BILL ANALYSIS |
|
C.S.H.B. 801 |
|
By: King, Ken |
|
Culture, Recreation & Tourism |
|
Committee Report (Substituted) |
|
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) manages vegetative fuels by executing prescribed burns that are intended to be beneficial. However, interested parties contend that there are inadequate regulations regarding the creation of a plan for a prescribed burn, the notice of the prescribed burn to neighboring landowners, and the liability for resulting damages to private property. The parties note that prescribed burns sometimes cause private property damage for which owners often are not fully reimbursed, such as the replacement of a fence or the repair of a building or land. The resulting costs are borne by the owner who may have been unaware of the burn to begin with. The goal of C.S.H.B. 801 is to remedy this problem with prescribed burns by TPWD.
|
||||||||||
|
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
|
||||||||||
|
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Parks and Wildlife Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.
|
||||||||||
|
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 801 amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to require the Parks and Wildlife Commission by rule to adopt a general plan for the use of beneficial prescribed burns in the management of Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) land and the bill requires the commission to require TPWD to implement the general plan. The bill applies only to prescribed burns conducted by TPWD on state land managed by TPWD and requires the commission to adopt the general plan not later than January 1, 2016.
C.S.H.B. 801 requires the general plan to include standards that meet or exceed certain statutory standards for a prescribed burn, to include variations as needed for different areas of Texas, and to be reviewed by the Prescribed Burning Board within the Department of Agriculture. The bill prohibits TPWD from conducting a prescribed burn under the bill's provisions before the general plan has been adopted by the commission. The bill requires, for a particular prescribed burn, that a site-specific plan tailored to the designated area be completed and approved by a person designated by the executive director of TPWD to review prescribed burn plans. The bill sets out the information a site-specific plan is required to include in addition to any site-specific information required under the general plan. The bill requires TPWD to provide adequate advance notice of TPWD's intent to conduct a prescribed burn to each neighboring landowner and appropriate local officials in the vicinity of the designated burn area and sets out the information the landowner's notice is required to include. The bill requires TPWD to publish advance notice of a planned prescribed burn in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the burn will be conducted.
C.S.H.B. 801 requires TPWD to establish a self-insurance fund, as provided by applicable Government Code provisions, or purchase liability insurance for liability coverage for money damages, in the amounts specified by Natural Resources Code provisions relating to insurance requirements for prescribed burning, to protect TPWD and TPWD's employees against claims resulting from bodily injury or death resulting from a prescribed burn or from injury to or destruction of property resulting from a prescribed burn. The bill makes TPWD liable for actual damages for injury to or destruction of property, bodily injury, or death proximately caused by the wrongful act or omission or the negligence of an employee acting within the scope of employment if the injury to or destruction of property, bodily injury, or death arises from the escape of fire from a prescribed burn conducted by TPWD and if the employee would be personally liable to the claimant according to state law. The bill makes TPWD liable for actual damages for injury to or destruction of property, bodily injury, or death so caused by the escape of fire from a prescribed burn conducted by TPWD if TPWD would, were it a private person, be liable to the claimant according to state law. The bill makes TPWD liable for actual damages for injury to or destruction of utility infrastructure caused by a prescribed burn and provides for the meaning of "utility infrastructure." The bill limits the liability of TPWD under the bill's provisions to money damages in an amount not to exceed the required amount of insurance coverage.
C.S.H.B. 801 prohibits a claim asserted under the bill's provisions from also being asserted against TPWD under provisions of the Texas Tort Claims Act relating to the tort liability of governmental units and prohibits a claim asserted under the bill's provisions from also being asserted against a TPWD employee. The bill applies certain procedures for a suit under the Texas Tort Claims Act to a suit brought under the bill's provisions. The bill waives and abolishes sovereign immunity to suit to the extent of liability created by the bill's provisions and authorizes a person having a claim under such provisions to sue TPWD for the allowed damages.
|
||||||||||
|
EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2015.
|
||||||||||
|
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 801 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
|
||||||||||
|