Amend CSSB 1747 (house committee report) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____.  STUDY AND REPORT.  (a)  In this section, "native plant" and "native seed" mean a plant or a seed from a plant that is found in, and naturally endemic to, ecosystems, sites, or regions in the present borders of this state, as to which the best available information indicates an indigenous nature precluding the plant's or seed's introduction or transport to this state from some other location by nonnatural conveyances. The terms include improved varieties of native seeds. Plants and seeds that do not meet the definition of "native plant" or "native seed" are designated as "nonnative."

(b)  For the purpose of maximizing the use of native seed in land restoration and soil stabilization following transportation infrastructure projects, particularly in counties containing at least one county energy transportation reinvestment zone, the Texas Department of Transportation shall conduct a study based on a review of the use of native seed in projects related to land restoration and soil stabilization by the department and its contractors and assignees for the years 2008 through 2012, and shall report the department's historic use of native seed by geographic region or district.

(c)  In conducting the study and preparing the report, the Texas Department of Transportation shall consider:

(1)  geographic, regional, or district use of specific varieties of native seed for restoration projects administered by the department and its contractors or assignees;

(2)  determinations of the percentage of the department's restoration projects using native seed versus nonnative seed, including blends of native and nonnative seed, by geographic region or district and projects performed by the department and its contractors or assignees; and

(3)  methodologies and procedures that the department and its contractors or assignees must use to forecast the future needs for native seed for restoration projects by geographic region.

(d)  The Texas Department of Transportation shall develop methodologies and procedures for forecasting the department's and its contractors' and assignees' future needs for native seeds for the years 2015 through 2020. The department shall continue to maintain a five-year forecast for native seed restoration project needs.

(e)  Not later than December 1, 2014, the Texas Department of Transportation shall report the results of the study conducted under this Act to the legislature and post the forecast of future needs for native seeds on the department's Internet website.