LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 81ST LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 16, 2009

TO:
Honorable Dennis Bonnen, Chair, House Committee on Land & Resource Management
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
HB2074 by Bonnen (Relating to the designation by the commissioner of the General Land Office of critical coastal erosion areas for purposes of the coastal erosion response plan.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would authorize the Land Commissioner to designate critical coastal erosion areas as part of the state’s coastal erosion response plan. In authorizing erosion studies and projects, the state plan would be required to ensure that benefits are balanced among areas designated by the Land Commissioner as critical coastal erosion areas.
 
The bill would authorize the Land commissioner to conduct a coast-wide, cost-benefit analysis of coastal erosion avoidance, remediation, and planning to determine areas that should be designated as critical erosion areas. This analysis would be used to guide the distribution of state resources to maximize their effectiveness.  Analyses conducted for this purpose would include historic erosion rates, area elevation, critical infrastructure, population density, economic activity, critical natural resources and human contributions to erosion in a particular segment of the Texas coast. 

The General Land Office reports that the cost of designating critical coastal erosion areas and conducting the cost-analysis authorized by the bill could be absorbed using existing agency resources. 
The agency also reports that providing the Land Commissioner with the authority to develop a cost benefit analysis of coastal erosion techniques and the ability to designate critical coastal erosion areas for the entire Texas coast could increase the effectiveness of the use of state resources. 


Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.


Source Agencies:
305 General Land Office and Veterans' Land Board
LBB Staff:
JOB, WK, TL