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2005S0535-1 03/09/05
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.
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 will exist to
acquire all land for habitat preserves within the time required by
this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Subsection (a) and (b), Section 83.015, Parks
and Wildlife Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A regional habitat conservation plan, including any
mitigation fee, may [shall] be based on the amount of harm to, and,
after notice and public hearing by the plan participants, any
recovery criteria applicable to, each endangered species to be
protected under the regional habitat conservation plan.
(b) The size of proposed habitat preserves may [shall] be
based [solely] on the amount of harm to, and, after notice and
public hearing by the plan participants, any recovery criteria
applicable to, the endangered species to be protected in the
regional habitat conservation plan.
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 Subsection (d) to
read as follows:
(c) Except as otherwise 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 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]. Acquisition of all habitat preserves designated in the
regional habitat conservation plan as habitat preserve must be
completed not later than the fifth [fourth] anniversary of the date
on which the federal permit was issued, except as otherwise
provided by Subsection (d). 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) With respect to land that is not designated as habitat
preserve in a regional habitat conservation plan at the time of
issuance of the federal permit but that is designated as habitat
preserve under a regional habitat conservation plan after issuance
of the federal permit, plan participants shall make offers based on
fair market value to landowners for the acquisition of fee simple or
other interest in land with respect to the tract of land proposed as
habitat preserve not later than four years after the tract is
identified or designated by the plan participants as proposed
habitat preserve. Acquisition of habitat preserves for plan
participants subject to this subsection must be completed not later
than the fifth anniversary of the date on which the tract is
identified or designated by the plan participants as proposed
habitat preserve.
SECTION 5. Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 83.020,
Parks and Wildlife Code, are 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.]
(e) [A plan participant in a plan that is the subject of a
grievance filed with the commission may not submit an application
for a federal permit before the commission:
[(1) has dismissed the grievance; or
[(2) if the commission approves the grievance, has
determined that the commission's recommended amendments to the plan
have been made.
[(f)] If an individual files a grievance under this section,
that individual may not file a subsequent grievance.
SECTION 6. 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.