By: Lucio S.B. No. 1560
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the funding of coastal erosion response activities and
the coastal management program.
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 (e) 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 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) hard structures on bay shorelines, 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) other studies or projects the commissioner
considers necessary or appropriate to implement this subchapter.
(e) A qualified project partner must pay:
(1) not less than 25 percent of the shared project cost
if the project is a beach nourishment project on a public beach or
bay shore; [and]
(2) not less than 40 percent of the shared project cost
if the project is any other coastal erosion response study or
project, including:
(A) a marsh restoration project; or
(B) a bay shoreline protection project other than
a beach nourishment project; and
(3) a share of the reasonable costs, as determined by
the commissioner, for removal of debris or structures, or
relocation of structures from the public beach.
SECTION 2. Section 33.604, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
(a) The coastal erosion response account is an account in
the coastal protection [general revenue] fund established in
Section 40.151 of this code that may be appropriated only to the
commissioner and used only for the purpose of implementing this
subchapter and Subchapter F of this chapter.
(b) The account consists of:
(1) all money appropriated for the purposes of this
subchapter;
(2) grants to this state from the United States for the
purposes of this subchapter; [and]
(3) all money received by this state from the sale of
dredged material; and
(4) interest accruing to the coastal protection fund.
SECTION 3. Section 33.605, Natural Resources Code is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
Sec. 33.605. USES OF ACCOUNT. (a) Money in the account may
be used for the following purposes:
(1) any action authorized by this subchapter;
(2) any action to implement the coastal management
plan authorized under Subchapter F of this chapter; and
(3) any action to implement and enforce Chapters 61
and 63 of this code, including:
(A) expenses of the land office related to
implementation and enforcement under Section 61.018, Natural
Resources Code, including costs of removal of structures and debris
from the public beach, court costs, expert witness fees, and
attorneys fees;
(B) reimbursement to a city or county of
reasonable costs, as determined by the commissioner, related to the
removal of structures and debris from the public beach; and
(C) reimbursement to a property owner of up to
100 percent of the reasonable costs, as determined by the
commissioner, paid by the owner for relocation or removal of a
structure that is situated wholly or partially on the public beach;
provided, however, that no money in the account may be used to
purchase real property or reimburse a property owner for the
purchase of real property.
(c) The commissioner may seek recovery to the use of the
account all sums expended from the account under Subsection (a)(3)
of this section in a suit for enforcement under Section 61.018 of
this code, except for reimbursement to a property owner under
Subsection (a)(3)(C) of this section.
SECTION 4. Section 40.151, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows:
Sec. 40.151. COASTAL PROTECTION FUND. (a) The purpose of
this subchapter is to provide immediately available funds for
response to all unauthorized discharges, for cleanup of pollution
from unauthorized discharges of oil, for payment of damages from
unauthorized discharges of oil, [and] for erosion response projects
and for implementation of the coastal management program.
(b) The coastal protection fund is established in the state
treasury to be used by the commissioner as a nonlapsing revolving
fund only for carrying out the purposes of this chapter and of
Subchapters [Subchapter] F and H, Chapter 33. To this fund shall be
credited all fees, penalties, judgments, reimbursements, interest
or income on the fund, and charges provided for in this chapter and
the fee revenues levied, collected, and credited pursuant to this
chapter and all money credited to the coastal erosion response
account pursuant to Section 33.604 of this code. The fund shall not
exceed $50 million, exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion
response account.
SECTION 5. Section 40.152, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding new Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
Sec. 40.152. USE OF FUND.
(a) Money in the fund may be disbursed for the following
purposes and no others:
(1) administrative expenses, personnel and training
expenses, and equipment maintenance and operating costs related to
implementation and enforcement of this chapter;
(2) response costs related to abatement and
containment of actual or threatened unauthorized discharges of oil
incidental to unauthorized discharges of hazardous substances;
(3) response costs and damages related to actual or
threatened unauthorized discharges of oil;
(4) assessment, restoration, rehabilitation, or
replacement of or mitigation of damage to natural resources damaged
by an unauthorized discharge of oil;
(5) in an amount not to exceed $50,000 annually, the
small spill education program;
(6) in an amount not to exceed $1,250,000 annually,
interagency contracts under Section 40.302;
(7) the purchase of response equipment under Section
40.105 within two years of the effective date of this chapter, in an
amount not to exceed $4 million; thereafter, for the purchase of
equipment to replace equipment that is worn or obsolete;
(8) other costs and damages authorized by this
chapter;
(9) [in an amount not to exceed the interest accruing
to the fund annually,] erosion response projects under Subchapter
H, Chapter 33 and costs necessary to administer the coastal
management program under Subchapter F, Chapter 33; and
(10) in conjunction with the Railroad Commission of
Texas, costs related to the plugging of abandoned or orphaned oil
wells located on state-owned submerged lands.
(c) There is hereby appropriated from the fund to the
General Land Office, subject to this section, $2 million for
administrative costs for the purposes specified in Subdivision (9)
of Subsection (a) of this section for the two-year period beginning
September 1, 2005.
SECTION 6. Section 40.155, Natural Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 40.155. Determination of Fee
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the rate
of the fee shall be two cents per barrel of crude oil until the
commissioner certifies that the unencumbered balance in the fund
has reached $25 million, exclusive of the amount in the coastal
erosion response account. The commissioner shall certify to the
comptroller the date on which the unencumbered balance in the fund
exceeds $25 million, exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion
response account. The fee shall not be collected or required to be
paid on or after the first day of the second month following the
commissioner's certification to the comptroller that the
unencumbered balance in the fund exceeds $25 million, exclusive of
the amount in the coastal erosion response account.
(b) If the unencumbered balance in the fund falls below $14
million, exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion response
account, the commissioner shall certify such fact to the
comptroller. On receiving the commissioner's certification, the
comptroller shall resume collecting the fee until suspended in the
manner provided in Subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) or (b)
of this section, the fee shall be levied at the rate of four cents
per barrel if the commissioner certifies to the comptroller a
written finding of the following facts:
(1) the unencumbered balance in the fund is less than
$25 million, exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion
response account;
(2) an unauthorized discharge of oil in excess of
100,000 gallons has occurred within the previous 30 days; and
(3) expenditures from the fund for response costs and
damages are expected to deplete the fund substantially, exclusive
of the amount in the coastal erosion response account.
(d) In the event of a certification to the comptroller under
Subsection (c) of this section, the comptroller shall collect the
fee at the rate of four cents per barrel until the unencumbered
balance in the fund reaches $25 million, exclusive of the amount in
the coastal erosion response account, or any lesser amount that the
commissioner determines is necessary to pay response costs and
damages without substantially depleting the fund. The commissioner
shall certify to the comptroller the date on which the unencumbered
balance in the fund exceeds $25 million or such other lesser amount,
exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion response account.
The fee shall not be collected or required to be paid on or after the
first day of the second month following the commissioner's
certification to the comptroller.
(e) For purposes of this section, the unencumbered balance
of the fund shall be determined by the unencumbered cash balance of
the fund, exclusive of the amount in the coastal erosion response
account, at the end of each month or on the date of a finding under
Subsection (c) of this section.
SECTION 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 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.