By: Seliger S.B. No. 654
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the management of certain public land; providing for
  penalties.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 51.073, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Before it is sold, the commissioner shall classify and
  determine the market value of land on which leases have [been
  cancelled or have] expired and land forfeited to the state.
         SECTION 2.  Subsections (a), (b), and (d), Section 51.121,
  Natural Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Unsold public school land may be leased for any purpose
  the commissioner determines is in the best interest of the state
  under terms and conditions set by the commissioner. Improvements
  [Commercial improvements] on land under this subsection shall not
  become the property of the state and shall be taxed in the same
  manner as other private property.
         (b)  Improvements [Commercial improvements] on land leased
  under Subsection (a) [of this section] shall be removed prior to the
  expiration of the lease unless the commissioner determines it to be
  in the best interest of the state that removal of the improvements
  not be required and includes such a provision in the terms and
  conditions of the lease [a renewal or an extension of the lease has
  been finalized prior to the expiration of the term of the lease. If
  commercial improvements are not removed prior to the expiration of
  the lease and if there has been no renewal or extension prior to the
  expiration of the lease, then the commercial improvements on the
  land shall become property of the state].
         (d)  In leases granted under this subchapter [that are for
  terms of 20 years or more], the commissioner may grant the lessee a
  preference right to purchase the leased premises. In order to grant
  this preference right, the commissioner must include such a
  provision in the lease. The provision may provide that the
  preference right to purchase may be exercised at any time during the
  term of the lease. If the commissioner does include the preference
  right to purchase in the lease, the lessee shall have a preference
  right to purchase the leased premises before the leased premises
  are made available for sale to any other person. All sales under
  this subsection must be for a price [not less than market value as]
  determined by the board [an appraiser] and under any other terms and
  conditions that the commissioner deems to be in the best interest of
  the state. The preference right to purchase granted under this
  subsection is superior to any other preference right to purchase
  granted under any other section of this code or under any other law.
  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to allow the
  commissioner to grant a preference right to purchase submerged
  land.
         SECTION 3.  Section 51.127, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.127.  RECORDING MEMORANDUM OF LEASE. (a)  The
  [After the lessee has paid the rent for the land for a year in
  advance, the] commissioner shall prepare a descriptive memorandum
  of the lease at the time the lease is executed and deliver the lease
  and the memorandum to the lessee [clerk of the county in which the
  land is located].
         (b)  The lessee [When a lease is filed for record, the clerk]
  shall deliver the [prepare a] memorandum [or abstract] of the lease
  to the clerk of the county in which the land is located [and shall
  record the memorandum or abstract in a well-bound book or on
  microfilm kept in his office].
         (c)  The clerk shall record the memorandum in the county
  clerk's office [or abstract shall contain:
               [(1)  the number of the survey leased;
               [(2)  the name of the original grantee;
               [(3)  the amount of land leased;
               [(4)  the name of the lessee;
               [(5)  the date of the lease; and
               [(6)  the term of years the lease is to run].
         (d)  On payment of the recording fee [required by law], the
  clerk shall deliver the recorded memorandum [lease] to the lessee.
  The lessee shall provide to the commissioner a certified copy of the
  recorded memorandum.
         [(e)     Except for the record made under this section, no other
  record of a lease is required.]
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (a), Section 51.291, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) [of this section],
  the commissioner may execute grants of easements or other interests
  in property for rights-of-way or access across, through, and under
  unsold public school land, the portion of the Gulf of Mexico within
  the jurisdiction of the state, the state-owned riverbeds and beds
  of navigable streams in the public domain, and all islands,
  saltwater lakes, bays, inlets, marshes, and reefs owned by the
  state within tidewater limits for:
               (1)  telephone, telegraph, electric transmission, and
  power lines;
               (2)  oil pipelines, including pipelines connecting the
  onshore storage facilities with the offshore facilities of a
  deepwater port, as defined by the federal Deepwater Port Act of 1974
  (33 U.S.C.A. Section 1501 et seq.), gas pipelines, sulphur
  pipelines, and other electric lines and pipelines of any nature;
               (3)  irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines;
               (4)  roads; and
               (5)  any other purpose the commissioner considers to be
  in the best interest of the state.
         SECTION 5.  Section 51.292, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.292.  EASEMENTS AND LEASES FOR CERTAIN
  FACILITIES.  The commissioner may execute grants of easements or
  leases for electric substations, pumping stations, loading racks,
  and tank farms, and for any other purpose the commissioner
  determines to be in the best interest of the state, to be located on
  state land other than land owned by The University of Texas System.
         SECTION 6.  Section 51.293, Natural Resources Code, is
  transferred to Subchapter C, Chapter 66, Education Code,
  redesignated as Section 66.46, Education Code, and amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 66.46 [51.293].  EASEMENTS ON UNIVERSITY LAND.  (a) The
  board [Board] of regents [Regents] of The University of Texas
  System may [continue to] execute grants of [all right-of-way]
  easements or other interests in property for rights-of-way or
  access [under authority already granted] across land that belongs
  to the state but is dedicated to the support and maintenance of The
  University of Texas System for telephone, telegraph, electric
  transmission, and powerlines, for oil pipelines, gas pipelines,
  sulphur pipelines, and other electric lines and pipelines of any
  nature, and for irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines.
         (b)  The board of regents may [continue to] execute [under
  authority already granted] grants of easements [or leases] for the
  erection and maintenance of electric substations, pumping
  stations, loading racks, and tank farms on university land, and for
  any other purpose the board determines to be in the best interest of
  the permanent university fund land.
         (c)  In addition to the purposes for which grants of
  easements may be executed under Subsections (a) and (b) [of this
  section], the board of regents may execute grants of easements on
  university land for any other purpose and on any terms it considers
  to be in the best interest of the permanent university fund land.
         (d)  An easement under this section may not be granted for a
  term that is longer than 10 years, but the easement may be renewed
  by the board of regents. The rent to be charged for an easement
  under this section shall be an amount agreed to by the grantee and
  the board.
         (e)  Income received from university land under this section
  shall be credited to the available university fund.
         (f)  Payments under this subchapter that are past due shall
  bear interest at a rate equal to the rate imposed by the comptroller
  under Section 111.060, Tax Code, for delinquent payments due the
  state, except that if the board of regents enters into an agreement
  with the grantee of the easement specifying a lower rate, the
  payments bear interest at that lower rate.
         (g)  Each easement granted under this section shall be
  recorded in the county clerk's office of the county in which the
  land is located, and the recording fee shall be paid by the person
  who obtains the easement.  The person who obtains the easement shall
  furnish to the board of regents a certified copy of the easement.
         (h)  No person may construct or maintain any structure or
  facility on land dedicated to the support and maintenance of The
  University of Texas System, nor may any person who has not acquired
  a proper easement, lease, permit, or other instrument from the
  board of regents and who owns or possesses a facility or structure
  that is now located on or across land dedicated to the support and
  maintenance of The University of Texas System continue in
  possession of the land unless the person obtains from the board an
  easement, lease, permit, or other instrument for the land on which
  the facility or structure is to be constructed or is located.
         (i)  A person who constructs, maintains, owns, or possesses a
  facility or structure on university land without a proper easement
  or lease is liable for a penalty of not less than $50 or more than
  $1,000 a day for each day that a violation occurs. The penalty
  shall be recovered on behalf of the board of regents in a civil
  action by the attorney general.
         (j)  A person who owns, maintains, or possesses an
  unauthorized facility or structure is, for purposes of this
  section, the person who last owned, maintained, or possessed the
  facility or structure.
         (k)  A person who constructs, maintains, owns, or possesses a
  facility or structure on university land without the proper
  easement or lease is liable to the board of regents for the costs of
  removing that facility or structure.
         (l)  This section does not affect the authority of the board
  of regents under Section 66.41.
         SECTION 7.  Section 51.295, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.295.  CONDITIONS FOR EASEMENT.  Telephone,
  telegraph, electric transmission, powerline, and pipeline
  right-of-way easements and easements or rights-of-way for
  irrigation canals, laterals, and water pipelines shall be executed
  on terms to be determined by the commissioner [or the board of
  regents, but no easement for an oil, gas, or sulphur pipeline or a
  telephone, telegraph, electric transmission, or powerline easement
  may be granted that does not provide for the annual privilege fee of
  not less than two and one-half cents a lineal rod a year].
         SECTION 8.  Subsection (a), Section 51.296, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  [Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this section,
  no grant of easement or lease enumerated under Section 51.293 of
  this code may be granted for a term that is longer than 10 years, but
  an easement or lease may be renewed by the board of regents of The
  University of Texas System.] The term for easements or leases
  granted under Sections 51.291 and 51.292 [of this subchapter] may
  be for any term the commissioner deems to be in the best interest of
  the state.
         SECTION 9.  Section 51.297, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.297.  RECORDING EASEMENTS.  (a)  Each easement
  granted under this subchapter [Sections 51.291 through 51.293 of
  this code] shall be recorded in the county clerk's office of the
  county in which the land is located, and the recording fee shall be
  paid by the person who obtains the easement.
         (b)  The person who obtains an easement under this subchapter
  [Sections 51.291 and 51.292 of this code] shall furnish to the
  commissioner a certified copy of the easement. [The person who
  obtains an easement under Section 51.293 of this code shall furnish
  to the board of regents of The University of Texas System a
  certified copy of the easement.]
         SECTION 10.  Section 51.299, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.299.  FEES FOR CERTAIN FACILITIES.  The rent to be
  charged for an easement or lease for an electric substation site,
  pumping station, loading rack, tank farm, or road or for an easement
  for a purpose not specifically listed by Section 51.291 or [,]
  51.292[, or 51.293 of this code] but granted in the best interest of
  the state [or the permanent university fund land] shall be an amount
  agreed to between the lessee and the [board of regents with respect
  to university land and the] commissioner [with respect to other
  state land].
         SECTION 11.  Section 51.300, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.300.  DISPOSITION OF INCOME.  Income received by the
  commissioner under this subchapter from public school land shall be
  credited to the permanent school fund[, and income received from
  university land shall be credited to the available university
  fund]. Other income received by the commissioner on other land
  under this subchapter shall be credited to the General Revenue
  Fund.
         SECTION 12.  Section 51.301, Natural Resources Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 51.301.  INTEREST ON PAST-DUE PAYMENTS.  [(a)]  
  Payments under this subchapter that are past due shall bear
  interest at a rate equal to the rate imposed by the comptroller
  under Section 111.060, Tax Code, for delinquent payments due the
  state, except that if the commissioner enters into an agreement
  with the grantee of the easement or lease specifying a lower rate,
  the payments bear interest at that lower rate [of 10 percent a
  year].
         [(b)     If no date for payment is provided in the contract or if
  no written contract has been executed, the unpaid annual fees shall
  bear interest at a rate of 10 percent calculated from January 1
  following the year for which the annual privilege fee was due.]
         SECTION 13.  Subsection (a), Section 51.302, Natural
  Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  No person may construct or maintain any structure or
  facility on land owned by the state, nor may any person who has not
  acquired a proper easement, lease, permit, or other instrument from
  the state as required by this chapter or Chapter 33 [of this code]
  and who owns or possesses a facility or structure that is now
  located on or across state land continue in possession of the land
  unless he obtains from the commissioner or[,] the board[, or the
  board of regents] an easement, lease, permit, or other instrument
  required by this chapter or Chapter 33 [of this code] for the land
  on which the facility or structure is to be constructed or is
  located.
         SECTION 14.  The following provisions of the Natural
  Resources Code are repealed:
               (1)  Subsection (c), Section 51.121;
               (2)  Section 51.128;
               (3)  Section 51.130;
               (4)  Section 51.294; and
               (5)  Section 51.298.
         SECTION 15.  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, 2007.