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	Amend CSHB 300 (House committee printing) by adding the 
following appropriately numbered SECTION to Article 1 of the bill 
and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of that article as appropriate:
	SECTION ____.  Section 203.031, Transportation Code, is 
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
	(a-1)  In the exercise of its authority to manage access to 
or from a controlled access highway under Subsection (a)(2) or (4), 
the commission by rule shall:
		(1)  require that a decision by a department district 
office denying a request for access to a specific location on a 
controlled access highway be in writing and include the reasons for 
the denial;
		(2)  provide procedures for appealing a denial under 
Subdivision (1), including procedures that:
			(A)  allow the applicant to appeal the denial to 
the department's design division before the 31st day after the date 
written notice of the denial is given to the applicant;
			(B)  provide that if an appeal under Paragraph (A) 
is not decided before the 91st day after the date the appeal was 
filed, the access applied for must be granted; and
			(C)  allow the applicant to appeal the decision of 
the design division to the director, and if the decision is 
affirmed, to a board of variance appointed by the director and 
composed of at least three persons who may not be below the level of 
department division director, office director, or district 
engineer, and who were not involved in the original decision to deny 
access;
		(3)  provide that properly platted access points to or 
from a controlled access highway that are located on undeveloped 
property are subject to the access management standards in effect 
at the time the points were platted regardless of when the initial 
request for access was submitted to the department, but only if:
			(A)  development of the property begins and the 
request for access at the platted locations is submitted to the 
department before the fifth anniversary of the date the plat was 
recorded; and
			(B)  the design of the highway facility in the 
vicinity of the platted access points did not materially change 
after the date the plat was recorded so as to significantly impact 
traffic patterns to the extent that the platted access points 
present a threat to public safety;
		(4)  require that:                                                     
			(A)  owners of land adjacent to a proposed highway 
construction project be provided written notice of the project at 
least 60 days before the date construction begins if the project 
will permanently alter permitted access to or from a controlled 
access highway at the owners' existing locations; and
			(B)  the access described by Paragraph (A) be 
reinstated to the most practicable extent possible after due 
consideration of the impact on highway safety, mobility, and 
efficient operation of any changed traffic patterns resulting from 
the construction;
		(5)  adopt criteria for determining when a variance to 
access management standards may be granted, including criteria 
that, in addition to highway safety, mobility, and efficient 
operation concerns, takes into consideration any of the following 
consequences resulting from denial of the owner's request for 
access to a specific location on a controlled access highway that 
may impact a property owner:
			(A)  denial of reasonable access to the property; 
and               
			(B)  undue hardship on a business located on the 
property; and      
		(6)  clarify that the remodeling or demolition and 
rebuilding of a business does not cause new access management 
standards to apply unless the department makes an affirmative 
finding in writing that the remodeled or rebuilt business will 
significantly impact traffic patterns to the extent that the 
current access location presents a threat to public safety.