After notice and hearing by the plan participants, the
following may be based partly on any recovery criteria applicable
to each endangered species to be protected under the plan:
(1) a regional habitat conservation plan, including
any mitigation fee; or
(2) the size of proposed habitat preserves.
SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 83.017, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) Not later than the 60th day after the plan participants'
initial identification of the proposed habitat preserve system for
the federal permit, the plan participants shall notify in writing
each owner of land identified by the plan participants as habitat
preserve or potential habitat preserve. The plan participants
shall use the county tax rolls to identify the owners of land
identified as habitat preserve or potential habitat preserve. The
written notice must include at least the following information:
(1) the tax identification and parcel numbers;
(2) the owner's name and address;
(3) an explanation of the designation or possible
designation of the tract as habitat preserve or potential habitat
preserve under the regional habitat conservation plan;
(4) identification of the citizens advisory committee
members, including telephone numbers, addresses, and the group that
each committee member represents;
(5) identification of employees or agents of plan
participants who can provide information about the regional habitat
conservation plan;
(6) the date of the next citizens advisory committee
meeting or plan participant meeting regarding the regional habitat
conservation plan; and
(7) a description of the status of the regional
habitat conservation plan.
SECTION 4. Section 83.018, Parks and Wildlife Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and
(e) to read as follows:
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The] plan
participants shall make offers based on fair market value to the
landowners for the acquisition of fee simple or other interest in
land designated in the regional habitat conservation plan as
proposed habitat preserve not later than four [two] years after the
issuance of the federal permit or six [three] years after the
initial application for the federal permit, whichever is later
[earlier]. Except as provided by Subsection (e), acquisition
[Acquisition] of all habitat preserves designated as proposed
habitat preserves in the regional habitat conservation plan must be
completed not later than the sixth [fourth] anniversary of the date
on which the federal permit was issued. A plan participant subject
to this subsection who does not meet an applicable deadline shall
file an application to amend the federal permit to remove the
nonacquired habitat preserve land from the regional habitat
conservation plan as a habitat preserve not later than the 60th day
after the expiration of the applicable deadline [fourth anniversary
of the date on which the federal permit was issued].
(d) If plan participants have not designated a landowner's
land as proposed habitat preserve in a regional habitat
conservation plan before the date on which the federal permit is
issued but designate the land as proposed habitat preserve in a
regional habitat conservation plan on or after that date, plan
participants shall make an offer to the landowner based on fair
market value for the acquisition of fee simple or other interest in
the land not later than the fourth anniversary of the date on which
the land is identified or designated as proposed habitat preserve.
(e) Plan participants must complete acquisition of land
subject to Subsection (d) as habitat preserves not later than the
fifth anniversary of the date on which the plan participants
identified or designated the land as proposed habitat preserves.
SECTION 5. Subsection (d), Section 83.020, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:
(d) If the commission approves the grievance, the
commission shall instruct the plan participant or participants to
amend the plan so that it will comply with this subchapter. [The
plan participant may not submit an application for a federal permit
until the commission is satisfied that its instructions to amend
the plan to comply with this subchapter have been carried out.]
SECTION 6. Subsection (e), Section 83.020, Parks and
Wildlife Code, is repealed.
SECTION 7. (a) The changes in law affecting purchase
offers for and acquisitions of habitat preserves under Section
83.018, Parks and Wildlife Code, as amended by this Act, apply only
to land included in a regional habitat conservation plan under a
federal permit applied for on or after the effective date of this
Act. Land included in a regional habitat conservation plan under a
federal permit applied for before the effective date of this Act is
subject to the law related to offers and acquisitions in effect
immediately before the effective date of this Act and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Section 83.020, Parks and Wildlife Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a grievance filed with the Parks and
Wildlife Commission on or after the effective date of this Act. A
grievance filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the grievance was filed and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. 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, 2005.